RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 18, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2013 I bet it did I'm going to follow your build to see how it turns out. Can I ask everyone that's having a go with the cutter at the moment, has anyone tried .015" styrene yet? I was wondering whether it would cut through or if it is score and snap as well. cheers Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted December 18, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 18, 2013 Well Ron does it again! I've not tried 15thou yet, but I do intend to order some after Xmas for the coaches...... Andy G BTW could you have added .studio to the list of acceptable files? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Cut the backing panel for the GNR Deansgate Bridge North Face decoration The panel is 40thou styrene Settings - Speed 1, Thickness 33, Blade depth 10, Double cut First attempt with styrene placed firmly on the cutting mat - cutting caused the mat to skew under the rollers and slight damage to the edge of the mat - Pause doesn't work immediately, so had to switch off the cutter, and reset it Second attempt without the mat, with the rollers gripping the styrene sheet - worked perfectly and snapped out ok Ron 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted December 18, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 18, 2013 Interesting that you put 20thou though without the mat. I might have to try that. Thanks Ron andy g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Interesting that you put 20thou though without the mat. I might have to try that. Thanks Ron andy g Hi, Andy It was 40 thou not 20 thou - I think that is about the practical limit on thickness - I don't have any 60 thou, and think the rollers may start to bind Cheers Ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 The bridge lamination process - First 2 laminations on a 40thou backing 3 laminations Top 2 laminations Top 3 laminations Top 4 laminations Top 5 laminations Full view The face now needs microstrip additions and rosette decorations to complete The rear railside face needs flanges to the plating 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted December 18, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 18, 2013 Wow, thats beautiful Ron! I don't know if you have tried it, but if you don't remove the sheet you can go over it again by just hitting cut again. It might make breaking it out easier.. Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Wow, thats beautiful Ron! I don't know if you have tried it, but if you don't remove the sheet you can go over it again by just hitting cut again. It might make breaking it out easier.. Andy G Thanks Andy I will give it a try - wasn't sure if it kept the registration after a full cut Ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 18, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) Wow Ron, that really does look beautiful. The second and third cut etc will be exactly over the top of the first cut. My mat's a bit older, so a while ago I started using 3M Transpore tape to tape the material down, and I've got to the point where not using tape is like driving without a seat-belt on. cheers Jason Edited to say that the transpore tape is in chemists and doesn't rip easily when taking off the mat. Edited December 18, 2013 by JCL 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTrice Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Brilliant Ron, no wonder you are pleased. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 18, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2013 BTW could you have added .studio to the list of acceptable files? I suppose I could have asked, but I was thinking that the types we have now are fairly universal and so can be opened in a lot of different packages. DXF can be opened in the free version of studio, but the.studio files are unusable anywhere else. I've decided to get into the free Inkscape, and I might buy the CutWizard software as it seems to have more functionality than Silhouette's connector. There's a bit of a learning curve with Inkscape, but if you've been using Studio it should come fairly quickly. Cheers Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTrice Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 I've decided to get into the free Inkscape, and I might buy the CutWizard software as it seems to have more functionality than Silhouette's connector. I would certainly be interested in what you think of CutWizard if you go down that route. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 18, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) Hi Mike Officially CutWizard doesn't support Inkscape, just the following: Full support for CorelDRAW X3, X4, X5 and X6 Full support for Adobe Illustrator CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 However, I used the latest version in Inkscape when I was testing it for the first page of this thread, and the only thing I remember not working was the registration of prints with cut lines using registration marks.. With this in mind, I've sent an enquiry to their support people to ask them: In the future, do they plan to remove CutWizard's compatibility with Inkscape keep CutWizard compatible with Inkscape but unsupported, fully support the CutWizard and Inkscape If they choose option 2 or 3, will they enable registration of printed images with cut lines using registration marks. This works with CorelDraw, but I couldn't get it working with Inkscape. Will updates be free or paid for? If they plan to keep it compatible with Inkscape, even if it's unsupported, I'll buy copy and give it a go as it's my preferred option over the premium Studio software. For anyone using Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw, this isn't an issue as those packages are fully supported. Silhouette Studio Connector is also supported, but for my money doesn't have as much functionality. If you want the links to the trial programs to give them a go yourself, they are on page 1 of this thread. I'll let you know how I get on. cheers Jason Edited December 18, 2013 by JCL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTrice Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 I'll let you know how I get on. Yes please. The option is the use the driver from Inkscape with a decent controller. If you need help with Inkscape feel free to ask. If you are familiar with CorelDraw, Inkscape should not be a problem and I certainly find it more intuitive than Silhouette Studio. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
katwigan Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Ron, that bridge looks fantastic. I think that this / these machines have enabled modelling to be pushed into a whole new level, don't you ? No one could have produced the accuracy of that detail by hand before, certainly not at home! Awesome stuff...... now where did I leave that styrene? Kev T Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 20, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2013 Hi Mike I've had the reply that I was expecting, which was that while the sellers of CutWizard don't support Inkscape and can't provide help with any problems, the developers did provide the software with the ability to work with Inkscape. Up until now, all software updates have been free of charge and they expect this to be the same in the future. My advice would be to download the trial and see if it works for you. Based on the email response, and my test a while back I'll be buying a copy as it will allow me to cut from Inkscape without having the same the file and open it in some different software. I'll put up a post together about it over the weekend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 21, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2013 "without having the same the file" should have been "without having to save the file" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted December 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 21, 2013 A couple of pictures of the result of cutting 10 thou styrene from a DXF file produced in AutoCAD - IMG_0341.JPG The decoration laminations for the GNR Deansgate Bridge - North Face IMG_0342.JPG The bottom three laminations are for the decoration of the below railbed plating portion of the parapet. The top five laminations are for the above rail section of the parapet Just visible are the small trefoils (formed from 3 x 0.75 dia circles) in the second and third laminations from the bottom These laminations which are all in two halves (overall length 457mm) will be fixed to a base of 40 thou styrene The South Face is similar, but of a slightly smaller overall length and arch diameter The finished items really are the dog's b******s. I am more than pleased with the results - The overall cost comparison is less than 1/40th of etched brass, and produced immediately If necessary errors can also be corrected immediately One of the benefits is that cuts can be made whilst other jobs are being undertaken - this should speed up builds Ron Hi Ron In AutoCad did you use the default line weight or a different one? Cheers SS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Hi Ron In AutoCad did you use the default line weight or a different one? Cheers SS A default lineweight of 0.00mm is used for all drawings, which also allows any DXF files for cutting to be acceptable to the cutter software Some drawings which were originally drawn with 'polylines', have been 'exploded' to separate lines, arcs, etc. to enable the DXF files to also be acceptable to the cutter software If any reason thicker lines are required for plotting/printing purposes, then these are either converted to defined width polylines or re-defined via the plotter/printer set-up prior to printing Ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Heggs Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Have just cut 50 rosettes for the bridge parapets - 4mm diameter with 3.5mm dia circle and 8 lines scored on the upper face of 20 thou styrene Found when opening DXF file in Studio that circles were not imported. Re-drew the circles as 359 deg arcs, resaved DXF file, and when reopened in Studio everything displayed OK The scoring of the 8 lines is not consistent. Will redraw and test if 4 diametric lines will score better than 8 radial lines Ron 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTrice Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) The scoring of the 8 lines is not consistent. Will redraw and test if 4 diametric lines will score better than 8 radial lines They should. The problem is the order in which lines are cut and which end the cut starts from as the cutting blade has to be able to rotate itself into the correct alignment. I havn't tried this yet but the cutting direction might be based on where the start and end position of the line are drawn. OK sounds obvious! What I am trying to say is the sequence in which the line endpoints are drawn. I hope to carry out some experiments to test this over Christmas without the blade being extended, just to observe the cutting sequence. I believe the blade is 0.9mm in length so the tip is offset 0.45mm from the centre, therefore at line start there may be a short cut while the blade aligns itself to the line. Hope I have explained that well enough. Start with a very light score then repeat at increasing depths. That might help. P.S. Thinking about it a 0.9mm width blade at 45 degrees explains the 0.8mm limit to cutting thickness specified for the Silhouettes. Edited December 21, 2013 by MikeTrice Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted December 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 21, 2013 A default lineweight of 0.00mm is used for all drawings, which also allows any DXF files for cutting to be acceptable to the cutter software Some drawings which were originally drawn with 'polylines', have been 'exploded' to separate lines, arcs, etc. to enable the DXF files to also be acceptable to the cutter software If any reason thicker lines are required for plotting/printing purposes, then these are either converted to defined width polylines or re-defined via the plotter/printer set-up prior to printing Ron Many Thanks Ron I'm trying to knock up a few odds and sods to test on the machine when I get my greasy mits on it tomorrow. SS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 21, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) Carrying on from Mike's information, how about trying this: Create a sacrificial rosette Draw one line on all of the rosettes going across the rosette, not just to the middle Cut Turn all of the lines 45 degrees Cut Continue until you're done. The sacrificial rosette will take the brunt of the blade turning, so it should be in the right position for the rosettes. This method is based on the fact that the the lines will register each time you restart a cut, assuming you don't move the rosettes. It's a faff, and I can't test it at the moment, but it might just work. If you want to hang on, I'll test it this afternoon (Canada time). I hope that makes sense. Edited to ask what the diameter of the rosette is, or if you wouldn't mind uploading the DXF file. Edited December 21, 2013 by JCL 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan downes Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I've been following this thread faithfully right from the beginning and although I don't understand a word of it, I have to take my hat off to you gentlemen that do. BTW, are you all rocket scientists or something ? Anyway, whether you are or not, I wish you all a merry Christmas and infinite success with your machines - now you may go and cut out some more rosettes ! Cheers. Allan. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointstaken Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 BTW, are you all rocket scientists or something ? Oh, is it that obvious ? Dennis 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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