RMweb Gold JCL Posted April 1, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 1, 2013 Hi there At the start of this I should declare that I received a "Robo-Cutter" last year. It looks like a plotter (printer), except that it has a tiny knife blade instead of a pen. It has saved me a lot if heartache in this project. Until last year (I believe) the station at Wainfleet, Lincs had a beautiful pair of gates controlled by a wheel in the signal box. In the 1960's each gate contained two diamonds, and had bars running through them to stop animals and people venturing out onto the line. On my layout each gate would have to be 5.5cm long, which isn't really catered for in kit form. I tried using plastic square section, and that looked ok (see first picture), but I really wanted to try to get the bars in there as well. Last week I ventured out onto the 3D printing forum and saw the great stuff they were doing there, so while I was lying in bed one night I thought maybe I could take that method and build up some gates from card. As I already had the robocutter and a good supply of 110lb card from a foray out to my local town I thought I would try creating the gates in layers, gluing them together and seeing if they would look half decent. Each of the four gates is made up of seven layers. Two outer frames, four diamonds, and the one with the bars in the middle. I made a very simple jig to keep everything in line, and after the pieces had all been cut out I sprayed photo mount on all of the layers except for the bars in the middle. This would mean that none of the layers would have any exposed glue (having a Bernese Mountain dog that takes more hair brushing than Kate Moss, this was important). The first three layers were glued, one on top of each other in the jig, and then the bar layer was placed on top. The whole lot was compressed before then placing the last three layers on top, face down. The four gates are the same thickness as the plastic ones, but the different depths of each part of the gates can be seen - at least if I hold them far enough away from my eyes! Template (the number of bars was reduced from 5 to 3 in the end) A gate with some of the layers (after a first test, each following gate had 4 diamond layers to help the final thickness) One of the four gates that I'll varnish and paint Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhip Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Hi Jason, I'll bet that you're real glad you got the cutter now,those gates would have been a pain in the ass to do without it. When I get another roundtuit I fancy a go at some fencing.I've virtually stopped using spraymount and just use thinned PVA instead,I laminated some sheets of card to make wall buttresses for a tunnel portal with spraymount,the buttresses are 4mm thick and flex like a piece of liquorice. Allan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted April 2, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 2, 2013 You're telling me. To make absolutely accurate cuts of the diagonals so that the layers accurately line up - and that's not even thinking about the bars. Once printed they took about 30 minutes to put together I hadn't thought too much about PVA as I was worried about warping, but I will give it a go as I have some spare layers and some pedestrian gates to make. You're right though, there is flex in the gates - and the hairs on my arms had a latex covering for a while. Overall, I'm really pleased with the result. I think church windows might be another possibility. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benbow Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 That looks most impressive. I have been contemplating getting one of these cutters for some time now but never taken the plunge. I think you might have persuaded me . What drawing programme do you use please? Regards Roger Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted April 2, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 2, 2013 Hi Roger, thanks very much. I used Photoshop to create the outline, then the Studio software that comes with the Silhouette Cameo cutter to create the cut lines. I use png files in the process, so any program that will create them will work. I think most modern ones do because they are useful for websites. I've found that blacking in any detail helps when running the tracing function. It is fairly basic, and intensely annoying to use until you get used to it, but it does the job! Cheers Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain C Robinson Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 I've found this really interesting and useful, thanks for posting. I'm thinking about purchasing a Cameo Cutter as I do an awful lot of tricky cutting-out like this. About time I hauled myself into the 21st century! cheers, Iain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted April 4, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 4, 2013 Hi Iain It's weird to see the card being cut out for the first time! The Robo-Cutter is generally aimed at people doing crafts and scrapbooking. This means that I haven't found a great deal of information about using it in the modelling universe, which means that a lot of it is trial and error! One of the people that has provided a lot of useful information is Allan/Metalhip above. The software that comes with the cutter does the job once you know how to use it and get around its foibles. Selecting areas was a big problem for me until I worked out how to do it. The software also has a trace function that does really well if you give it the silhouettes I've illustrated above - give it all the help you can! The other great thing is that it can print and then cut out objects perfectly by using registration marks. This means that you could print and cut station canopies for example. To be honest, I was thinking of doing the signal box windows on it as I've become more adept at using it. I hope that helps Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain C Robinson Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Thanks, Jason... yes, that does help, and I think it would be brilliant for the signal box windows. I shall do some more research and let you know how I get on with this! cheers, Iain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhip Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I did these using an A4 label,the signal box is the Scalescenes "N" gauge. Allan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SXHALL Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Superb. This is an ideal solution for some office facades I need to print. Now I only need to convince my wife to let me "invest" in one!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted April 6, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2013 Hi All Here's a conversation that Allan and I had a while back which includes some settings for the cutter. Hope it helps. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/57343-silhouette-cameorobo-cutter/ cheers Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebs Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Hmm - fascinating - and really well done! You've now made me wonder if our plotter could take anything heavier than self adhesive vinyl.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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