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Drag Knife

Discussion in 'General Talk' started by GrayUK, Mar 22, 2019.

  1. GrayUK

    GrayUK Openbuilds Team Elder
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    future_cncist likes this.
  2. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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  3. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    (; just make one Drag Knife Plans
    Also, you dont need Vectric, cam.openbuilds.com has corner-swivel CAM under the dragknife operations (;



     
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  4. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    If the one I posted works as advertised, I'm okay with spending $10 instead of making one :)

    That's great news about OB Cam.
     
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  5. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    Now Sharmstr made me go and by a $10 drag knife.;) I have been meaning to get/make one.
     
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  6. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Hmmmm...:rolleyes:
    How could this be adapted to cut fabrics, possibly leather?
    Regards
    C
     
  7. GrayUK

    GrayUK Openbuilds Team Elder
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    Colin; I was thinking that myself.
    I know the important thing using drag knives is keeping the tension on the material to stop it gathering up in front of the blade.
     
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  8. Colin Mccourt

    Colin Mccourt Journeyman
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    Yes, and more specific how do you select and set the tooling for such an item
    Regards
    C
     
  9. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Tell your cam software its an end mill with a diameter of (say) 0.1mm but don't turn your router on.
    Alex. :):)
     
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  10. ljvb

    ljvb Well-Known
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    I asked my wife if she would want to use it.. she laughed at me (she sews). Except for small bits here and there, many of her patterns while width wise would easily fit within the CNC machines, length wise not so much, 5 to 6 feet in some cases.
     
  11. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    In the textile industry they use a reciprocating knife (like a jigsaw) with several layers of cloth to cut lots of items at a time. It would be difficult to keep woven fabric under tension to work with a drag knife and some threads would be pushed aside rather than cut.
    Alex.
     
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  12. joe williams

    joe williams Well-Known
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    I wonder if the right implementation of some kind of vacuum thru the spoiler board would hold a single layer or two of fabric in place while the drag knife worked?
     
  13. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    Not for a woven fabric - some threads would be pushed aside rather than cut. A drag knife would only cut threads that were under tension and at an acute angle to the knife. The knife rotates in it's holder so the knife would also be deflected by threads at a shallow angle.
    Alex:(:(
     
  14. joe williams

    joe williams Well-Known
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    Some seemingly simple problems are in fact very difficult to solve! :banghead:
     
  15. Alex Chambers

    Alex Chambers Master
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    The only way I can think of doing it (if you really, really had to) would be to paste the material to something like a piece of card, cut it and then wash the paste out afterwards. Might be quicker to use a pair of scissors.
    Alex.:cry::cry:
     
  16. Rick 2.0

    Rick 2.0 OpenBuilds Team
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    I wonder if using transfer tape (the stuff for applying vinyl decals) would work. Apply the tape to the top side of the fabric and then suck the whole thing down on a vacuum table, compressing the fabric in between.
     
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  17. future_cncist

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    This is how the 10$ tool is actually used .
    Also for fabric there is sticky pads used to hold it while cutting .



    Also an interesting read .
    DIY CNC Graphics Cutter Hack
     
  18. future_cncist

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    Here is the best deai I have found for this cutter :)
     
  19. future_cncist

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    Thank you for posting this , it adds another tool to the box that is never full :)
     
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