Ordered my 1F and is due in UK end of Feb, so I’m getting things ready.
Now my wife let me order my new toy so it’s only fair that I put it to good use to help her out on her projects.
She has asked if I could cut paper/card or leather and I said I would need a drag knife (I believe, open to other ideas)
Now I have seen 2 drag knifes very similar (links below), just asking if anyone has used these, would they work ok with 1F and vcarve, and do they have limitations
I have been investigating this as a future addition as well. My research shows that for me the best functioning long term solution would be a tangential knife, but these are quite expensive, and will require hardware and software modifications.
Although I have not used a drag knife, I believe it would work best for thin material like leather. As the material gets thicker, tight/90 degree turns become more challenging and prone to ripping as the blade spins to follow the new direction - the tangential knife is lifted and turned under software control. The other challenge I saw was in the proper hold-down of the often light weight and thin material. Again, it looks like the best solution - vacuum bed - is again also the most expensive. Creative use of tape would work in many cases I imagine.
Yes I was looking at a vacuum bed, hopefully I will be able to utilise a old section of bed material from a cnc from work it’s a awesome machine but it does cost £250,000!
It has awesome tangential knife that’s extremely quick Zund cutting leather with knife
I saw the Zund and a few other machines and cutter tools as well - very nice products but at a different level for sure. The one that I am able to give more serious consideration to is the Stepcraft OTK-3 ($499US), which is an oscillating tangential knife. I am a maker at heart, and fortunately have time and patience, so building my own is not outside the realm of possibility.
