Cutting Dibond - how to cut an aluminum composite panel

Advantages

Aluminium composite sandwich board (ACP: aluminium composite panel or ACM: aluminum composite material) is a popular material. It is neither get broken nor get warped by greater physical effect. It stays rigid for a long time, can withstand UV radiation. Available in several colours. It can be printed by screen printing or digital UV printer, can be well decorated with foil. Due to its multi-layered structure, can be engraved to create contrasting inscriptions. Available in natural, white, coloured or brushed surfaces. It has a longer service life than PVC sheet. Excellent value for money, low self-weight material.

Areas of application

Advertising industry (billboards, decoration), interior design (room divider, furniture), architecture (facade cladding).

Structure

In the aluminium composite material board for the advertising industry, two 0.1-0.3 mm thick aluminium sheets sandwich a hard polymer plastic core. Total thickness 2-3 mm.
Well-known brands: Dibond, Alubond, Reynobond, XL Bond, Alupanel Lite.

The materials used in the construction industry are made with a thicker, 0.5 mm aluminium coating and a 4-5 mm thick PE or refractory core.
Well-known brands: Alucobond, Alupanel, Etalbond, Prefabond.

Machining, processing

Aluminium sandwich sheets are well machinable, customizable, cold bendable, can be cut, sawn, milled, engraved, drilled. Here are some tips for cutting. How to cut an aluminium sandwich board? There are several methods to cut sandwich boards. It is worth considering whether you cut occasionally or often, undertake the post-production or simply do not want to deburr or file the cutting edges.

• The most simple way is scoring and snapping. Thinner Dibond plates can be cut with a razor knife, next to a straight ruler. The blade has to be pushed on the material several times, and if it is sufficiently weakened, the material can be broken in half.
  This youtube video from 3:20 to 8:40 shows someone using a utility knife with a breakable blade. The blade has become already worn while cutting a single sheet and has to be replaced.
  
  
• CIAK Professional can be used in a similar way when supplemented with a Dibond Kit, but here a special steel cutting blade has to be pushed through the sandwich plate several times and after a few cuts the plate has to be broken in half. The cutting edges can be smoothed with the deburring knife supplied with the Dibond kit.
  What you need: CIAK Professional Cutter + Dibond Kit + Dibond Blades + Dibond finishing hook blade
  Video: Ciak Professional + Dibond Kit cuts aluminium sandwich panel.
  
  
• The best value for money, perfect quality tool is the CIAK Bomber horizontal cutting machine with the motorized milling head. Note that due to the thickness of the milling tool, 6 mm is "lost" from the material.
  What you need: CIAK Bomber electric cutter + Dibond Milling Tool
  Video: Dibond cutting with CIAK Bomber electric cutting machine
  
  
• The GLADIUM vertical industrial sheet metal cutting machine allows the cutting of aluminium sandwich panels with less effort. GLADIUM cuts thinner boards with a hardened steel blade, and when paired with a REBEL motor saw, it easily handles even the toughest material.
  What you need: GLADIUM panel cutting machine + Dibond blades
  or GLADIUM panel cutting machine + REBEL Motor Saw + Saw blade for aluminium
  Video: Gladium cutting machine with REBEL motor saw cutting the aluminium composite sheet in half - from 0:35 to 1:10.
  
  
• The V-REBEL 'V-cutter' option available for GLADIUM machines allows V-grooving for bending plates. The grooving and incision are also required for fitting and bending Alucobond boards.
  
  
• While the above-mentioned methods allow the board to be cut in a straight line only, any shape can be cut using a router or a milling machine. The sandwich sheet can be milled, its surface can be engraved (eg. for inscriptions) or folded by grooving.
  
  
  

Comparison table

	CIAK Professional + Dibond Kit	BOMBER	GLADIUM	GLADIUM + REBEL	MCUT
	horizontal cutting bar	horizontal cutting machine with milling head	vertical cutting machine	vertical cutting machine with motor saw	horizontal CNC router	utility knife	saw	laser cutter
straight cutting
form cutting
V-cut, grooving				V-Rebel option
price of the machine
cutting thickness of ACP [mm]	3	5	5	12	12	2	5
cutting length [cm]	max. 310	max. 310	max. 205	max. 205	max. 300
the quality of the cut
cutting tool	blade	milling tool	blade	circular saw blade	milling tool	blade	saw	laser
position	lying	lying	standing	standing	lying			lying
handling	manual	manual	manual	manual	PC	manual		PC