I recently watched the MR video on the new Brother cutting machine and was impressed that it will cut .040" (1mm) styrene fairly well. I'm looking at its possible use in cutting Evergreen Scale Models styrene building sheets. MR's review lists this machine at just under $350, but Amazon has it at just under $400. Is it possible that the MR listing is incorrect? Also, the e designation only means this cutter comes with an extra card to creating greeting cards and the like, not something I need. So, the SDX125 appears to be the same machine but without the (e) card and Amazon lists it at $300ish. Is the e unit (pun intended) really required here? Also when the thicker styrene was being placed on the mat, the narrator stated it was to be placed face up. I thought the grooved siding face was to be placed face down with the smooth side of the sheet facing up, please clarify. While the cut quality of the .040" styrene was stated as being more like score and snap versus the cleaner .020" cut, I think I can live with that. The alternative would be to have to score and snap all the cut lines by hand and I don't think the windows would pop out as cleanly as with the machine.
The review states that it is sponsored. Would Brother be the sponsor? Just curious.
I'm looking for some active discussion about using this machine (and any other candidates) for cutting Evergreen Scale Models styrene .040" siding and roofing sheets.
Ron Ferrel
Amazon doesn't always have the best prices, but there seem to be very few options online other than a craft store or two.
Brothers has an on line chat where you could ask questions.
Brother would pretty much have to be the sponsor.
We have had previous discussions of the Cricut machine
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
RR_Mel I tried a Circuit Demo machine at a local Craft store and it had a hard time cutting .02” Evergreen Styrene, took four passes. I’m interested in any response on the Brother machine also. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
You need a special blade to cut styrene. Even then it can take a few passes. The stock blade is pretty useless
Semi newbie HO scale modeler coming from the O scale world
Cutting .040" scribed siding is kind of a cheat as only portions of the styrene sheet are actually .040" thick! Let's see the machine cut through plain .040" styrene sheet without so much score and snap cutting, nice square inside corner cuts as well as nice, tight detail cutting and I might be interested.
Hornblower
BigDaddy Amazon doesn't always have the best prices, but there seem to be very few options online other than a craft store or two.
Hear hear! In my experience, they almost NEVER have good prices. I find it so hard to get that through many people's heads. Oh well, its their money...
Anyway, about this desired cutting machine, have you checked ebay yet? If used doesn't bug you, you might find a good deal.
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
hornblowerCutting .040" scribed siding is kind of a cheat as only portions of the styrene sheet are actually .040" thick! Let's see the machine cut through plain .040" styrene sheet without so much score and snap cutting, nice square inside corner cuts as well as nice, tight detail cutting and I might be interested.
There is a new video on MRVP where Ben Lake cut garage doors out of 0.01" styrene and the glazing out of 0.015". The software to design it looked easy, no learning of CAD program necessary.
He said he chose that thickness because while he has cut 0.06" styrene, the cuts on the thinner styrene are more "accurate". He doesn't define what that means. I wonder if it means, on subsequent passes, the blade wanders off vertical.
Depends on the accuracy of the axes of the machine, the more passes you need the more likely it is to make a much wider cut. None of these things (so far) is really designed to cut styrene sheets, they just kind of do, if it's thin enough and if you use the right kind of blade. If it happens to work out, great, but it really comes down to using the tool for other than its intended purpose. I was intrigued, but at this point I'll hold off until someone makes one definitely designed to do slightly thicker styrene. There may be some other uses I can see cutting paint masks as one.
As for Amazon - like anything else, you need to shop around and not blndly click. Many times they actually do have the best price - remember to factor in shipping. Sometimes I cna get pool supplies fro the very same company that I get catalogs from, cheaper through Amazon than ordering direct. Other times, ordering direct is cheaper. Electronic compoents may not always be the cheapest at Amazon, compared to eBay, but the Amazon one will ship Prime from the US and be there in 2 days, while the cheaper on on eBay will come slow boat from China which is usually 3 weeks or more to the East Coast. And the difference is seldom significant. Computer compoentns, usually end up 50/50, meaning half of the parts are cheaper on Amazon and half cheaper elsewhere, so my order gets split. Model train parts and rolling stock, forget it. Amazon is almost always beat by Modeltrainstuff, and since they are only an hour and a half from me, not having expedited shipping is no big deal, I get stuff quickly from them.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I got a similar machine to this, a Cameo Siloeutte for my wife, for Christmas a few years ago. I have to say I was disapointed. It cut cardboard and vinyl great as it was intended but it struggled even with .020" styrene sheet.
As stated is was outside normal use and didn't quite meet my expectations.
I do however have a tabletop CNC router with a 12"x12" cut area and it works great for almost all my modeling needs. It's so much more precise than me cutting by hand. It was worth the investment (~$1000 all in, including computer). I haven't even pushed it to its full potential yet (3D cutting). Mostly I use it to cut flat stock.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
E-bay has them for as little as $150 auction and $250 buy it now. When looking use SDX125 and look at the spec's, most listers leave off the E but will have it in details.
GN fanI recently watched the MR video on the new Brother cutting machine and was impressed that it will cut .040" (1mm) styrene fairly well. I'm looking at its possible use in cutting Evergreen Scale Models styrene building sheets.
So, the videos convinced me to give the Brother SDX125 a try. (I had previous tried a friend's Cricut, but for various reasons didn't find it worthwhile.)
So far, I can report a couple of things:
* The Brother's CanvasWorkspace software is much easier to use than the Cricut's, and the learning curve is pretty gentle;
* The AutoBlade is great - it cuts styrene without difficulty. Yes, it makes multiple passes, but it decides how many it needs, what pressure to use, and when it's done. (The Cricut reuires you to set all that, or just keep pushing the start button...)
* The whole process is very easy and intuitive.
* THE BAD NEWS: The cutting mat doesn't really hold styrene very well, so the more passes it needs the more likely your work is to come loose. Then the cutter destroys it. There's no "high tack" or "strong tack" mat available available for the DX models.
* Brother's live chat support was unable to help with this, except to say (rather cryptically) "you try a strong tack mat from a third party, but it might not work." I'm going to try this, but I'm not optimistic: you can't even put Brother's stamdard mat in backwards, so it's checking or scanning somthing that the third party mat probably won't have...
Yours is the best response I've had on this thread. It sounds like the machine can do the job, but there is a real problem with the cutting mat tack. There are some youtube videos that crafters have posted regarding problems with the mats. I'll check there to see if anyone has a workable solution to the low tack not holding the stock adequately. The crafters have had problems with the Brother mats not feeding into their own machines. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I have an OK to do a test cut on a dealer's machine (much more expensive but it is the same basic unit). I think I'll offer to reimburse him for the time and use of it, but that would let me give it a try without having to buy one first.
Are you going to continue to find a workable solution to the tack problem? I'd appreciated learning what you come up with. Thanks again.
CNR5578* THE BAD NEWS: The cutting mat doesn't really hold styrene very well, so the more passes it needs the more likely your work is to come loose. Then the cutter destroys it. There's no "high tack" or "strong tack" mat available available for the DX models.
Thanks for the report and to the Forum!
What thickness styrene have you used?
GN fanAre you going to continue to find a workable solution to the tack problem? I'd appreciated learning what you come up with. Thanks again.
I've order some Nicapa 'strong-grip' mats from Amazon.ca - they're really for Silhouette Cameo, so may not work. I'm hoping I can open the package without damage so I can return them if they don't work.
There's also a high-tack solution from Brother, but not intended for the DX models - seems to be a sheet that sticks onto a regular mat, like double sided tape. (Double-sided tape you say? There's a thought...)
BigDaddyWhat thickness styrene have you used?
.040", .030" and .020". They all worked, as long as the mat held... The more passes the more likely the mat is to let go.
BTW The cutter is a knife, like a tiny Xacto #11, so the results are what you'd get cutting styrene with a #11 blade: Score and snap gives a nice clean cut, but cutting right through the styrene gives a V-groove. The thicker the material, the more obvious this becomes.
ALSO: inside corners (like a window or door opening) will have a V-groove vertically AND horizontally, so the corner ends up rounded a bit. Some work with a file will be needed.
There is no 'score-and-snap' setting, but there is a button to pause or quit the cut. Haven't tried this, but I think you could let the machine do it's thing for a while, and then push the button. You'd have a perfect layout of the whole piece, which you could finish by snapping or manual cutting. (Better for pieces with just an outside cut, and few or no windows...)
Well, the third party mats didn't work. The Nicapa mats are really nice - much stiffer than the Brother, and MUCH stronger grip. Unfortunatley, although they seem to load fine, the Brother doesn't recognise them.
Time for an update: The machine reads the patterns o0n the mat, and won't accept a mat with the wrong pattern. HOWEVER! I discovered from some Google and YouTube that you can restore your mat with a positionable glue like ZIG 2 Way Glue (got it from Michael's). Will take some practice, but I actually made the mat almost too strong - it held while cutting .040 styrene, and it was even hard to get the pieces off.
The machine actually gave up after multiple passes with a "material too thick" error message. In fact, the cut was pretty well done and an easy snap for the few cuts that weren't completely through.
I probably should have tried a simpler structure for a first project with the Brother, but I'm pretty happy with out this turned out. Definitely still some learning curve, but this is going to be a useful tool.
http://www.trainweb.org/homesclub/New_photo_page.html#58
Great news! It sounds as if you have solved the problem with the Brother mat. Would you recommend purchase of this machine to cut .040" styrene? I was tempted after watching the MR video, they made it look effortless in cutting out caboose sides, but decided to wait and learn more. I certainly have here, particularly after seeing some youtube videos that covered the mat problems.
You have pioneered this effort and kudos to you for persevering! I looked at your #58 photo. Which parts did you cut out on the Brother? Would you mind taking some in progress photos of your work?
The whole thing was cut on the ScanNCut - about 23 separate walls. Most of the building I did in .020 by cutting two copies and laminating them. Not ideal but it works. The brick was also a very thin sheet laminated on the two layers of .020 - After discovering the ZIG glue, I did the roof pieces in .040
One of the nicest parts was that all those windows were near perfect fits using the dimensions Tichy gives on their site. A little bit of filing, but much less that I usually have when I cut windows using an Xacto.And I think I can get it to do better. (Masonry windows will be a challenge - no exterior trim to hide gaps.)
I need to get on with a couple more projects to really see how this will work, but I'm now pretty confident that I can learn how to do this! Finding an appropriate brick sheet that the Brother likes is next challenge, but the same thicknesses should apply. I also got some basswood sheet to try.
So, conditional recommendation for .040 so far. .020 and .030 no problem. And laminating several layers is made easier because the computer is happy to just keep cutting the same part from the same file all day.
Thanks, I certainly wouldn't expect you to guarantee results, but your experiences are worth a lot. As they say, my results may vary. I agree, using thinner material would be fine, but I want to make my walls and roofs from Evergreen V groove siding and metal roofing sheets and that only comes in .040". Their 3/16" spacing scales out to 2.1% larger than 16" Armco steel panel siding and standing seam roofing, a difference I can live with. There are Pikestuff scale window inserts that will cover any window cutting errors. Great Northern had a number of Armco buildings used as maintainance sheds for signalmen and track crews in the Stevens Pass area I model. There is even an Armco structure in the UPRR yards here in Pocatello, ID where I live that I consult for reference. I will have to fabricate most of the doors, but that may be something the Brother can assist with.
Thanks and please do keep us appraised of your continued work with your machine.
Is your brick sheet vacuum formed like the old Holgate and Reynolds material?
GN fanIs your brick sheet vacuum formed like the old Holgate and Reynolds material?
It's Slater's Plastikard, which seems to be about .020 (or metric equivalent thereof). I have some old H&R cobblestone around, but I haven't tried it.
Next on the agenda will be some brick houses that we need in bulk for a neighbourhood. A club member has already drawn them accurately, so I'll scan his drawings and try cutting walls on various types of brick sheet.
“N Scale Architect” (thenarch.com) has a pretty wide selection of brick and other sheets in HO. The brick I used was styrene and was vacu-formed, but was very well done.
I have no interest in the company besides being a satisfied customer.
—Jeff Mutter
Erie Lackawanna’s Scranton Division, 1975
http://elscrantondivision.railfan.net