Flexible Die for Rotary Die Cutting – Made to Your Label Design

Flexible dies are made to order. There is no fixed specification; each die is defined by the information you supply:

• Label artwork or dimensions, including corner radius and any special shapes
• Number of labels across the web and around the cylinder
• Magnetic cylinder size, tooth count or repeat length, and cylinder width
• Material to be cut: face stock, adhesive and liner
• Any perforation, back score or half cut required in the same die
• The machine the die will run on

A flexible die is a thin, hardened steel sheet on which the label outline has been etched or machined as a raised cutting edge. The sheet is thin enough to bend, so it wraps around a magnetic cylinder and is held there by magnetism alone. When the cylinder rotates against an anvil with the label web in between, the raised edge cuts through the face material and the adhesive and stops at the release liner. The labels stay on the liner, the waste matrix is stripped away, and the roll goes on to the next process.

Because the die is only a sheet, it is quick to make, light to store and fast to change. A converter can keep hundreds of designs in a drawer and swap from one job to another in minutes. The alternative, a solid die, is a full steel cylinder engraved with the label shape; it is used where very long runs, heavy materials or special cutting demand it, and RK supplies those too.

Made to Your Label Design

Each die is produced from your artwork or drawing: label size, corner radius, number across and around the cylinder, and any perforations or back scores. There is no standard catalogue shape to fit your label into.

Matched to Your Magnetic Cylinder

The die is sized to the circumference and width of the magnetic cylinder it will run on, so the repeat is right and the cutting edge lands where the print puts it. Tell RK the cylinder tooth count or repeat and the die is made to suit.

Fast Job Changes

Wrapping a flexible die onto a magnetic cylinder takes a minute or two. Short runs and frequent design changes, the daily reality of most Indian label converters, become practical.

Light and Easy to Store

Dies are flat sheets, stored in sleeves or folders. A large library of designs takes very little space compared with solid cylinders.

For Rotary Die Cutting and Inline Presses

The same flexible die runs on a standalone rotary die cutting machine or on the die station of a flexo or tower label press, as long as the magnetic cylinder is the same size.

Supplied With the Machine or Reordered Later

A die can be ordered with a new RK machine, so the first job runs on installation, and reordered whenever a design is added.

The flexible die is wrapped around the magnetic cylinder on the die station, where the magnets hold it flat and in register. Facing the magnetic cylinder is a hardened anvil roller, and the printed label web runs between the two. As the cylinders rotate together, the raised cutting edge on the die presses through the label face and adhesive with just enough pressure to cut those layers and leave the release liner intact. Pressure is adjusted at the die station so the cut is clean without scoring the liner.

Behind the die station the waste matrix, the skeleton left between the labels, is pulled up and rewound on a waste rewind, and the labels travel on to slitting, inspection or rewinding still attached to the liner. When the next job comes up, the operator peels the die off the cylinder, wraps on the next design, sets pressure and continues.

• Self-adhesive labels – product, pharma, food, cosmetic and barcode labels on paper and film stock.
• Inline die cutting on flexo presses – cutting straight after printing on RK's full servo, tower and micro flexo machines.
• Standalone rotary die cutting – on RK-PTR-320, RK-PS-320 and micro die cutters.
• Wristbands and shaped tickets – design-specific cutting on RK's wrist band machine.
• Perforation and back scoring – tear lines and liner slits added within the same die.
• Short and medium runs – wherever job changes are frequent and die cost per design matters.

Flexible dies are used on the self-adhesive stocks a label converter runs: paper, chromo and thermal label stock, and film label materials on paper or film liners. The die is etched to the depth of your face material and adhesive so it stops at the liner. Heavy materials, thick boards and very long runs may be better served by a solid die. Send RK a sample of your material with the design so the die is specified correctly.

• Magnetic Cylinderthe cylinder the flexible die wraps around.
• Solid Dieengraved steel die cylinder for heavy or long-run cutting.
• Printing Cylinderplate cylinders for RK flexo presses.
• Rubber Rollimpression and nip rollers for RK machines.
• Powder Brake And Clutchtension control components for unwinds and rewinds.

RK Label Printing Machinery Pvt. Ltd. has manufactured label printing and converting machinery in Ahmedabad, Gujarat since 1995, runs three manufacturing units and supplies customers in 23+ countries. Buying flexible dies from the company that built your rotary die cutting machine and its magnetic cylinder means the die, cylinder and machine are matched by the same engineers. Dies, cylinders, rollers and spares all come from one supplier, with the machine's own service team to call if a cut is not clean.

• Send the artwork: the label drawing with exact dimensions and corner radius.
• State the cylinder: magnetic cylinder size, tooth count or repeat, and the machine it runs on.
• Give the layout: labels across and around, and the gap between them.
• Describe the material: face stock, adhesive and liner, with a sample if possible.
• List extras: perforations, back scores or half cuts wanted in the same die.
• Plan the library: order dies for regular designs together so they are ready when jobs repeat.

The price of a flexible die depends on the label size, the number of labels across and around, the cylinder size, the material to be cut and any perforations or scores included. Prices are quoted ex-works Ahmedabad with GST at 18% applicable. Send RK your artwork, cylinder details and material and the team will confirm the die specification and quote against it.