Cutting Evergreen/Plastruct PVC/Polystyrene ...


goscrewyourselves

goscrewyourselves

I'm the one
A little while ago I read somewhere about a "machine" for cutting Styrene/PVC Plastic as opposed to "scribing" the stuff with a knife.

From memory, I think it was something Hobby Lobby sold (at one time) but cannot find it on their site, anywhere. Has anyone heard of this thing or was I imagining things?
 
Not positive, but it might have been one of the various scrapbooking machines: Cricut, Brother, Bosscut, or Cameo. They cut various materials from .SVG files. MicroMark carries the Cameo.
 
Yeah, scrapbook people use a cutting board for sheets of material. It has a little razor blade triangle in the shuttle that runs along the guide.
I've used that while working on my Canyon Diablo bridge. It seems just as easy to score the plastic using a straight edge and exacto knife or even a good sharp pocket knife.
 
Dave,

Thanks for the link - that is helpful indeed. I am very interested in getting one for "precision cuts" and exact duplication of a particular thing. For example, I'm having a hard time finding the iron ore cars I want to match my BHP AC6000 so am considering "trying to" build them. Having all of the parts the exact same size would be very helpful such as 10 floor panels exactly X x X dimensions and so on. Or for scratch building a structure where window and door cut outs needed to be identical and so forth.

Before I jumped into buying one of these, I'd really like to see one work and see what it is truly capable of cutting, material wise.

I know what everyone is saying about the knife and scribe method, and I do agree with them. I just don't think I could "manually" cut everything as accurately or as consistently.
 
Tony,
I know a guy who purchased one a year or so ago and he loved it. I'll try to find his blog for you so you can read about what he thought and even ask him questions.

Dave
 
Cutting machines are great but they do have their limitations. I do have a Cameo 3. What are you interested in Tony?
 
Yannis said:
Cutting machines are great but they do have their limitations. I do have a Cameo 3. What are you interested in Tony?
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. Basically something that will cut up to 1/8" styrene. I am looking at things like walls with doors and windows that sort of thing. Something I can program the dimensions of in a computer and have the "cutter" cut it out - if that makes sense.
 
Hey Tony,

The Cameo 3 does cut up to 0.25mm (0.01") styrene. If you want thicker material you must look for a machine that has much higher cutting force (pressure). I have tried 0.5mm but it just scores it. It is worth noting that with thinner material you get cleaner / more precise cuts. I am using 0.25mm exclusively. The other option is to get an economical 3d printer. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else. You create the drawing on the computer and then send it to the machine (like sending to a printer).

Yannis
 
Yannis,

Thanks and yes, it does help a lot. I may have to give the idea a little more thought before deciding if one of these things is worth it or not.

You've given me things to think about and to consider, thank you.
 
You are more than welcome Tony. It is a great machine but as i said one must understand the possibilities and limitations so that he/she does not end up with a tool not providing the expected results. Another thing to consider is that for very delicate/thin objects styrene will not work (ie less than 0.5mm) and that there is a learning curve for designing in a vector design program. If you plan to build a lot of structures / items using this, then it makes sense, if it is for a limited selection, then maybe other solutions might be more reasonable (ie kitbashing etc...)

Having said all these, a Cameo or similar, is ideal for making repeated precise cuts (ie the same window pattern etc...).
 
Yannis,

I think you are probably right, where I am concerned. There are probably more practical ways of achieving what I want without spending the money on one of these machines. As you said, if I were to be "mass producing" things then one would be invaluable, but that wont be the case with me.

Thanks again mate and appreciate your candor and I think I have made my decision :)
 
Yannis,

Actually, I started considering a machine when I thought I was going to have to make around 20 or so Ore Cars specific for my BHP AC6000 engine. The idea of being able to cut that many sides and ends and floors with precision was very appealing as opposed to having to measure and hand cut them. If I were going to have one for that purpose, then I was going to try my hand at a few structures as well. Other than that, I had no plans on building a lot of structures.

One of the things that has convinced me to put the idea on hold is I found a guy in Australia who has built the precise Ore Cars specific to BHP and are buying 15 of them at $5 per car and being given an additional 5 to make up my 20 car train. He makes them using a 3D Printer or 2 and knows what he is doing :)

With that in mind, it is a little hard for me to justify spending (possibly) $300 or $400 on something I might be able to come to terms with when I can get what I want for less than $100 with shipping.

I think, if I did end up buying something, it would most likely be a 3D printer that I would get more long term use out of and something that I might be able to use, if I got the hang of one, to make stuff for other people as well.
 
True Tony,

The way you describe it, it makes much more sense to get the cars instead of making them on your own.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top