Cricut

[duffy]

I give a rip!!! I am SO going to get one of these things!

 

[3v0]

I give a rip!!! I am SO going to get one of these things!

Keep in mind it is not a laser cutter. The holes are a bit distorted because the blade pivots. I am still working out what one needs to do to get SOICs to solder. Have not gone smaller then that.

 

[Speakerguy]

I have no idea if anyone other them me gives a rip but it is still a good place to record the info.

Sorry dude, for some of us soldering SMT is no problem

It's still a pretty cool way of making a stencil. If I ever mass produce something a stencil and reflow will be the way I do it, but I have a $750 OKi rework station that makes doing SMT work a breeze in small quantities. So long as my hands aren't shaky that day

 

[3v0]

I am making various du-dads for the class I teach. If I want 2 spares I need to make 12 of everything...

I have a xytronic 850D from HEI. I like it but it is the only one I have ever used.

 

[killivolt]

I am making various du-dads for the class I teach. If I want 2 spares I need to make 12 of everything...

I have a xytronic 850D from HEI. I like it but it is the only one I have ever used.

I went to interview for a position back about three years ago. I was Introduced to this Machine or one like it they make them in China or at least this one was.

I really wanted the position. But took the Job at the University.

Neat stuff. I really like it when people come up with different uses for things that were never intended in the Design.


kv Good one 3vO

 

[Hero999]

This is my SVG and PDF file if you want to try it on your cutter. The SVG file is zipped.

EDIT:
It looks sloppy in the png image but the spacing is quite even. The single line beside the cuts is two inches long, the cricut rescales the image and I need this line to force the size back to normal.

3v0

I've had problems with the SVG you attached.

I tried viewing it in both Inkscape and Firefox and all I got was an apparently blank flile.

It turns out that the file isn't blank, it's just that the all the objects were all set to no fill and no stroke so they were hidden.

I wish Microsoft would get their act together and make IE support SVG, it's a really good format.

 

[HiTech]

My little Bebop machine got taken away from me!! Instead they gave me some HUGE device by Canon that can do a poster sized equivalent. This new machine is as large as a floor standing sheet metal cutter/bending brake. Way too big and expensive in material to do PCB related stuff.

 

[duffy]

They did that to me with a plotter one time. Took away my little A and B sheet hand-feed plotter, gave me some roll-fed monster designed for D sheets. When I had to do anything smaller (which was always) I had to cut off the end with a pair of scizzors, which made it look crappy, and then throw MOST of the paper in the trash. &%#@!

 

[3v0]

I have been turing off fill because I did not want the cutter cutting the fill lines. In Inkscape do VIEW>DISPLAY>OUTLINE
I need to check to see if I missed that in the destructions. Sorry about the mad.
I also missed your post for some reason.

3v0

I've had problems with the SVG you attached.

I tried viewing it in both Inkscape and Firefox and all I got was an apparently blank flile.

It turns out that the file isn't blank, it's just that the all the objects were all set to no fill and no stroke so they were hidden.

I wish Microsoft would get their act together and make IE support SVG, it's a really good format.

 

[3v0]

I expect the cricut to show up at rummage sales for cheap. They were sold as cheap as $100 new.

You still have to deal with getting the software. I was tempted to try living with the slashes put in the template by the demo version but it was time limited. I have other uses for the software so I purchased it.

My little Bebop machine got taken away from me!! Instead they gave me some HUGE device by Canon that can do a poster sized equivalent. This new machine is as large as a floor standing sheet metal cutter/bending brake. Way too big and expensive in material to do PCB related stuff.

 

[en2oh]

Cricut Update

Seems like an interesting project.
I've checked the instructions for the Cricut Personal. Seems there is a button option that scales or does not scale against a particular object on the cartridge. Also, there is a wheel that allows for sizing of the objects. I wonder if that might be one way try and address this.

BTW, has anyone tried to extend the mat size by using a 12x24" mat, cut in half lengthwise, and set the lower left and upper right limits of the mat using the information listed in the manual.

I'd like to be able to scan simple items (like the pips on a card, for example) "find" the edges, and use this information to cut out the clubs/hearts/diamonds/spade shapes on playing cards.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Doug

It was not my intent to work on this but some things sort of draw me in. I have made some progress.

Eagle
Changed the cream layer so it had no fill.
Checked black and pdf in print dialog.

Inkscape
Import the pdf from eagle and save as a SVG (scalable vector graphic) file.
I used the finest setting for details when importing the pdf but I do not know that it had much of an impact. The file was 8K. To see the graphics I needed to do a VIEW>DISPLAY_MODE>OUTLINE.

Sure Cuts a Lot
Loaded the SVG file from inkscape and hit cut.


That much worked but the scale was off by about 2x. Attempts to rescale it in inkscape did not go well. I am thinking about adding a 2 inch line to the graphic in eagle. I can compare the actual length of that line in the cutting software and then use print scaling in eagle to get things right.

I did try rescaling it in SCaL but the cutting program hung up part way through the file. The SCaL program is $75 so I will use the demo version up to the point where I know this works.

So far I have been making the cuts in a single pass. It looks like the SCal program has the option to make several passes. That would let me reduce the cutting pressure which would be kinder on the knife and maybe a little cleaner.

3v0

This is fun.

 

[3v0]

Since I last posted about the cricut a new software package called Make the Cut or MTC has been released. The author of MTC is active on the MTC forum and is improving the product. He has been putting a lot of work into vector graphics.

As I recall the latest version of MTC should not have a problem with importing SVG files and getting the size correct.

In regards to cutting out shapes. MTC has a trace function that you should be able to use on a raster image to create a vector representation of the shapes. Then hinge a sheet of paper to the mat and cut out the shapes. Lift the paper and insert the original card (image) under the paper and cut again. The machine will revisit the original path with perfect registration. This is a much shortened version. Check the web for tutorials.
3v0

 

[3v0]

MTC Good News, Bad News

The good news is that the author of MTC (Make The Cut) has significantly improved the software. This has simplified cutting solder stencils.

1. Set the paste layer to solid black and print to a .pdf file in Eagle.

2. In MTC select import "vector based pdf" and choose the file from above.

Other then setting the Cricut pressure speed and number of passes that is it.

The bad news is that Provocraft has sued the author of MTC and won. As part of the settlement MTC will no longer support the cricut. If I have it right early versions of MTC 3.2.1 is the last version to provide a driver for Cricut. Even worse you will not be able to find a version supporting Cricut on the MTC site.

This is rather sad in that it looks like the cutting algorithm has been improved to better account for blade movement on small holes. Not sure.

 

[killivolt]

The good news is that the author of MTC (Make The Cut) has significantly improved the software. This has simplified cutting solder stencils.

1. Set the paste layer to solid black and print to a .pdf file in Eagle.

2. In MTC select import "vector based pdf" and choose the file from above.

Other then setting the Cricut pressure speed and number of passes that is it.

The bad news is that Provocraft has sued the author of MTC and won. As part of the settlement MTC will no longer support the cricut. If I have it right early versions of MTC 3.2.1 is the last version to provide a driver for Cricut. Even worse you will not be able to find a version supporting Cricut on the MTC site.

This is rather sad in that it looks like the cutting algorithm has been improved to better account for blade movement on small holes. Not sure.

That's the company I would have worked for to repair the in Warranty Stuff. Sorry, about that. The company has been around a long time. The local community here are big in craft's. I don't know why they have such a problem with it ? Beyond me. But, here we have a community that will fight over the stupid crap all day long. Until you say Uncle.

Edit: Ok, I read an article about the lawsuit. Now I have a more clear understanding about it. I didn't know they are the creator of the cricut. They didn't tell me that in the interview. I think they probably have lowered there sales potential. I think they would have done better by just allowing them to continue doing business.

QUOTErovocraft, as we have invented Cricut products, we have been granted copyright and trademark rights that protect us from, among other things, any company that unlawfully circumvents or ‘hacks’ our security measures for its own financial gain

 

[Mosaic]

Do u guys think the ecraft is a better solution for PCB work than the cricut?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8seSRCHu8g
Compatible with make the cut s'ware.

Or perhaps this one:
**broken link removed**