Fletcher-Terry F3100 63" Multi-Material Cutter

First to the machine. Setup is now complete.

To install the glass cutting pillar post, lock the rocker arm out of position as you did for the blade pillar post. Hold the short thumb lever depress while pushing the detent pin on the left side of the head. Then release the thumb lever first, then the detent pin. Loosen the speed screw and slide the matt cutting pillar post out of the head and slide the glass cutting pillar post in its place. Tighten the speed screw to lock the pillar post. Press the short thumb lever and not how the detent pin is disengaged when you push and release the short thumb lever.

Handle glass safely. Wear safety glasses and use glass working gloves. Carry the glass vertically while holding the sides. When you lay a large piece on a table, hold the glass against the edge of the table and rotate it down flat. You can then slide it away from the edge. Unexpected breakage occurs from bending or bumping the glass edge against a hard object.

Load the glass from the left. Set its bottom edge gently on the squaring edge bar and slide it to the right to the desired dimension. Rest your left hand against the face of the glass to hold it in place. Do not use the clamp on glass. It is used for plastic, matte mount and hard board only and may prematurely break glass.

Grasp the cutting head handle with your right hand and depress the short thumb lever. Raise the cutting head so that the tool is above the glass. Release the thumb lever and bring the head down until you feel the pillar post touch the upper edge of the glass. Now pull the lever all the way down to its rest position at a constant speed. Don't slow down at the bottom edge.

Keep your left hand on the face of the glass so it doesn't move. Do not apply breaking pressure at the centre of the glass; it may not break on the score line. Press with your thumb near the bottom edge and just to the right of the score. The break will occur immediately and the pieces will remain in place. Remove the two pieces of glass and dispose of the scrap.

Glass cutting is a two step process: score and break. The wheel creates a fine crack in the surface of the glass. After scoring, a slight bending of the glass will cause a break to travel the full length of this crack. Do not score the glass more than once. The glass will not break as easily and it will wear the wheel out quickly.

A spring pushes the wheel against the glass. This pressure can be changed with the pressure adjusting knob. The correct setting with a new wheel will show about one half inch of threads exposed on the knob. Avoid too much pressure; it causes the score to appear chalky and flakes of glass will be dislodged. The glass will not break out as easily if too much pressure is used. The ideal score results when just enough pressure is used to make a light, but continuous crack along the full length of the glass.

Observe good safety practices. Wear safety glasses while using tools and handling the machine components during installation. Use glass-working gloves when you handle glass to avoid serious cuts. Inspect the carton and machine to be sure it was not damaged in shipment. If it was, file a claim with the carrier. Remove the owner’s manual and the warranty card. Please fill it out and return the warranty to the Fletcher Terry Co. as soon as the installation is complete in order to activate the guarantee.

The Fletcher 3100 rests on three foam blocks in the carton. One foam block contains the lower mounting bracket, two horizontal supports and an angle bracket. You will find a plastic parts bag, which contains the fasteners, cutting blades and wheels and other hardware required to complete the installation. Along one edge of the carton is a tube, which contains the right support assembly and beneath it is the upper wall bracket. Under one foam block, you will find a box of accessories, which includes the four pillar posts for cutting, a handle and a measuring stop. Also included is a plastic storage box. Please refer to the installation instructions in the manual. They provide a step-by-step procedure which will help you mount the machine on the wall in a safe manner. This video will highlight the same steps.

The parts bag contains wood screws to attach the two brackets to the wall, quarter-twenty bolts, nuts and washers to attach the machine to the wall brackets, a shoulder screw, which connects the right support squaring edge bar to the machine, 10-32 hex head screws and flat screws for the right support brace, hex head screws, Philips screws and nuts to mount the two horizontal supports. In addition, the bag contains 10 steel glass cutting wheel units, 10 plastic scoring blades and 10 mat mount board cutting blades. You will also find a cleaning brush and hex wrenches.

These are the tools required for installation. You will need an adjustable wrench or socket set, Philips head and blade-type screwdriver, tape rule, plumb bob or carpenter’s level, straight edge at least 48 inches long, a pencil and an electric drill to drill pilot holes for the wood screws.

The wall bracket screws must be mounted directly into wood, not plaster or drywall. If wall studs are not located where you mount the brackets, you should first install a sheet of plywood wide enough to attach to at least two studs. The machine can then be mounted on the plywood. Suspend a plumb bob from a nail about 96 inches above the floor and in line with where you want the wall brackets mounted. Allow enough space to the left to handle the larger sheet of material you plan to cut and at least 3 feet to the right of the string. Make a light pencil line on the wall about 93 inches above the floor. Now, hold the long upper wall bracket at the height you marked. Line it up with the plumb bob string or a level placed vertically on the wall and mark the six wood screw locations on the wall. Drill the holes with a pilot drill slightly smaller than the wood screws. Mount the upper bracket on the wall with the wood screws provided. Be sure they are tight. Attach the lower wall bracket to the machine with quarter-twenty bolts, washers and nuts. Tighten the nuts firmly. Have two associates lift the machine and hold it in place while you bolt the machine to the upper bracket with quarter-twenty bolts, washers and nuts. At this time, the machine is hanging from the upper bracket and the lower bracket is resting against the wall. The holes in the upper bracket are elongated so you can shift the machine to make the lower bracket rest flush on the wall. Drill the wood screw pilot holes in the wall for the lower bracket. Attach it to the wall with the screws. Be sure they are fully tightened. Install the horizontal support rack to the left horizontal support and the wall. Hold it in place and drill the wall for screws. If the wall is flat, the bracket will fit without twisting the machine. Otherwise, shin this bracket at the wall. This bracket is necessary to assure a solid, rigid installation.

The right support assembly, which was shipped in a tube, consists of the right squaring edge bar, right aluminum extrusion and a brace. Attach the brace to the aluminum extrusion with flat head screws and nuts. Do not tighten the nuts fully until later. Use the hex wrench provided and loosen the eccentric screw just enough to allow the eccentric nut to turn. Use quarter-twenty bolts, washers and nuts and attach the angle bracket to the top left of the aluminum extrusion. The short leg of the angle bracket should point upward. Do not fully tighten the nuts yet. Set the assembly aside. A similar angle bracket is already installed on the machine to hold the left support, which was factory assembled. Remove the two nuts and the washers from the vertical leg of this bracket and set them aside. They will be reinstalled shortly.

The right support assembly can now be installed on the machine. Slide the squaring edge bar in the slot in the vertical extrusion and line up the hole. The shoulder screw will provide precision location of the right support. Insert the shoulder screw and attach a flat washer, lock washer and nut in the rear. Do not fully tighten yet. The two socket head screws can now be installed at the upper end of the brace. At this point, all the screws holding the right support are still loose. The quarter-twenty nuts and washers which were removed from the angle bracket should be reinstalled and fully tightened. As you can see, both angle brackets are now attached to the vertical extrusion of the machine. In sequence, fully tighten the shoulder bolt nut in back and the screws at both ends of the brace. The horizontal support bracket can now be attached to the wall and the right support just as you did with the left horizontal support. Be sure it fits without bending the right support. The eccentric nut on the right support is still loose, and we will now align the right squaring edge bar with the left using a long straight edge. Slide the straight edge from the left so it is resting on both squaring edge bars. Note that it can rock, which means the two bars are not yet in line. Rotate the eccentric nut in the rear and observe the right squaring edge bar being raised until it just touches the straight edge. At this time, hold the eccentric nut so it cannot turn and tighten the button head screw in front. This will lock the squaring edge bar in its proper position. The accessory box contains a handle, bracket and screw fasteners. The handle should now be attached to the head as shown. Its purpose is to help pull the head downward when cutting hard board or aluminum. The plastic storage box can be used to store the pillar posts, cutting blades and wheels, hex head wrenches and the measuring stop. The box can be suspended on the lower wall bracket for convenient access. The installation is complete except for positioning the scale in the right support. This will be done while explaining the pillar posts.

Notice the two thumb levers -- one shorter than the other. The longer one is used to break out plastic and will be explained later. The short thumb lever, when depressed, will rock the cutting tool away from its cutting position. It is held depressed while you raise the head so the cutting tool will clear the material on the upstroke. All cutting and scoring is done on the down stroke of the head. If you depress the short thumb lever, depress the detent pin then release the thumb lever. It will remain locked in the non-cutting position.
There are four pillar posts with the machine – glass cutting, plastic cutting, mat mount and foam board cutting and hard board cutting. Glass, plastic and mat board cutting tools are replaceable and need to be installed in the pillar post. Hard board cutting wheels are an integral part of their pillar post and should not require replacement until after an extended amount of usage. Select a glass cutting wheel unit. The wheel is mounted on a clip which contains an axle and makes it easy to replace a worn wheel. Slide the clip in the slot at the corner of the pillar post. Push it all the way to the bottom of the slot as shown. Select a plastic scoring blade. Loosen but do not remove the locking screw. Slide the blade under the screw head with the point of the blade downward. Tighten the screw. This tool will gouge the plastic, not cut it. The mat mount board and foam board cutting pillar post has a blade cover which must be removed first. Lay a cutting blade on the pillar post with the notch in the blade engaging the pin as shown. Replace the cover and tighten the screws. The hex head wrench required to remove this cover is included in the parts bag. The glass, plastic and mat cutting pillar posts are inserted in the rocker arm in the opening to the left. The hard board cutting pillar post is inserted in the opening to the right. These two positions for the pillar posts are not interchangeable. Now, you can complete the set up by positioning the scale in the right support. Hold the short thumb lever depressed while pushing the detent pin on the left side of the head. Then release the thumb lever first, then the detent pin. Insert the mat cutter pillar post in the left hand slot in the rocker arm and tighten the speed screw. Mark a pencil line exactly 4 inches from the right edge of a scrap piece of a mat board and place it on the squaring edge bar. Depress the short thumb lever, raise the cutting head and release the thumb lever so the blade rests exactly on the line drawn on the mat. Slide the scale to the right 4 or 5 inches. Turn the end of the scale over and remove the protective paper from the double-sided adhesive. Now slide the scale back to the left and align the 4-inch index mark on the scale with the right edge of the mat board. Press on the right end of the scale so the adhesive tape adhere.