Rob Pulham Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Same here, definitely need to experiment more. Must be my new year project. What setting did you use for the scribing and cutting on the 20 thou? Hi Fettster42, I use 3 colours: Blue for dotted lines where I want to place overlays etc. Green for score lines Red for cut lines For cutting 20 thou I select all and with the ratchet blade on 1 I have Silhouette settings to custom and the speed 1 and pressure on 15 set to double cut. Once that's finished without unloading the cutting matt, I un-check the blue lines because I will now be able to see them and run the green/red cuts again. This time with the ratchet blade on 3 and the pressure on 23 (speed still set at 1 - I have tried to run it faster but it doesn't give such great results). Lastly I run, just the red cut for a final time with the ratchet blade set on 7, pressure 33. This doesn't cut through but makes for easy snapping out. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Hi They must just be out of stock as I got one with my curio back in November. Cheers Paul Thanks Paul! The next question is... does it work? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkis Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Hi Leigh, All cut with the silhouette, except the hinge pins which are 0.8mm styrene rod. The ends are 3 layers of 20 thou with the hinges and other iron work from 10 thou. This is a section of the artwork for the ends. NBR CCT ends.JPG NBR CCT end details.JPG Hi Rob, very nice work! What caused this issue? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 (edited) Hi Rob, very nice work! What caused this issue? Hi Clarkis, Happy Christmas to you. It's just a build up of dust from the cutter that I hadn't brushed off before assembling it and taking the photo. I just looked to check and it's gone. Phew! Edited December 25, 2015 by Rob Pulham 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PaulCheffus Posted December 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 25, 2015 Thanks Paul! The next question is... does it work? Hi I've only cut out one of the free designs so far and it did that without issue on card. I won't really have time to use it until later in the year due to other commitments. Cheers Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Thanks! I guess it is time to order. Now to find the best deal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 I finally got round to actually producing something for the first time with my Portrait today. It was better than all this Christmas nonsense, although rather frustrating. The job itself went pretty well for a first effort, but the cutter just wouldn't behave, until I discovered that it didn't like being connected to a USB hub. Plugging it straight into the laptop solved the problem, but is a pain because it's only got two USB ports, and one seems to be faulty after constantly swapping devices before I got a new hub. My creation was the parts for a base for a Peco point motor and microswitch. I decided that doing the job properly on the new layout was better than cobbling something together individually for each point, as I did last time. The base itself is three layers of 20 thou Plasticard, and the microswitch needs to be raised by six layers. I drew up one layer in Inkscape, duplicated it, and joined them all together so a single cut line separated them. Then I edited the result to remove all but a couple of the duplicated lines. The ones I left were too complicated for my addled brain to work out what to do with! On the maximum depth setting, the plastic wasn't cut right through, so I had to snap it all apart. This was easy enough for the outside of each part, but two of the pieces for the microswitch are in the middle of the base, so I had to cut three sides to get them out. The 3mm diameter screw holes didn't come out either. I opened out a few with a knife, but decided to drill the rest out after assembly. I'll either have to cut the rest of them from thinner plastic, or just mark the centres for drilling. Snapping out the pieces didn't produce clean breaks in places, but it can all be cleaned up after assembly. I need seven altogether, so if this one works, it will turn out to be a quicker job than my original plan of sawing the parts from thicker material. and it's a nice straightforward job to get started with on the Portrait, before I go onto the complicated stuff. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) Hi John, in my experience(admittedly limited) I have found that if you rearrange your larger pieces so that the long edges all butt up and then put all you smaller pieces edge to edge you will get a better experience when snapping them out. You will use a bit more plastic but at 20 thou it's cheap enough to make life a bit easier I find. I also try to have any uneven edges to the outside so that a rule and scalpel allows you to make nicks to ease the snapping out around the more awkward shapes. The example below is the best that I can find to illustrate my point. - the right hand side is the inside of my 300 x 600 sheet, leaving a nicely usable piece for else. The red squares are where I would nick with the scalpel to get straight pieces to snap out Edited December 26, 2015 by Rob Pulham 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 I finally got round to actually producing something for the first time with my Portrait today. It was better than all this Christmas nonsense, although rather frustrating. The job itself went pretty well for a first effort, but the cutter just wouldn't behave, until I discovered that it didn't like being connected to a USB hub. Plugging it straight into the laptop solved the problem, but is a pain because it's only got two USB ports, and one seems to be faulty after constantly swapping devices before I got a new hub. My creation was the parts for a base for a Peco point motor and microswitch. I decided that doing the job properly on the new layout was better than cobbling something together individually for each point, as I did last time. The base itself is three layers of 20 thou Plasticard, and the microswitch needs to be raised by six layers. I drew up one layer in Inkscape, duplicated it, and joined them all together so a single cut line separated them. Then I edited the result to remove all but a couple of the duplicated lines. The ones I left were too complicated for my addled brain to work out what to do with! On the maximum depth setting, the plastic wasn't cut right through, so I had to snap it all apart. This was easy enough for the outside of each part, but two of the pieces for the microswitch are in the middle of the base, so I had to cut three sides to get them out. The 3mm diameter screw holes didn't come out either. I opened out a few with a knife, but decided to drill the rest out after assembly. I'll either have to cut the rest of them from thinner plastic, or just mark the centres for drilling. Snapping out the pieces didn't produce clean breaks in places, but it can all be cleaned up after assembly. I need seven altogether, so if this one works, it will turn out to be a quicker job than my original plan of sawing the parts from thicker material. and it's a nice straightforward job to get started with on the Portrait, before I go onto the complicated stuff. I think you would struggle to cut that out in the old fashioned way - the silhouette is just automating the scoring - I would have laid all the little rectangles with two holes out along the top so that you could first snap the strip with all of them out, and then snap to separate them all individually. For the larger part I wouldn't have interlaced them, and I'd dispense with the nicety of rounded corners (which can always be sanded in after) I've doodled the artwork, as I would lay it out, first snap out the thick red lines then the thick green, then the thin green lines, and then you are left with a difficult to snap inside corner - that one moght be worth putting a radius in the inside corner, perhaps rather bigger than the ones you have drawn. For the holes I would mark a cross score on the center of the hole to make drilling easier. Jon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) The prototype assembled and positioned in its "mouse hole" at the back of the layout. I haven't got any countersunk screws, so will need to make holes in the baseboard to take the screw heads, but that's not a problem. The idea is that the units can be unscrewed from behind the backscene and lifted off a bar connecting them to the Peco points. I designed it because once the scenery is in place, it won't be possible to remove screws on the front of the Peco motor. Drilling the screw holes was easy enough, so on the next version I'll replace the holes with a mark to centre the drill on just the top layer. The microswitch needs to be moved back about 1mm, but that only needs a few dimensions to be edited in Inkscape. The assembled unit seems pretty strong, and well up to the job. In this very long thread I don't think I've seen anything created apart from models, and I'm sure there are lots of other uses for it for behind the scenes stuff like this. PS: I saw Jon's post after posting this, and may well alter the layout for the next version. Edited December 26, 2015 by BG John 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 I thought I'd try 15thou to see if it would cut right through, but it doesn't quite. The parts do break out much more easily though, and I can push the holes out with the nose of a pair of pliers. Once assembled, it seems to be strong enough. I adjusted the position of the microswitch packing, and removed all the holes except for the ones on the top layer. I had to add one more packing piece due to the reduced thickness. I didn't bother altering the layout of the parts, as they break apart so easily, but I'll try to do better next time! Having designed the units after building the baseboard, I discovered that the first one I'll be fitting would overhang the end of the wood it will be attached to, so I assembled one left handed rather than right. That means I now have three of the seven I need, but I'm not sure if I've got enough 15thou Plasticard to cut them all. I've only got two long lever microswitches, and I'm short of a few screws, so won't get them all fitted until a couple of eBay suppliers get over their Christmas hangovers, and bung some in the post. Next job is to lay the first two points, and see if they work. Even if they don't, it's been a useful learning experience. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Another suggestion for any parts that need popping out of scrap material, put a cross shape from corner to corner in the scrap area. This allows them to be snapped out more easily. Push in at the centre of the cross. That way you aren't trying to break two lines at 90 degrees to each other at the same time. It works both for squares and circles Jo 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_g_griffiths Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Working on building a Garatt at the moment but have done a lot of planning and cutting in the last year, several narrow gauge locos and wagons and a couple of buildings A few thoughts - the cutter is really only for scoring, I use up to 20 passes on 40 thou plasticard to get a clean snap. - draw out all the individual pieces to the sizes required then assemble into a cutting plan. ( more detail below ) - circles are best drawn with two concentric circles, the inner being 0.25mm diameter, the smallest possible, which acts as a centre for drilling out. - if there are a number of complicated curves or arcs, it's best to draw these components at 10 times required size on another sheet, then shrink to the correct size and import. Drawing large and shrinking The silhouette software does not produce curves with lots of points. If you look at components which have arcs, you will notice that there are vastly different numbers of points for each similar curve and the straight on the exit from the curve is frequently a curved line not flat. Working at 5 or 10 times the required size helps to reduce the significance of these anomalies and they virtually disappear when reduced to final cutting size. Multiple Passes and Cutting Plan Multiple passes, whilst helping to establish a really good snap line, tend to lead to small dimples where the blade changes directions on corners. I therefore try to arrange for the change of direction of the blade not to occur on the corner of the component. It's best to cut past the end point by a couple of millimeters then move the blade to a couple of mills outside of where the new line is to start, that way outside corners are achieved by two bisecting lines. (need to find out how to add pictures) Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted December 31, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 31, 2015 Just ordered mine! My initial plans are to get some windows and doors drawn and cut for a building project I will be starting soon. I have AutoCad for work so will use this to get started as obviously used to using this CAD system. Will eventually get my own CAD system on my personal laptop, but not sure what to get yet. Will need to review this thread again .... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 ..................... I have AutoCad for work so will use this to get started as obviously used to using this CAD system. .................. If you intend to transfer DXF files to 'Studio' be warned that, from my experience, only the older, simpler formats work correctly. From my Autosketch program, I need to save in AutoCAD R12/LT2 DXF format. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted January 1, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2016 If you intend to transfer DXF files to 'Studio' be warned that, from my experience, only the older, simpler formats work correctly. From my Autosketch program, I need to save in AutoCAD R12/LT2 DXF format. Mike Thanks for info Mike. There does seem to be a backwards compatibility issue with R13 as these DWG files cannot be opened by older versions of AutoCAD without issues. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I'm reading through the thread and have made it to page 27. LOTS of good info. My Curio arrived today. I didn't have time to cut anything yet, but I did unpack it and plug it in. I had installed the software from a download earlier. When I turned on the PC and started Studio, it came up and said it found a Silhouette machine and downloaded the free shapes. I then picked one, figured out that the default mat size doesn't match the Curio, fixed that and 'cut' the shape. I didn't install a knife or any media, just watched the little machine buzz and hum. I'm impressed with the moving base that the Curio has. Looks like a much better design than dragging a flexible sheet around with rollers. Oddly, it came with an extra cutting mat... One that is 8.5 X 12. The base only holds 8.5 X 6. But, my large base is coming so I'll be able to use the mat. I'll report on what I find when I start cutting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I figured out why I got the large mat. I ordered it... And they put it inside the box with the cutter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 (edited) Quote of the week "I figured out why I got the large mat. I ordered it." Nevadablue. Just love it. Brilliant ! Edited January 6, 2016 by allan downes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fettster42 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Nevadablue, have you go the deep cut blade for the curio. By interested to know if this can cut all the way through material. If it does might be time to upgrade. Leigh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Isn't it fun to get old Allan? I can forget stuff and laugh about it. What threw me off was the fact that the mat was INSIDE the box with the cutter though. So, I made a couple of test cuts today. The thing worked perfectly. My first real test was with a ball point pen and I let it draw a sketch and then cut it out. I'm impressed with the moving base. You can stack up to 6mm of spacers, which was what it took for cutting the thin card stock I cut today. I decided to finish reading through this thread before cutting anything else. Leigh, I did get the deep cut blade but haven't tested it yet. I will do so and then report back. It may be a few days though. My wife and I are completely reorganizing our play room and neither of us can get to much of anything right now. I built a special desk just for the cutter to live on so we both can use it without stepping on the other's hobbies. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted January 7, 2016 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2016 Hi Ken, I'll be very interested in whether your deep blade will get through .015" or .020" styrene, which is a holy grail. I hope you have a good time with it. Cheers Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Thanks Jason. And thanks for starting this thread. I have some styrene of different thicknesses. I'll see how it goes. I hope mine does cut the .020" stuff like Heinrik's did. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) Isn't it fun to get old Allan? I can forget stuff and laugh about it. What threw me off was the fact that the mat was INSIDE the box with the cutter though. So, I made a couple of test cuts today. The thing worked perfectly. My first real test was with a ball point pen and I let it draw a sketch and then cut it out. I'm impressed with the moving base. You can stack up to 6mm of spacers, which was what it took for cutting the thin card stock I cut today. I decided to finish reading through this thread before cutting anything else. Leigh, I did get the deep cut blade but haven't tested it yet. I will do so and then report back. It may be a few days though. My wife and I are completely reorganizing our play room and neither of us can get to much of anything right now. I built a special desk just for the cutter to live on so we both can use it without stepping on the other's hobbies. I can top that Nevadablue, check this out. I run out of Plasticard, ordered 10 sheets from Slaters, it arrived, I forgot I had ordered it so sent it back with a note attatched " Why did you send me 10 sheets of styrene ?" then had to shelve a job because I hadn't any then asked them to send it back . I got away with it because Dave White, the owner of Slaters, knows me from old ! Cheers. Allan. Or is it Pete, could be Bill, whatever.... Edited January 7, 2016 by allan downes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nevadablue Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) I ran the machine a bit today. I imported a copy of crane parts and drew them with a pen. Then I installed the large base with a full sheet of paper card and drew the enlarged crane parts. Then I cut it... perfect! I really like that moving base. Next will be a sheet of .010 styrene to see how that goes. I hate Windoze.... Oh, I used the drawings provided by Mark in this post. They worked great! Thanks Mark. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouette-cameo-cutter/?p=1847073 Edited January 8, 2016 by Nevadablue Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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