Fabric Cutting Machines with Advantages and Disadvantages

Fabric cutting is the most important step in garment manufacturing. It is totally different from general cutting. This term, fabric cutting is only applicable for garments manufacturing technology. Garment quality depends on accurate fabric cutting. Besides, fabric wastage also depends on accurate fabric cutting. For fabric cutting process, various types of fabric cutting machines are used. Different types of fabric cutting machines are shown in below figure-1.

Fabric Cutting Machines:

Fabric cutting machines are classified mainly in two classes. The names of the machines of both classes are listed below:

A. Manual method or manual fabric cutting machines:

Hand operated scissor
Round knife
Straight knife
Band knife
Die cutting
Notcher
Drill

B. Computerized method or computer controlled fabric cutting machines:

Knife cutting
Cutting by water jet
Laser cutting
Plasma torch cutting
Above types of fabric cutting machines are described below:

Hand operated scissor:

This is the first of all and the most ancient method of cutting of fabric. Scissors are generally used for cutting of one or two plies of fabrics. After good practice fabric can be cut perfectly and accurately. There are separate scissors for handling the scissors with right hands or with left hands. It is possible to cut almost all types of fabrics with scissors. It takes much time to cut fabrics with scissors and the fabric cutting cost for each garment comes higher. For this reason, the use of scissors is very much limited in the garments industry. But in tailoring shops or in houses only the scissors are used mostly for cutting of fabrics.

Round knife:

It is a knife like a round circle. The end of this knife is very sharp and it is operated at very high speed with the help of motor and electrical power. The round knife is operated at a speed of 1000 to 3500 RPM. The diameter of the blade may be from 6cm to 30cm. the main parts of this machine are: base plate, electric motor, handle, blade guard etc. The round knife machine is shown in figure-2. The edge of the blade may be of three types, such as: waved, toothed and circular. The capacity of fabric cutting of a round knife is ten times greater than the capacity of a straight knife of the same RPM.