I had a chance to borrow a Cricut Explore. It was pretty easy to figure out. I cut out my design on cereal box cardboard before attempting to cut any plastic.
I'm making stuff for N scale, so I needed to see how good the machine is for cutting very small pieces, especially door and window openings.
I used .030 flat styrene for my first test with plastic, and the "deep point" blade. After two passes it was still not cut through as much as I would have liked it to be. I was able to break my pieces out but all of the edges are beveled.
I'm curious to see what the new "knife blade" will be like when it comes out. Otherwise I'd say that the machine works but it helps to do many passes.
It did ok on the door and window openings, though like I said the cuts were not totally clean after two passes. I would not recommend it for cutting out anything much smaller than that. My design included some strips to hold up the roof and to use as trim. I think it would have been better to cut those simple strips by hand.
So, there you have it. I'm glad that I got to try it. I'm not rushing to buy one just yet but I'd like to see what the Maker can do with the new blade when it comes out.
I just wrote an article in this issue of The O Scale Resource Magazine. Using the article along with a video for the beginner.http://oscale.uberflip.com/i/944796-march-april-2018/48?m4=
I am interested in seeing how this 'adaptive tool system' works and how precisely it registers the active tool edge when it swaps.
A very obvious choice for a 'tool' might be a relatively inexpensive laser head, although it might have to be a voids-the-warranty hobbyist build rather than a factory accessory (the whole shield system even for non-eye-harmful wavelengths being critical for acceptable safety, and interesting to fit in a machine with the Cricut's combination of transverse rail and moving platen.) This would probably use a cheap laser-pointer diode as a guide beam but deliver power outside eye-sensitivity.
Same might be true for a small high-speed rotary tool using collets for initial registration. You might need to adapt something like a drone motor with Halbach array magnets to get the size right, but there are other applications in modeling for such motors if conversion plans are done.
Thanks for the links to the past threads. It seems like the Cricut machine does work.
There are 4 models at $135, $150, $200, and $400
There are 4 features that are only on the $400 machine:
Adaptive Tool System for cutting hundreds more materialsRotary Blade for fabricsKnife Blade for thicker materials Access to hundreds of digital sewing patterns
The knife blade and "adaptive tool system" might be worth having for this hobby.
For me, a CNC or laser cutter is not an option. Too expensive. This is just a hobby for me after all. My girlfriend also makes handmade cards, but again just as a hobby for family and friends.
Hey Don,
Yes, there are some desktop mini milling machines for the hobbyist, but they are in the two- or three thousand range. That is what I have. Taig and Sherline are two makes that come to mind. There are others; Harbor Freight and MicroMark make some, I think.
There are small manual mills that can be outfitted with stepper motors. But those motors are about a hundred apiece, and you'll need three (or maybe even four). And a controller to take instructions from your computer and turn it into machine code to move the cutters. And wire and connectors. And software. Mine uses standard end mills of various types and sizes (down to about 1/64" diameter) which are readily available.
Like many on this forum, there are guys who are very talented at home brewing and rolling their own, but I went for a turn-key setup. Oddly enough, once you have a mill and learn how to use it, you can easily design and fabricate pieces and parts to build a home brew mill. Chicken-and-egg.
There is a Maker Space in my little town. They have a lot of goodies to play with: laser cutter/engravers, 3D printers, and a Tormach CNC mill. And classes and instructors standing by to help out. You might find one nearby, or maybe some high school or college or other community education center that offer similar facilities for public and hobby use.
Good luck. With a little effort you might find something.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
I understand Robert. I used cnc/cam milling and lathe machines in college for engineering. Only took me 7 years before I realized it wasn't about trains.
I was just wondering if there was a break through "low cost" cnc milling machine built for hobbiest like a cricut was.
I consider low cost less than 1000 with an option of standard mill bits (small ones)
I saw a clever one where someone mounted a Dremel to a sled and used xyz stepper motors. It was a home brew and ugly but it worked.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
DigitalGriffin What cnc machines? Do they handle scalable vector graphics?
What cnc machines? Do they handle scalable vector graphics?
Yes. I use AutoCAD to design stuff and feed the vector-driven info into a CNC milling machine. Another software package takes the Acad vectors and generates G-code to direct the stepper motors of the three axes of the mill. This is the CAM portion of the phrase CAD-CAM. My setup is fairly high-end. Not nearly as high-end as even a low-end commercial grade industrial setup (what Granny would call a real milling machine), but more complex and robust than a Cricut. The Cricuts merely push an X-acto blade through some particular patterns using minimal x- and y- controllers. 2D. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Just limited potential.
Overmod We had a thread a couple of years ago on this subject, when the Explore was the 'current' machine: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/249434.aspx This will give you some idea of how the thing works, and doesn't work, so when you look at the present websites and some of the community resources you can gauge how many of the older limitations are still significant. I would be tempted to say that some of the current crop of CNC machines will do far more of what you want and need, with less implicit profit and overhead geared toward the crafting and not modeling community.
We had a thread a couple of years ago on this subject, when the Explore was the 'current' machine:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/249434.aspx
This will give you some idea of how the thing works, and doesn't work, so when you look at the present websites and some of the community resources you can gauge how many of the older limitations are still significant.
I would be tempted to say that some of the current crop of CNC machines will do far more of what you want and need, with less implicit profit and overhead geared toward the crafting and not modeling community.
There is also a very recent thread;
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/267623/3029960.aspx#3029960
Scroll up to the top.
Mike.
My You Tube
Has anyone here tried using a Cricut machine for scratch building? There are two models. One is roughly $200 and the other is roughly $400. They can supposedly cut various materials including balsa wood, vinyl, and even leather. I have written to the company to ask if they can cut .040 styrene, and if they can make the small cutouts that I would need to make windows and doors, and small details for N scale buildings.
I'm not clear on what the differences are between the two models either, except that the more expensive one (the "Maker") claims to have a new blade coming out this year that will cut thicker materials. Of course I don't want to spend $400 if the $200 machine will do what I want, and I don't want to spend anything if they can't do what I want.
If anyone has used one of these I would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!