Cricket circut cutter

[John Pol]

Does anyone use the circut cutter for there models if so. What do use it for etc. thinking of buying one but want more info on it

[64SS350]

I have one, I thought of maybe making masks, or designing and precutting decals, possible to cut thin sheet stryrene.

Wait til black Friday...

[John Pol]

that is what I was thinking of using one for would be nice what material you need etc. to do it

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's something similar in action...

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/123481-1st-gen-bronco-leadsled-kustom/

Another general thread...

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/129285-digital-die-cutting-machines-and-model-building/

And another...

 

Edited September 28, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[SCRWDRVR]

I have a 34" cutter I've had for years, I use it mostly for making stencils for my air eraser or car decals and a occasional shirt. I have been getting ready to try to cut lettering for on the side of a pro street car I'm building but haven't gotten to that stage of the build yet but I think it's doable...

[John Pol]

what program do you use and what material do you use to do the stencils and decals?

[SCRWDRVR]

For vinyl I use Oracal 651 and I use Signblaster for cutting (came with it) I also have another one I haven’t bothered to learn to use yet. I have a photo editing program I use a lot to make my graphics and Inkscape for plotting 

[John Pol]

would be cool if someone would do  video on how they use it for there model building

[SCRWDRVR]

Maybe if it goes well when I actually try it I will make something up....

[John Pol]

Ok look forward to it

[ScottH454]

Got a chance to use my wife's cricut maker for bomber seat pads. Took a few tries to narrow down the cutting template but once there I filled a 5 x 7 sheet of goatskin leather. This destroyed her cutting mat so add that to the cost of doing these seat pads.

[OldNYJim]

Those seat pads look cool!  Where does one get goat leather from?

[BigTallDad]

38 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

Those seat pads look cool!  Where does one get goat leather from?

Goats

[ScottH454]

Hobby Lobby in the leather craft section. Sold in set of three 5x7 sheets. It is a very thin leather so it works better for modelers than regular cow leather. https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Leather-Crafting/Leather-Pieces/Goatskin-Trim/p/80780195

[OldNYJim]

2 hours ago, BigTallDad said:

Goats

I did expect someone might give me that answer to my silly question ??

Unfortunately, we don’t have many goats here in Brooklyn (although rat leather would be easy to come by!) so thanks for the idea Scott! ??

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, CabDriver said:

although rat leather would be easy to come by!

Hey! That could be a thing!

[BigTallDad]

2 hours ago, CabDriver said:

I did expect someone might give me that answer to my silly question ??

Unfortunately, we don’t have many goats here in Brooklyn (although rat leather would be easy to come by!) so thanks for the idea Scott! ??

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. An alternative might be a old leather wallet (garage sale special). Very thin leather!

[OldNYJim]

10 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Hey! That could be a thing!

Want me to catch one and mail it to you to experiment?   There's a squirrel right outside my window right now too...and I saw a possum last week but that looked a bit too mean to try and catch

Back on, roughly, the topic in hand, I've been using my Silhouette cutter a lot lately for various modelling bits...cutting masks:

Making floor mats for my Studebaker project that I've been working on this last couple of months:

 

That speaker on the rear shelf was made on the cutter too, and I made some fun parts for a VW ice cream truck build I did a while back including a dripping VW logo for the front:

And these matching dripping sun visors:

The limitation of these machines is really just a) what they can cut (and planning their use accordingly) and b) your ability to lay out the parts in software.  Eric Ritz in particular does some amazing work with his but I'm sure theres tonnes of other people equally skilled, and the newer machines can do cool stuff like emboss metal and engrave (although I haven't tried that yet).  I think of mine as having a little Water Jet or Flojet machine sitting next to my desk...it can't do metal obviously but it'll do enough stuff to be really useful!

I've been thinking lately about using it to cut masks to apply to brass sheet or similar which I can then dunk in the appropriate solution to make photoetched parts and some cool metal stuff...that's another adventure for another day though (unless someone has the appropriate supplies there already and wants to collaborate on some parts?)

[OldNYJim]

Oh. and whilst I'm thinking of it, I messed with an experimental technique a while back that I didn't quite perfect that showed promise at least...

I wanted to make a custom gauge for some project or other and wondered if I could spray some styrene sheet with a colored paint and then use the cutter to scratch some numbers into it to make a perfect little gauge of my own design.  The tricky bit was getting the setting just right for it to work, with the main variable being how thickly I'd laid down the paint...but I'll definitely come back to that and do some experimenting - imagine being able do scratch a perfect little pinstripe or some tiny lettering or a pattern into the surface of a flat part!  I can think of a tonne of uses for that!

[SCRWDRVR]

3 hours ago, CabDriver said:

 I've been using my Silhouette cutter a lot lately for various modelling bits...cutting masks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What material are you cutting them out of?

[OldNYJim]

14 minutes ago, SCRWDRVR said:

What material are you cutting them out of?

The blue stuff is Oracle masking material:

I also picked up some cheap sticky-backed ‘wood’ design vinyl at the local dollar store - I think it’s designed to be put on cabinets and the likes, but the poor quality adhesive on the back of it and the thinness of the material means it works well for masking purposes too! 

[SCRWDRVR]

2 hours ago, CabDriver said:

The blue stuff is Oracle masking material:

I also picked up some cheap sticky-backed ‘wood’ design vinyl at the local dollar store - I think it’s designed to be put on cabinets and the likes, but the poor quality adhesive on the back of it and the thinness of the material means it works well for masking purposes too! 

Thanks, I'll have to look into that...

[OldNYJim]

4 minutes ago, SCRWDRVR said:

Thanks, I'll have to look into that...

You got it!  I've just started selling some custom airbrush masks on eBay and for those I use the blue stuff - it really is the best, it lays down nicely (but its not TOO sticky), it'll bend around some curves and stuff ok and its consistent quality...but also it's 8x the price of any regular old sticky vinyl that I can pick up pretty much anywhere, so I'll use the cheap stuff often if its just something for myself

[SCRWDRVR]

6 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

You got it!  I've just started selling some custom airbrush masks on eBay and for those I use the blue stuff - it really is the best, it lays down nicely (but its not TOO sticky), it'll bend around some curves and stuff ok and its consistent quality...but also it's 8x the price of any regular old sticky vinyl that I can pick up pretty much anywhere, so I'll use the cheap stuff often if its just something for myself

Makes sense, is that the Oramask 813?

[OldNYJim]

1 hour ago, SCRWDRVR said:

Makes sense, is that the Oramask 813?

Yes sir!