Reprap as vinyl cutter ?

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone has already tested using Reprap as simple vinyl cutter ? I would think that in basic setup we would need to replace that extrusion head with suitable cutting blade and use the filament feeding stepper-driver to turn the cutting blade towards the motion the head is moving to. It could be quite easy to cut simple decals etc. from vinyl.

Has anyone tried this already or should I start from scratch ?

With best regards,

Henkka

Just a thought, but perhaps a wheel type blade much like a pitza cutter as opposed to a knife type blade?

You can get cutters that are like a plotter pens with a tiny blade that swivels to follow the direction of travel, you would then only need a holder.

---

Random Precision

... better try with a diodelaser - i've cut some sheets with a 200mW BluRay@445nm wavelength and a blue diode with 500mW@445nm (an image atached), but most cutting is done with IR-diodes from 5Watts to 9Watts power.

So you won't have any issues with applying forces or rotation, but you have to exhaust/vent the fumes ...

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Well, the laser solution would be nearly ideal. But I remember reading somewhere that there are some limitations in importing high-power lasers to Finland. They need customs clearance beforehand and as I recall, it's not easy to obtain permission to import those. But other than that, where would you recommend to get those high-power lasers / IR-diodes ?

As for blade-type solution, that swiveling blade holder would be very nice and very simple solution.

I also found that at least Mach3 (proprietary PC-controller software) supports the cutting blade direction control (Theta / C Axis). That could be also a good point to start my experiments (as I have some experience with writing custom behaviour using Mach3 plugins).

Thanks for replies, I think I'll try cutting some vinyl very soon ...

--
Henkka

This is a vinyl plotter cutter, [cgi.ebay.co.uk]
they are used in large format plotters for making signs etc, you would not need to have a C axis, the blade is adjustable for depth and swivels to follow the direction of travel.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2011 05:43PM by johnrpm.

---

Random Precision

I think it is almost cheaper just to take apart a new dvd or blueray burner for a high power laser. >200mW

use that laser and its optics should be cheaper than buying stock from anywhere. here is an ebay auction for 76$ [cgi.ebay.com]


if you want a kit, but a lower power laser diode here is an auction [cgi.ebay.com]

They ship these kits to finland.

it should be noted to always have protective shielding around lasers. these lasers are so focused and the power density is great enough that even reflection off of a piece of wood could potentially blind you. use extreme caution, and always have a guard in place that blocks the light enery.