# Die Cutting Machine Progress



## Robert Porter (Aug 10, 2017)

I am experimenting with creating my own canopy masks using sheets of Tamiya tape and a die cutting machine. I finally bought a high quality set of calipers so that I could accurately measure each panel of a canopy and then transfer those measurements into a 3D CAD program. This then is fed to the die-cutter software as a series of vectors. I am after months of on and off effort finally enjoying some success. Early on I quit practicing with the actual tape and switched to onion skin paper which is considerably cheaper. 

I still have not succeeded in a one to one effort of translating my initial measurements into a mask that actually fits. I always end up tweaking it a bit, usually several times per panel. So in short it is a significantly time intensive task until I can figure out where I am going wrong. But I have high hopes that once I can overcome that hurdle I will be able to produce masks very cost effectively.

Once that is done I am going to work on making vinyl masks for codes, national identification etc. Those are actually easier as the dimensions are well known and documented for pretty much any scale. 

Initially I am focusing on masks for kits where I cannot find an already existing mask set, or the ones that do exist are ill fitting etc. 

Most of my motivation is a combination of my own limitations, e.g. bad eyesight and a dad blasted hand tremor that is unpredictable. Plus its fun to mess with the equipment which I already owned for other uses. 

I can already produce masks for nose art of some forms as long as not too many colors are involved. As long as I can get a suitable copy of the artwork. But not all nose art is suitable for using masks. Like the "Marge" art work for my P-38. 

My last access to a printer (Alps) capable of printing the color white has gone as his printer finally died beyond a reasonable cost of resurrection early this year. So I decided to turn to creating masks. 

Any thoughts or suggestions or experiences are welcome!


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## Crimea_River (Aug 10, 2017)

What die-cutter do you have Robert? I was thinking of getting one for the same purpose.


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## Robert Porter (Aug 11, 2017)

I bought the Cricut Explorer. It is the better machine between Cricut and Silhouette however Cricut on the software side is very much a "walled garden". I wrote my own driver to enable myself to use some existing software but that is not viable for most. The cutting system on the Cricut handles sharp corners and small designs better than the Silhouette purely from a technical design standpoint. The Silhouette tends to cause tears in situations the Cricut handles easily. Especially when cutting Tamiya type tape. Both machines seem to handle thicker mediums like Balsa or Vinyl just fine. I was fortunate in that I had one of each to play with before I made a purchase decision. 

I think my measurement issues are related to measuring distance on a curved surface. 





I do not usually have to tweak the measurements for truly flat panels but on the curved areas I usually have to make two or three adjustments to handle the distortion of a 2D to 3D transition.


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## Crimea_River (Aug 11, 2017)

Good info, thanks. The software issue with the Cricut is what's been stopping me from getting one. I'm definitely not able to write my own code and I've been told the Silhouette software is more flexible and can handle files imported from Illustrator or Photoshop. I was not aware of the inferior corner cuts though.


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## Robert Porter (Aug 11, 2017)

The blade handling system on the Silhouette leaves a lot to be desired, whereas that of the Cricut is much more precise and held more firmly. The up and down action of the Cricut is also more crisp, and can be fine tuned for depth better than that of the Silhouette. It is a real shame Cricut has worked so hard to forbid 3rd Party software from working with their machines. Honestly for the revenue they loose that way I doubt increased cartridge sales will compensate. 

Of course each manufacturer is releasing newer systems all the time, so the hardware advantage may switch to Silhouette soon. They also make it difficult for 3rd party software but not as bad as Cricut.


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## mikewint (Aug 11, 2017)

Robert, your problem is indeed the curved surface. Much like all that "Flat Earth" stuff. C (circumference) is 2 x Pi x r ^2 but you don't know the radius of curvature and the surface is not a sphere in any case but most probably a parabola of some type and the math gets complicated: spherical Trigonometry and calculus. One fairly simple way would be to use something like Tamiya's 1mm masking tape. Put it where you want to measure and make starting and ending marks (sharp 4H or 5H pencils). remove the tape and measure the distance between marks. Should be good to +/- 0.5mm


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## Robert Porter (Aug 11, 2017)

mikewint said:


> Robert, your problem is indeed the curved surface. Much like all that "Flat Earth" stuff. C (circumference) is 2 x Pi x r ^2 but you don't know the radius of curvature and the surface is not a sphere in any case but most probably a parabola of some type and the math gets complicated: spherical Trigonometry and calculus. One fairly simple way would be to use something like Tamiya's 1mm masking tape.  Put it where you want to measure and make starting and ending marks (sharp 4H or 5H pencils). remove the tape and measure the distance between marks. Should be good to +/- 0.5mm


Excellent suggestion! Thanks!


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## mikewint (Aug 11, 2017)

I get off a good one every now and then. Hope it works

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## Crimea_River (Aug 11, 2017)

Circumference is 2 x Pi x r not 2 x Pi x r ^2. The latter is the area of a circle.

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## Neil Ashworth (Aug 12, 2017)

If you are buying a new Silhouette their file storage is now on the cloud and there have been reports that your own designs are not properly accessible. My wife has an older machine and refuse to update the firmware until problems are resolved. Please check reviews for yourselves.


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## Zaggy (Jan 20, 2018)

What I do:

Cover the surface with tape, with a pencil do a 'rubbing' (like we all did with coins in school?), take tape off and stick on flat surface. Scan, trace over the curves with your favourite vector drawing program.

For complex, compound curves, simply use multiple pieces of tape and rubbings...

Works like a treat!


D


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