What is the best way to add a vinyl cutter to my CNC

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I want to cut vinyl and card sttock with my cnc. I have seen one here:
http://www.widgetworksunlimited.com/...inyl_knife.htm

Is this what I should be looking at? Are there others?

[Jerome Stanek]

that is the one I use it is pretty good.

[Joe Pelonio]

You can buy a plotter made for cutting vinyl for as little as $179, the blade is almost that much. If you intend to do a lot of vinyl work the CNC will have issues with the vinyl laying flat enough to get the precision of depth you need for cutting through the film and not the backing, and easy weeding. Plotter blades last a long time and are as cheap as 3 for $12 though the really good ones are about $20 each.

[John McClanahan]

You will need to hold the vinyl somehow. Like a vacuum bed with lots of tiny holes, so the vacuum doesn't try to recess the vinyl into the holes. Vinyl cutters are made just for that job.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Honastly I want the cutter to cut out some card stock. I noticed they have a 60 degree cutter for that. Its all part of a demo of my CNC book for the two shows coming up. They have a pen insert for $49 that looks pretty easy. I just dont have time right now to design my own for this machine.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have all 3 of their accessories and all are very good. As for vacuum hold down I place a piece of mdf that I have machined both sides on top of my soil board that is also a piece of ultra lite mdf and suck through both.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Thanks, I just ordered a cutter with a extrat 60degree blade and a thin pen kit.

[George Brown]

Michael, did you try it yet. I've looked at this before, but my concern is that since the point lags behind the axis of rotation (for it to swivel properly), what happens on sharp corners? The blade would have a tendency to round off sharp corners.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Still waiting on the thing. Should get it Saturday or Monday.

[George Brown]

Have you had a chance to try it yet??

[George Carlson]

I have a Copam vinyl cutter. Their idea looks good, but vinyl cutters are more like plotters than CNC machines. They use HTML, and the software used to drive them takes care of a lot of vinyl cutting issues like the knife offsets and weeding. If you get a vinyl cutter, don't go for a super cheapie, they can have all kinds of problems with tracking and holding the vinyl. US Cutters is a good supplier with good prices.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I have used both the markers and the cutter. First the markers. I have to say these are way over priced for what you get. It is basicly some sharpie markers that slip into a couple of brass tubes that then are chucked into your router. You can make one yourself for about $15. The main problem it has is that you have to completly remove the marker and holder from the router collet in order to change the color. I gave up on this system and went back to may own.

The cutter works but takes some time setting up and getting the correct tension. The results are ok for large cutouts but small detailed work can be difficult or impossible. If you are serious about cutting vinal signs I would look at other systems, or even a deticated cutter.

[George Brown]

Thanks for your feedback, but that is what I expected. I am planning to make a rotating head with a cutting wheel for my cnc machine. Mach3 supposedly has support for rotating the head to keep the cutter tangential to the cut line. It will take a while before I can get to it, but will post my results when done.

I've already built a holder for a pen (roller ball) so I can use my cnc as a plotter. Works well. Limited to a 4 ft x 4 ft, but that is fine for what I need. Only disadvantage is that I have to remove the router and mount the pen holder jig. But that only take a couple of minutes.