My first go at a drag knife. I have to work on cutting paths and other details, but it seems to work well enough. I’m able to use the touch probe and standard utility knife blades. There isn’t much room below or in front of the Z carriage, so I may modify this to use a smaller blade so it won’t crash. For the time being, I’ll ensure the clearance, retract, and feed heights are well below. I’m using Fusion 360 and am considering purchasing an extension to modify the gcode to include the offset loops that Aspire and others do.
I thought to share. Please drop tips and learnings from your drag knife journey.
Version two complete. It now clears the z carriage and no worries about crashing. My only rub is I have to cut the blades in half but it’s no big deal.
Great project. Thank you as well for sharing the F360 option. I have been learning to use the software since purchasing my 3D printer a few years ago, and now with the 1F, am moving on to the CAM side of things.
Would you be willing to share a few screen shots of the relevant F360 drag knife ‘plug-in’ windows that illustrate how it works/the new parameters that are available for setting up cuts? No problem if not as I know how time consuming this can be.
Thanks for the reply. I actually sat down and drew something up that I could cut on the 1F. Final assembly is tomorrow and then a test run. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Hey excited try this with our school CNC, can you tell me a few things? What size length is your shaft, is it standard, where’d you source it? are you using M3 nuts and screws or…? bearing size? I tried to reverse from your Fusion file measurements but I’m new to this so thanks for any info. The 3d printed parts worked great!
@jiff182 I used a 1/2" diameter shaft (2.5" long), and the bearings have a 1/2" ID and 1.125" OD. Link below. The shaft has a hole for a pin drilled in it but I’m not sure it is completely necessary.
The CAD calls for 6-32 Thread Size, 1/2" Long. Here is where you can get them. I usually pick them up at my local hardware store.
Hit me up if you have any other questions. Good luck!
