Knife Cutting Services

Mercer Gasket & Shim’s highly accurate, state-of-the-art knife cutting capabilities allow us to deliver products to customers when speed, flexibility, and convenience are important. Knife cutting offers a reliable, flexible solution for custom gaskets, depending on the needs of your application. We utilize the newest equipment and take pride in the expertise and training of our staff in the process.

Our digitally controlled equipment allows us to make precise cuts through a diverse range of elastomer, foam, composite, and polymer materials measuring up to 0.50” in thickness. A large 120” x 60” work table enables us to produce large parts rapidly, economically, and with outstanding quality.

Designed to Meet Customer Needs

This sophisticated cutting technology allows us to rapidly turn parts to meet emergency-driven same-day or next-day deadlines. If you need a vital gasket replaced to keep your system running efficiently and reduce downtime, or if you are on a deadline to get a new system or project online, Mercer Gasket & Shim’s knife cutting services can help make it happen.

When you choose Mercer Gasket & Shim, you can be assured of receiving superior quality products within astonishingly tight production deadlines. We are committed to providing our customers with competitively priced industrial supplies exactly where and when they need them. For more information on our knife cutting services, see the table below, or contact us to discuss the details of your application.

In-house knife cutting specifications

Keep reading if you want to learn more about knife cutting and when you should consider using Mercer Gasket & Shim’s knife cutting services.

Knife cutting is a fabrication method used in various industries for fabricating parts from materials such as fabric, foam, rubber, plastics, and more. Here are the benefits of each method and when you might choose one over the other:

Benefits of Knife Cutting:

1. Precision: Knife cutting can offer high precision, allowing for intricate shapes and designs to be cut with accuracy.
2. Versatility: It can cut a wide range of materials, including soft and semi-rigid materials like fabrics, foam, rubber, leather, and more.
3. Cost-effective: Compared to some other cutting methods, knife cutting can be more cost-effective, especially for low to medium volume production runs.
4. Customization: It allows for customization and flexibility in cutting different shapes and sizes according to specific requirements.
5. Clean cuts: Knife cutting can produce clean edges, reducing the need for additional finishing processes.
6. Speed: Depending on the complexity of the cut, knife cutting can be a relatively fast process, especially for simpler shapes.
7. High-volume production: Automatic knife cutting is particularly suitable for high-volume production where consistency and speed are essential.
8. Repeatable cuts: If you need to produce many identical parts with precise dimensions, automatic knife cutting ensures consistency across the production run.
9. Complex shapes: While manual knife cutting can handle intricate shapes, automatic knife cutting systems with computerized control excel at cutting complex patterns efficiently.
10. Reduced labor costs: Automated systems can reduce labor costs associated with manual cutting, especially over long production runs.
11. Integration with CAD software: Automatic knife cutting systems often integrate with CAD software, allowing for easy programming of cutting patterns and minimizing setup time.

In summary, knife cutting offers precision, versatility, and cost-effectiveness, making it suitable for a range of materials and applications. Automatic knife cutting, on the other hand, is ideal for high-volume production, repeatable cuts, complex shapes, and situations where minimizing labor costs and maximizing efficiency are priorities. The choice between manual and automatic knife cutting depends on factors such as production volume, complexity of parts, required precision, and budget considerations.

Knife cutting for fabricating is common across various industries where materials like fabric, foam, rubber, and plastics need to be cut into specific shapes or patterns.

Here are the top five industries where knife cutting is commonly used:

1. Apparel and Textiles Industry: Knife cutting is extensively used in the apparel and textiles industry for cutting fabrics into patterns for garments, upholstery, bedding, and other textile products.
2. Automotive Industry: In the automotive industry, knife cutting is used for fabricating materials such as foam for seat cushions, headliners, gaskets, and other interior components.
3. Packaging Industry: Knife cutting is employed in the packaging industry for cutting materials like cardboard, corrugated board, foam inserts, and other packaging materials into custom shapes and sizes.
4. Aerospace Industry: In aerospace manufacturing, knife cutting is utilized for cutting materials such as composites, insulation materials, gaskets, and seals to precise specifications for aircraft interiors, insulation, and structural components.
5. Furniture Industry: Knife cutting is commonly used in the furniture industry for cutting upholstery fabrics, foam cushions, leather, and other materials to create furniture components such as cushions, padding, and covers.