Micro-cutting systems for forming cuts in products

A micro-cutting system for forming cuts along a length of a catheter or guidewire stock material to form a catheter or guidewire product, the system comprising:

• a cutting apparatus configured to form a plurality of pairs of grooves substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the stock material, the cutting apparatus including:
• a first cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to a vertical axis;
• a second cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to the vertical axis;
• and
• a first motor assembly configured to move the first cutting blade along a lateral axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material;
• a second motor assembly configured to move the second cutting blade along the lateral axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material, the first and second stepper motors thereby controlling a relative gap distance between the first and second cutting blades along the lateral axis,
• wherein the first and second cutting blades are configured to move in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material to contact the stock material and to cut the stock material and form each pair of grooves,
• wherein each pair of grooves extend in a direction substantially parallel to the vertical axis as a result of the one or more motors moving the first and second cutting members in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material, and
• wherein each pair of grooves are separated along the lateral axis so as to leave a resultant beam between the grooves of each pair of grooves formed in the stock material;
• and
• a stock material controller configured to hold the stock material and feed the stock material along the longitudinal axis through the cutting apparatus to enable the formation of successive pairs of groves along the longitudinal axis of the stock material, the stock material controller being further configured to selectively rotate the stock material between cuts to form one or more rotated offsets between cuts.