A Guide to using the Silhouette Cameo Cutter

[allan downes]

Thanks, indeed to buy some of the softer solvent anyway so switching to laminated 20thou should be fine for most of my plans. Just need to stop the warping of laminations.

So many potential ideas going through my head at the moment I'm still unsure as to what I will actually do with it first!

 

As for the heat, I'm dreading coming back to Sevilla in 2 weeks time! I'm going to melt!

 

Just how hot is it out there,Rich ? In Fahrenheit please.

 

Cheers.

 

Allan.

 

Edited cos spelt Fahrenheit wrong !

Edited July 27, 2017 by allan downes

[Robin2]

Edited cos spelt Fahrenheit wrong !

That's why centigrade was invented.

 

...R

[The Fatadder]

Just how hot is it out there,Rich ? In Fahrenheit please.

 

Cheers.

 

Allan.

 

Edited cos spelt Fahrenheit wrong !

Somewhere north of 105,

Now in Madrid in the mid 90s stuck outside waiting for a train to the airport as the taxis are on strike

[Ray H]

Ray - what version of Inkscape are you using?  I found (post 1963) that the change of resolution for pixel units in the newest version (0.92) of Inkscape gives the wrong size drawing when opened in Studio, so I have had to revert to version 0.91.

 

Mick

 

Mick

 

I wanted to cut some outline shapes of (Word) special characters - diamond, circle, triangle and square - so that I could ensure the relative sizes were all the same. I found that I couldn't create these characters in either Inkscape or Studio so resorted to Word. I printed out the characters, scanned the print as an image, saved it as a .jpg file which I opened that in Inkscape.

 

I saved it as a .dxf file from there so that I could open it in Studio - which doesn't appear to have a facility to scan images. I tried several times to create the output file but although the Portrait would do a test print it wouldn't print the special characters. I then realised that what I was trying to cut were the scanned (relatively) blurred and infilled shapes which I doubt the Portrait liked.

 

I went back to Inkscape and copied the outline of the characters on a separate layer and saved that.

 

Studio opened that version ok but the data was enlarged when it was opened. In the end and in complete contrast to my earlier experience with size differentials, I had to change the pixel measurements to millimetres to restore the original character size.

 

I've just tried re-opening the earlier window test file in Inkscape and have noticed that the measurements in that file were set to pixels although I don't recall changing them.

 

It does seem that if the Inkscape drawing measurements and the saved .dxf file measurement settings are the same type, files created by the current version of Inkscape import into Studio OK.

[MickRalph]

I will have another look, though I use the Designer Edition of Studio (thus opening Inkscape SVG files direct), so I don't have to do the intermediate stage of saving as a .dxf file.

 

Mick

[The Fatadder]

How accurate is the silhouette at cutting small radius curves?

 

One possible application I have been thinking about over the past couple of days is for the prototyping of laser cut glazing. My logic is to draw up a window in cad, and use various radius curves trial and error in order to cut a plastic or card blank to fit the window.

Then once the design is finalised the drawing can be sent off to a laser cutter to commission a batch of the complete windows. At the moment I see there being a considerable additional expense sending off lots of small batches of window designs with slightly different radius corners in order to find the correct match for the model. All of which could now be done at home (assuming the cutter can produce a curve of sufficient accuracy)

[Ray H]

Rick

 

I would suggest that it is extremely accurate once the artwork has been set-up correctly. It will only cut to the drawing.

 

There may be issues with compatibility between the various software packages, but I'd say that those aside - and you probably gets what you pay for software wise - there should be no worries about accuracy.

 

I'm puzzled why you would want to use a cutter as an intermediate stage. Surely it is the design software that determines issues of accuracy.

 

Presumably you will be working from a drawing to construct the building. Can you not use a line to determine the aperture to be cut in the body of the building and then use the same line as the base to design your window from or have I missed the point completely?

[The Fatadder]

I think the issue lies with my ability to accurately measure the radius of the window corners (rather the the x and y dimensions). From previous conversations with manufacturers of laser cut windows, I have been told of this trial and error approach to finding the radius. But this would be very time consuming (and expensive) when you don't own a laser cutter. I probably should have added the context, in that I am looking at things like glazing Mainline Collett coaches)

 

Drawings will be dxf in Autocad

[Stubby47]

If you can accurately cut the glazing using the Silhouette, then why then use laser cutting ?

 

if you have an old coach window, try spraying paint onto a piece of card, or similar, through the window which will act as a mask. Scan the resulting pattern and resize to a known dimension (such as the width of the window opening). 

You should then be able to draw the correct radius curves for each corner and send to the cutter.

[The Fatadder]

If you can accurately cut the glazing using the Silhouette, then why then use laser cutting ?

.

Thickness of material, laser cut windows generally being circa 40thou in thickness (which if I recall correctly helps hide the thickness of the coach side

[Robin2]

I have been doing some more experiments with using my Portrait to prepare masks for etching. I made a scriber

 

so that I could scribe away the areas that need to be etched

 

More details here

 

...R

[Biased turkey]

I started to cut the tamiya  tape for masking the  TT9 scale covered wagons

The silhouette portrait did a good job

X-acto is dead, long live silhouette.

 

Jacques

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ray H]

That's clever.

 

I've experimented a bit more. I've made up a couple of station running in boards. I've used several thicknesses of 20 thou plasticard and laminated them together. The outer layer on each side is an overlay for the posts only and the whole thing has a further piece of 20 thou fixed horizontally to the top and bottom of the board. This makes the entire assembly rigid.

 

The Mark I version was drawn up using rectangles converted to lines whilst the Mark II version was entirely based around lines that I positioned using the X and Y co-ordinate input boxes at the top of the Inkscape window. The Mark I layers weren't completely "square" which meant that the laminations only fitted together one way round - something I didn't realise until after I'd started the assembly.

 

The strips - post overlays, board top and bottom - were positioned between the posts below the board in the cut layout to economise on plasticard. These strips weren't as long as the board was wide which resulted in the basic frame being bent to snap the strips out on Mark I. I made the length of the horizontal cut lines for the strips the same length as the width of the board (with a vertical cut at the required length of the strip) and they were a lot easier to release when "snapped".

 

I also made a station seat using laminations of 10 thou. The hardest part of that little episode was fixing the supports at 90º to the seat and backrest.

[Biased turkey]

Closed TT scale wagon after painting.

I'm satisfied with the result.

Now I have 2  wagons a haussettes  ( high sided wagons  ) to paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacques

[Rob Pulham]

Very nice Jacques,

 

is the body some kind of card, it looks textured which add to the pleasing finish.

[Biased turkey]

Thank you Rob Pulham  for your opinion. 

The  shells of the closed vicinal wagons are 3D printed . I designed the shell using the Sketchup software and sent the .stl computer file to Shapeways. 10 days later  the 3D printed shell was in my mailbox.

The material used by Shapeways to produce the shell is the FUD  (  frosted ultra detail  ).

The "texture" is a defect inherent to the 3D printing technology. The part is printed layer by layer. But on a wagon shell  at the 1/20 scale  ( TT scale  ) and seen from "the 3 feet rule" it is almost unnoticeable. 

 

 

 

The closed wagon ready to ship out  beer from the Monrtfort  brewery.

 

Jacques

 

[Biased turkey]

Using the silhouette portrait to cut ( part of  )  scalescenes kit 

 

I needed a couple of coal staithes  for my TTm scale layout.

 

1) I downloaded the free scalescenes kit 

R024 Weighbridge/Coal Office

2) import the .pdf file  ( page 2  )  in the Inkscape software

Here is the result:

 

 

 

3) ungroup  and delete what we don't need

 

 

4) Save the document as a .svg file   ( using the "plain SVG " option  )

 

5) import the .svg file in the silhouette studio software  ( designer edition  ) 

 

6) Change the color of the 3 white bars used  as a guide to  glue  the edge

of the sides . 

 

Change the outline color and the fill color of those 3 bars.

It  is necessary so they won't be cut in the cutting process.

That  is the result:

 

 

One can see the grey lines where the cuts will be made

 

 

7) make a second copy of the staithe , add the registrations marks and print . 

 

8) On the cut settings window , select the  advanced cut mode

select that grey color ( RGB  169, 160, 161  ) for the cutting.

 

9) start the cutting process and in about 1 minute  all the cutting is done.

 

 

10 ) laminate  and clue.

 

 

 

Jacques

 

 

 

[allan downes]

 

Using the silhouette portrait to cut ( part of  )  scalescenes kit 

 

I needed a couple of coal staithes  for my TTm scale layout.

 

1) I downloaded the free scalescenes kit 

R024 Weighbridge/Coal Office

2) import the .pdf file  ( page 2  )  in the Inkscape software

Here is the result:

 

step1.jpg

 

 

3) ungroup  and delete what we don't need

 

step2.jpg

 

4) Save the document as a .svg file   ( using the "plain SVG " option  )

 

5) import the .svg file in the silhouette studio software  ( designer edition  ) 

 

6) Change the color of the 3 white bars used  as a guide to  glue  the edge

of the sides . 

 

Change the outline color and the fill color of those 3 bars.

It  is necessary so they won't be cut in the cutting process.

That  is the result:

 

step3.jpg

 

One can see the grey lines where the cuts will be made

 

 

7) make a second copy of the staithe , add the registrations marks and print . 

 

8) On the cut settings window , select the  advanced cut mode

select that grey color ( RGB  169, 160, 161  ) for the cutting.

 

9) start the cutting process and in about 1 minute  all the cutting is done.

 

cut.JPG

 

10 ) laminate  and clue.

 

IMG_1746.JPG

 

 

Jacques

 

 

Hi Jacques.

 

I really do admire your computer skills and only if mine were half as good but please forgive me for asking but why do you need a Portrait cutter to cut out a simple kit when you could have done it in a fraction of the time with a Stanley knife or similar ?

 

Forgive me if I sound pedantic, but it did have me questioning it.

 

Anyway, nice job all the same.

 

Cheers.

 

Allan.

[Robin2]

 but why do you need a Portrait cutter to cut out a simple kit when you could have done it in a fraction of the time with a Stanley knife or similar ?

 

Because when you have done it once you do it as many extra times as you like by pressing a button.

 

Also it does not slip and cut where you don't want it to, or cut your finger.

 

And if you are designing your own model (rather than a purchased kit) you have to go through the design/draw process anyway.

 

...R

[Siberian Snooper]

Another plus point, is the accuracy that the machine can attain. I can't see well enough to draw or cut to one or two decimal points. I can achieve that on the screen and it's in the cutting file the machine will get closer than I can measure.

[terrysoham]

Hi,

I would like to see whether this cutter can help me make an n scale (1:148) representation of the Ely station buildings for which I already have dimensioned drawings. I am quite comfortable and competent using the drawing tools available in Microsoft's Office programs to design my buildings . Could I use them with this cutter? What drawing format would I need to Save As?

If these questions have already being answered could you kindly refer me to the relevant pages in this interesting and thorough but very long thread.

Thank you.

[BrushType4]

Hi,

I would like to see whether this cutter can help me make an n scale (1:148) representation of the Ely station buildings for which I already have dimensioned drawings. I am quite comfortable and competent using the drawing tools available in Microsoft's Office programs to design my buildings . Could I use them with this cutter? What drawing format would I need to Save As?

If these questions have already being answered could you kindly refer me to the relevant pages in this interesting and thorough but very long thread.

Thank you.

 

Yes it would. The drawings need to be in SVG or DXF format. I'd be happy to cut your parts out to save you the expense of a machine.

Edited September 7, 2017 by BrushType4

[terrysoham]

Yes it would. The drawings need to be in SVG or DXF format. I'd be happy to cut your parts out to save you the expense of a machine.

So far as I can see, neither Microsoft's Word, Publisher nor Excel will save in these formats so how good is Silhouette's own design program. Is it capable of, for example, drawing to scale (1:148) the front elevation of a building showing the window and door positions accurately?

Regards

[chris p bacon]

I'm not an expert in any way but I use Inkscape to produce my cutting files, self taught but then read Mike Trice tutorial which filled in so many blanks. It draws in .svg and can save to .dxf

[Siberian Snooper]

I'm not an expert in any way but I use Inkscape to produce my cutting files, self taught but then read Mike Trice tutorial which filled in so many blanks. It draws in .svg and can save to .dxf

A while ago, Mike built an N gauge Swiss loco depot with inkscape. Sorry I am unable to post a link at this time.