Silhouette SD

[Dave Schneider]

Glad that you found us Jamie and thanks for the suggestions.  I haven't had any luck getting it to cut properly from Adobe Illustrator. I may try to reinstall the plugin. Jamie, are you cutting your openings as rectangles or intersecting lines? I don't think that it is a problem with my not using the carrier as the .030 styrene is jammed in there pretty well.

I did make some progress this evening using the Silhouette Studio software laying out individual (8 x 16 inch) cinder blocks as rectangles. This actually goes really quickly. I set the snap to grid settings at .05 inches (8 N scale inches) and it all just fell into place. Here is my first successful scribe using the Blue cap and a force of 1. I don't know if I can do layers in Studio with a scribe layer and a cut out layer, but the software isn't bad.

It feels good to make a little bit of progress. I am definitely bringing up the rear with what you guys have been able to do so far



Best wishes, Dave

[wcfn100]

There is a drop down setting for the type of material you are cutting and I set it to the generic thick or thin and usually tell it to cut at a speed of 5 or so. Depending on the type of cut I'm making I use either the blue cap at a pressure setting of 2-3 (for scribing) or the pink one set to a pressure of 33 if I'm looking to get the maximum cut.

A word on the dropdown. Like it says, they're just presets.  Once you change the speed or force (or line type etc..), you're no longer using whatever you selected.  Basically, if you're changing the numbers you can skip picking something from the dropdown.  I made my own 1 and 1 setting and just pick that when I get to that screen.

I'm thinking about shimming one of the caps to go less than the blue cap.

Also, I found the replacement cutters and they're just a steel rod with a ball bearing around it.  Modifying the cutter looks pretty simple.  Whether it will work or not is to be seen.

Jason

[delamaize]

Could someone take some pictures of where the blade drops into the head that moves? I have a Hypothisis on how to mabey make this thing cut/scribe brass, but I need to see how it is set up, to know if my idea has any chance of working.

[Iain]

How difficult do y'all think it would be to do car sides (ie, wood passenger cars)?  Can it take AutoCAD files?

[Dave Schneider]

How difficult do y'all think it would be to do car sides (ie, wood passenger cars)?  Can it take AutoCAD files?

If it will scribe scale bricks, passenger car sides shouldn't be a problem. The only plug-in available is for cutting directly from Adobe Illustrator.  I haven't been able to make that work well for me yet, but Jamie and Jason seem to be doing fine with it. Their Studio software will open its native format and something with a .GSD extension. Remember that this thing is marketed for scrapbookers, not tool and die makers.

Best wishes, Dave

[Iain]

Seems to me if they'd been just a tad smarter, they'd treated it like a printer and inluded the various settings in a standard print dialog.

[lashedup]

How difficult do y'all think it would be to do car sides (ie, wood passenger cars)?  Can it take AutoCAD files?

Illustrator will import AutoCAD files however it might take some fiddling with the import dialog boxes to get the scale to turn out right.

If you are asking about cutting wood, I don't think this would be well suited. Some very thin veneers might work, but cutting against the grain and such would need to be tested first.

[Dave Schneider]

Here is an update on the progress on my Gibson Yard office project. I tried to start with something simple and have learned a couple of things along the way.


After failing to get my version of Adode Illustrator to cut properly, I laid this out in the Studio software that came with the cutter. The layout capabilities are really quite nice, and it has some functions that would be a bit more complicated to pull off in AI. As I mentioned above, I just defined a tightly spaced grid and then snapped rectangles. It has some nice auto replicate buttons as well as the ability to rotate objects.

As for cutting in Studio, it doesn't appear to be able to handle layers, so I just made separate files for the scribing and the cutouts and then sent them to the printer with different cutting parameters. Just don't unload the media and it worked fine. The cutting software has preloaded settings for different standard papers etc, but you can customize these as needed. One thing I didn't see was the force setting, but there is a thickness setting that I think mirrors the force. For scribing the block I slowed the cutter to the minimum speed, used the Blue (most shallow cap) and set the thickness to the thinnest setting. The result is well scribed block with very little flash or gouging. I then tried to go for a maximum cut for the windows, doors and wall outline with the Red cap, and the maximum thickness but it didn't go very deep into the .030 styrene I had. As a result I had to rescribe all the openings which resulted in less than square openings. I know that I should go with thinner styrene if I want square openings but I didn't have any and there is none to be found at the hobby stores in this city of 275,000! I have some on order. Overall, I am happy with the progress I have made. It is nice to lay something out on the laptop while sitting in the recliner watching classic movies!

Finally, you can't see it in the photo, but the hip roof isn't laid out properly and there is a gap. Jason, I noticed in your tower that you have a similar roof that worked out well. How did you lay this out?

Best wishes, Dave

[wcfn100]

Dave, here's the way I did my roof.



I first did a mock up with paper and approximated the pitch of the roof to get the angle.  Then I drew one triangle and repeated it.  The first roof was done that way.  Most of my current drawings are like the last step where I trace over the triangles and overrun the ends of the lines (when I can).  This hopefully keeps the blade alway going in one direction through the cut without having to change direction or reorient the cutting head.

Jason

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks Jason. I realize that it will probably be quicker to do a mock-up with paper, but it is bugging me that I messed up the geometry/trig. This is something that pretty much any framing carpenter can do in their sleep.

Best wishes, Dave

[Iain]

Illustrator will import AutoCAD files however it might take some fiddling with the import dialog boxes to get the scale to turn out right.

If you are asking about cutting wood, I don't think this would be well suited. Some very thin veneers might work, but cutting against the grain and such would need to be tested first.

No, I didn't think wood would work too well for a material; I just want to build some wood passenger cars without having to splice the MDC cars together.


As far as scaling, I can easily include a one inch line as a reference; something I generally do anyway.

[SebastianLee]

This site has some more info on working with the cutter. The interesting bit was the software mentioned to import sketchup files. If the Pepakura sotware can actually take autocad and sketchup, i'll need to start saving my milk money

[Dave Schneider]

I figured out my roof layout error. I used the same pitch for the diagonal that runs from the the corner of the roof to the peak as I did for the pitch from the peak to the normal point on the edge/cent of the roof. In my case this latter pitch is 2/12, whilst the diagonal should have been 2/17. 

Best wishes, Dave

[lashedup]

Nice start Dave. The more you play around with it the more you pick up tricks to get the results you want. I've been trying to do window trim (very thin trim) and not having a lot of luck. .005 styrene ends up shredding the fine detail when I try and pull it off the contact sheet. I should try the low tack one. Even then, it is a flimsy piece and getting it to glue down straight without slopping glue while positioning it is tough. I've decided to ditch that for now.

So I'm working on a motel for one of our modules. I wanted it to be a somewhat typical midwest motel and found a great example from the Wisconsin Dells. This is a postcard from the Aztec Motel in the Wisconsin Dells:



So I've got all the walls created. Windows knocked out, roof pieces done and more. I'm still fiddling with my screen doors and screen windows and I'm only partially happy. I have a major problem with sloppiness when it comes to building these things. On one hand the prototype was never perfect either, but I will avoid brush painting at almost any cost because it never looks even and usually ends up being heavy. So the window pieces have proven to be a lot of extra work that I don't think anyone will notice very much. Gluing the screens over the windows has been a headache too as nearly every glue I use causes pools of blotchiness to occur between the layers of material. By the time I add the curtains to the background and everything sits beneath the longer eaves, it probably won't be noticeable. I'm also thinking of doing the exterior lighting. I soldiered about 10 nano LED's last night for another project mess I'm working on (man I have ADD) and was thinking I could add lighting to this hotel as well. Anyway...

I needed to scribe the deck for the porch and used the printer. I used some .010 material and told the printer to cut nearly all the way through and then I applied this veneer (so-to-speak) to some thicker .060 I had laying around for the first floor base:



Even the end detail on the boards is pretty good:



Overall I'm happy so far. I'm going to try and have the printer cut out the stringers for the stairs and a few other details. We'll see how it goes.

-jamie

[Dave Schneider]

That motel looks great Jamie. Ah..the Dells. I remember back before it became waterpark central.  Any plans to include an example of another Wisconsin icon, the "Supper Club".

As for windows, I have been thinking of a way to do this. My idea is to cover clear styrene with masking tape, use the cutter to cut the trim lines, peel the trim off and then airbrush the desired color. After drying, remove the rest of the masking tape for the clear glass. I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it could work out.

By the way, I saw your Dells module at Trainfest this fall (but not you as I was there on Saturday). It is a really nice addition and your bridge look great with the Hiawatha passing over the Wisconsin River.

Best wishes,  Dave