Are you beginning to feel better about your cut health? The way to continue to grow is step by step — understanding each of your cut settings and how they affect your material. Today we’re going to learn about another key component of that process — force. Not many people truly understand this setting and so don’t know when to adjust it. But tweaking this just a bit can make all the difference in the world. To start with Lesson 1 in this series, go here.

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What is force?

Force is the amount of downward pressure the machine applies to the blade during the cut. Silhouette machines have a maximum cutting force of 210gf (gram-force). The range for force is 1-33. The higher the number, the more downward force there is on the blade.

For those of you who have used versions of the software prior to version 4, this old name of this was Thickness. That was a terrible name, because it isn’t based on the material’s thickness. We already learned it’s the blade number you adjust for that. So kudos to Silhouette America for changing that.

What is the force setting based on?

You alter this setting based on the density of the material — how tightly the fibers or components are packed. The more dense the material, the higher your force needs to be.

Two pieces of cardstock may have the same thickness, but different densities. It’s harder to cut through clear mylar than through chipboard, because even though the mylar is thinner it is much more dense. Some materials like construction paper aren’t thick, but they also are not dense enough to hold firmly together when cut. They rip rather than cut.

What happens if you don’t set the force correctly?

Too high

AH! There’s the symptom we need to zero in on. If your material is ripping or tearing during the cut…

…it’s a good bet you’ve set the force (and maybe blade number) too high. This is the #1 sign that something’s wrong.

Another thing that indicates it’s too high is a chattering or stuttering sound. The blade gets stuck in the mat and temporarily hangs up there. The roller bar keeps moving but the motor box doesn’t. So you get cuts where the starting and ending points don’t meet up…

…or bunching at the corners. That bunching also means you’ve got small uncut areas at the corners.

Notice here the pulled corners along with the large gaps between the material on either side of the cut line. The force is too high.

You may be able to use that piece of material since it’s not awful, but you are going to dull your blade much more quickly. Your mat or cutting strip will also need to be replaced sooner because they will get grooves in them that are deeper than they need to be.

If you’re cutting vinyl and have the force too high, it can cause the ripping and tearing and pulling at corners. But there’s something else it does. The vinyl gets pushed down into the backing paper, into the grooves of where you cut. That makes it much harder to weed the background because you’re trying to get it out of those grooves where it wants to stay. That also makes it harder to get the design to lift off the backing with the transfer media.

Too low

If the blade is on the right number but force is set too low, it’s not going to cut through your material. Here’s an example. You can see the cut on the back side of the cardstock, but it doesn’t go all the way through.

Ever had trouble weeding? Or little bits of the material hanging onto the background? That’s often a force setting that’s too low.

Every once in a while, if you force is too low, you can also get bunching at the corners because the blade is getting caught in the material itself. This one is much less common, but it’s the reason you ALWAYS test cut and ALWAYS check the cut before you unload.

Using force wisely

“With great power comes great responsibility.” You’ve probably heard that. So how do we use this setting wisely in our cuts?

First, if you look at all the photos in the previous section, you’ll notice that when it’s too high, you ruin the material. But if it’s too low, it isn’t. As long as you check the cut BEFORE you unload, you can increase the force and cut again in exactly the same spot. As with blade number and speed, err on the side of caution. Start on the low side and then take it up as needed.

Adjusting the force is a smaller change than blade number. It’s more of a fine-tuning. So if you see significant ripping and tearing, first take the blade number down. If it’s just a bit, try tweaking force first. Often changing force just a tad either way can make a BIG difference. I tend to go in chunks of 3 at a time.

Let’s say you start at the default settings and no matter how much you increase the force it’s still not cutting through your material. So you determine you need to take the blade up 1. In order to not overdo it, it’s a good idea to take the force down a bit as you raise that blade number.

Here are some photos where the force, blade number and speed are just right. Notice that a couple of these are the same designs as in the photos above. Pretty dramatic difference!

Up Next

Are you feeling better yet? I hope so! It’s always good to know there’s a cure for what ails you. And it’s good to know you aren’t alone in struggling with cutting issues.

At our next appointment we’ll talk about Passes — how many times the machine is going to cut each design when you send the job. We’ll learn about when you should do more than 1 and when you shouldn’t.

If you’d like to see some of these tips in video form, check out my class When Good Cuts Go Bad on Terri Johnson Academy. It’s done in an older version of the software, but the concepts are the same.