Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

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sthone
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Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by sthone » Wed Apr 06, 2016 4:25 am

M2 Cutter 01.jpg
On this episode of "What will he bolt on to the printer this week" we have a Cricut brand cutting blade housing mount.
M2 Cutter 02.jpg
I had to CENSOR the New Gear as it's in Beta trials and I'm not sure if we can show them yet.
This was a pretty simple mount to design that bolts right on to the V4 mount.
M2 Cutter 03.jpg
It just bolts on with two 8/32" and one 6/32 screws. The blade holder is pretty cool as it has a certain amount of cutting depth adjustment that can be made by turning the top dial. There is an adhesive mat (not shown) that is clipped to the bed and the paper sticks right to it.
Last edited by sthone on Wed Apr 06, 2016 4:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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sthone
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by sthone » Wed Apr 06, 2016 4:32 am

M2 Cutter 04.jpg
Initial tests with normal printer paper did ok....
M2 Cutter 05.jpg
...but anything with small details like areas of the skull tore pretty easy while cutting and didn't stay stuck to the mat. I tried a thicker card type printer paper but that was even worse.
M2 Cutter 06.jpg
Switching over to a craft type card stock proved to be the winner, it cut out prefect shapes and even the little details stayed stuck to the adhesive mat.
M2 Cutter 07.jpg
Here's a few of the test cutouts. I think this would be good for cutting out stencils for things like airbrushing, I still have some more tests to run but I'm very happy with the final results on this attachment. The Blade/Holder and Mat ran me about $20. I'm not sure how long the Mats last but they came two to a pack so I still have a back up to play with if this one wears out to fast.
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Jules
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by Jules » Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:04 am

Handy.....got a few of those. :D

If you round the tight corners and S-curves in the file, they won't tear and pull up. Any time the blade is forced to do a rapid direction change it generally tears the paper instead of cutting it cleanly, particularly on loosely woven textured cardstock. (Vinyl cuts much easier.)

The mats can be washed! :) Rinse in sudsy water, let it air dry. And if you want to renew the tackiness after a few washes - a light spray or two of Krylon Easy Tack Repositionable Spray Adhesive #7020 works to completely renew the surface. (And a can of that is about $8, and will refresh the mats until they fall apart.)

Cool cross over project! 8-)

jsc
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by jsc » Wed Apr 06, 2016 6:33 am

With this software, you can have a 3D printer, too: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/

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Jules
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by Jules » Wed Apr 06, 2016 2:35 pm

jsc wrote:With this software, you can have a 3D printer, too: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/
Are you testing that pepakura program for the Glowforge designing Jin? How are ya liking it? :D

Rhino has an "Unrolling" function that takes a 3D shape and flattens it into a pepakura-like object....I think it's designed specifically for laser cutter use. (Haven't played with it myself yet....I need to get on that since the machines will start shipping (sure they will) in a couple of months.) ;)

mbonadio
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by mbonadio » Wed Apr 06, 2016 4:21 pm

One of my bucket items is to add a drag knife to my CNC machine. In doing research, I learnt that it's important to swivel the knife at corners to orient the blade to the right direction. Here is a http://donektools.com/free-cnc-router-software/links-2/ with more information.

Not sure if it applies, but it's work reading.

Cheers
Michael

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Jules
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by Jules » Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:21 pm

Never thought about the mechanics of doing that in a substance harder than paper or thin cardboard/balsa. :shock:

We use knife offsets, etc. in the craft cutters, but since the blade swivels freely as the knife drags, there usually isn't a lift on it when it turns. (With one exception....if you break the vector path in the tight corner, it causes the blade to "hiccup" faster than the eye can follow, but that's usually enough to get it re-oriented, and very few designers take the time to round out all their corners in designs.) Fancy fonts are the worst - they're designed for printing, not cutting. (And naturally everybody wants to do fancy script names of the grandkids with their cutters...first thing. Sigh. :| )

Interesting video! :)

(Just an aside to anyone interested in continuing the blade cutting experiments - there is a plug-in for Illustrator that does corner rounding on your vector paths called Xtreme Path. I wouldn't try to design for a cutter without it. It saves beaucoup blades.)

jsc
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by jsc » Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:29 pm

I haven't done anything to "prepare" for my laser cutter yet. I find it impossible to get the motivation without having unit in hand. Still excited and hopeful, though.

Do they make dull cutting knives, to score paper instead of cutting it? You could precrease complex origami patterns.

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Jules
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by Jules » Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:41 pm

Some of the cutters had various tools that could be used for the purpose, embossing tools with specialty mats, pointed tips for piercing, hard tips for etching on glass, that sort of thing. (I used to just raise the blade in the holder enough so that it did not cut all the way through the paper.)

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sthone
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Re: Cricut Cutting Blade Attachment

Post by sthone » Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:08 pm

Jules wrote:Handy.....got a few of those. :D

If you round the tight corners and S-curves in the file, they won't tear and pull up. Any time the blade is forced to do a rapid direction change it generally tears the paper instead of cutting it cleanly, particularly on loosely woven textured cardstock. (Vinyl cuts much easier.)

The mats can be washed! :) Rinse in sudsy water, let it air dry. And if you want to renew the tackiness after a few washes - a light spray or two of Krylon Easy Tack Repositionable Spray Adhesive #7020 works to completely renew the surface. (And a can of that is about $8, and will refresh the mats until they fall apart.)

Cool cross over project! 8-)
Thanks for that info Jules. I wasn't sure what to expect from these blades but they work pretty well even on the tight corners once I found the good paper. That's good to know about washing the mats and retacking them, that should save me money if it turns out I use this a lot.
jsc wrote:With this software, you can have a 3D printer, too: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/


Now this is pretty cool looking I use to love to play with paper craft back in the day I might just have to give this a go.
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