Die-cutting machines and their hobby uses

[Landrick]

Brothers,

My wife has a Cricut machine. For those unfamiliar with this technology now lost to us, she is basically able to upload images and the machine will cut or draw whatever it is. (Her primary use is cutting vinyl for t-shirts). I am currently looking into finding some good files for stencils (the type is .svg) to use in place of transfer sheets for my 30k Ultras. I have never liked transfers and am terrible at free hand.

Do any of you have any experience with this?

Do any of you use similar machines and know how it could further aid the hobby?

 

[Gurth]

I have at times thought a machine like that could be quite useful to create spray templates, but never did buy one because the amount of use it would see for me wouldn’t be worth the investment — but if you have access to one anyway, why not use it?

 

Since the software for it uses SVG files, you can create your own with any vector drawing application that supports them, like Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator. A great advantage is that such files are infinitely scaleable, so you can use the exact same file to create a stencil for, say, a space marine bike and a Land Raider — you’re really only limited by how fine the machine can cut and the material you’re making the stencil out of.

[Subtle Discord]

The issue with die-cutting machines like this being used for stencils is that of scale. Because it uses a swivel cutting blade it can only be relied on down to a certain size; too small of a symbol/pattern and the swivel of the blade will have the cutter struggling to achieve the results you may be after. I'm not trying to discouraging (experiment to see what it can actually achieve) but to give an idea of what you can realistically achieve at the scale you'll be after.

 

If you really want to make use of the cutter (and why wouldn't you?) I also highly suggest you find a method for creating your own cutting patterns; you will find it very hard to located patters that are ready to use and appropriate to the jobs you'll want it for. The true power of the device is the complete freedom it gives you to cut whatever you want. Being 2D line drawings, they are not that difficult to produce, but it will require some self education.

 

To give some context, I own a KNK Zing cutter (Servitor Zing, in my little studio) and I use it to cut and scribe thin sheet styrene I use during my build process. While I can do great things with it, the limitations of the swivelling blade mentioned means that there is still manual cleanup and refining of the parts to get the corner details how I want them. Also, there are certain patterns I have to accept are just not possible because of the cutting limitations.

 

Someday when the demands of life are not as pressing I'll be doing at least a few articles on this subject to help people who might be interested in using these types of devices; I was hoping to have done at least one already, but I was not using Zing very much the last while so it did not happen, yet. This is changing and I will get to it, someday...

[Gurth]

I also highly suggest you find a method for creating your own cutting patterns

He said it uses SVG files, which can be made with many different programs — even a text editor, if you feel like coding them by hand.

 

To give some context, I own a KNK Zing cutter (Servitor Zing, in my little studio) and I use it to cut and scribe thin sheet styrene

What kind of thickness of plastic plate can these devices cut? If it can handle plate thick enough for scratchbuilding purposes, owning one suddenly becomes a lot more interesting.

[Subtle Discord]

The KNK Zing can cut 0.5mm and lower sheet styrene in 1-3 passes depending on the thickness. It'll usually leave a few stubborn corners that need a but of help with a razor, but it's not that big a deal. As mentioned, the swivel blade will mean that some corners will need a bit of clean up to sharpen them, but again it's very reasonable compared to hand cutting. I've done plenty of hand cutting and one of the largest time sinks is getting the pattern onto the the plastic accurately. So, even when you use heavier sheet like 1-2mm (2mm is the max you can tightly squeeze into the Zing) just getting the pattern scribed down to the surface is a huge time saver. Yes, you need to finish the job by hand, but it's practically tracing at that point.

 

The real power comes from being able to flatten 3D models that would be all but impossible to do by hand, and getting a template for Zing to cut. You can't do complex curves (a curve that bends in two directions) but you can do flat curves with ease. Naturally, any kind of details that are rounded and curved on a flat surface also become much easier to produce. And the results are repeatable with very good accuracy. One down side is the waste; to get the best possible cuts you sometimes need to be less efficient with the material you cut, so you can have more waste then careful hand cutting.

 

I chose the Zing for the very reasons that it had the highest cutting force for cutters in its price range, and it boasts a mostly metal construction. For a serious hobbyist who will make good use of it, it will be well worth the investment in saved time. It's wonderful to be doing something else while the cutter is working away on parts; it's like having an extra set of hands. But in hind sight I should have invest in the KNK Maxx; a cutter that has twice the cutting force, but at twice the price. Since I use it to produce product that will help pay for the investment, I wish I had the extra cutting power. I might consider trading up at some point, but I might also just invest in something like this small scale laser cutter. A laser avoids any problems with blades for superior accuracy, but comes with its own issues due to the heat and fumes. But this is getting off topic, and I digress.

[Gurth]

My main problem when scratchbuilding tends to be getting multiple pieces the same size and shape, like two sides of a stowage bin, turret, or whatever. A machine like this would make that part easy enough, but for the small amount of scratchbuilding I actually do, I don’t think I can justify the cost …

[SquigBait]

I recently came into possession of a Brother Scan-n-cut which has the lovely functionality of being able to import custom files via USB stick, so I will be experimenting with it. I will start with simple things like blast shields and other terrain like that, but I will certainly be giving it a go.