Operations reference

Every cut operation the shop can run, what it does to the material, and what it costs the nest.

How to read this page

Cut order is the sequence the machine runs. Lower runs first, which is why internal detail and holes come before an outline — the sheet has to still be holding the piece when they are cut.

Nesting gap belongs to the tool, not the material. A cutter with a physical diameter has to pass between two pieces without touching either, so the gap follows the tool through every material it is enabled on. A stack that uses more than one operation takes the widest gap of the operations it actually uses.

Minimum internal radius is half the tool diameter. A design with tighter internal corners than this cannot be cut as drawn, no matter how it is nested.

Listed in cut order — the sequence the machine runs them in.
Cut order	Operation	Spot colour	Nest gap	Tool Ø	Min internal radius	Enabled on	Why
10	Drill hole DrillHole	DrillHole	6 mm	3 mm	1.5 mm	ACM 1.6mm ACM 3mm Aluminium 1.6mm	Multicam, 3mm spindle. Cut before the outline so the piece is still held by the sheet. Observed on ACM artwork.
20	Kiss cut (sticker only, backing intact) KissCut	CutContour Kiss-cut	3 mm	—	—	Class 1 reflective Class 2 reflective Luminous (photoluminescent) Self-adhesive vinyl (SAV)	Summa S2. Cuts the sticker but NOT the backing paper, so the piece stays on the liner and weeds cleanly (Elliot, 2026-08-19). Authored as CutContour (123 files in the last three months) or Kiss-cut (71). Cut BEFORE the through cut, while the sheet is still one piece. CutContour is Summa-specific: on a routed stack it fails gate 2 and is reported, which is correct, because a Summa spot on a router job is an authoring error.
20	Knife half cut (partial depth) KnifeHalfCut	KnifeHalfCut	2 mm	—	—	Corflute 5mm Polypropylene 1.5mm	A knife cut to half the material depth, on Corflute and polypropylene (Elliot, 2026-08-19). Cut BEFORE the through-cut outline, while the sheet still holds the piece. Its own spot colour, replacing the overloaded use of RouterStencil for halfcuts -- older artwork must be re-exported on this spot.
20	Router internal cut RouterStencil	RouterStencil	6 mm	3 mm	1.5 mm	ACM 1.6mm ACM 3mm Aluminium 1.6mm	The router cutting an INTERNAL feature rather than the outside outline (Elliot, 2026-08-19). A routed operation, so it carries the 3mm spindle gap and the 1.5mm minimum internal radius, and runs before the outline while the sheet still holds the piece. Enabled on ACM and aluminium only.
25	Knife stencil cut KnifeStencilCut	KnifeStencilCut	2 mm	—	—	Corflute 5mm Polypropylene 1.5mm	Physically identical to a through knife cut -- same blade, same depth, same 2mm gap (production manager, 2026-08-19). It exists as a separate operation purely so stencil cutting can be SEQUENCED as its own action rather than mixed into the outline pass. Ordered before KnifeCut so it runs while the sheet still holds the piece; adjust per stack via stack_operations.layer_order if production wants it elsewhere.
30	Knife cut outline KnifeCut	KnifeCut	2 mm	—	—	Corflute 5mm Polypropylene 1.5mm	Multicam drag knife. Kerf is negligible; the 2mm gap is for handling. The ONLY cut operation permitted on Corflute and polypropylene.
30	Router cut outline RouterCut	RouterCut	6 mm	3 mm	1.5 mm	ACM 1.6mm ACM 3mm Aluminium 1.6mm	3mm tool plus ~1.5mm clearance per side. Minimum internal corner radius 1.5mm -- tighter corners cannot be routed as drawn.
30	Through cut (sticker and backing) ThruCut	PerfCutContour Thru-cut	3 mm	—	—	Class 1 reflective Class 2 reflective Luminous (photoluminescent) Self-adhesive vinyl (SAV)	Summa S2 drag knife. Cuts the sticker AND the backing paper, so the piece comes away from the roll completely (Elliot, 2026-08-19). Authored as PerfCutContour -- the house convention, 206 files in the last three months -- or Thru-cut. Gap covers drag-knife tolerance plus OPOS accuracy. Cut LAST, after any kiss cut.