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-Vinul cut

I made a sticker of Fab Lab West-harima.

1. Machine I use

silhouetter CAMEO 3
Spec:
- Attachable paper size(*1 ): 304.8 mm (12inch) / 215.4mm (LETTER) / 210 mm (A4)
- cut Speed: Max 100 mm/s
- cut pressure: Max 2.1 N (210 gf)
- Number of pens that can be attached: 2
- Cuttable materials:
- [Film] Thickness 0.1 mm or less (excluding high-intensity reflective film)
- [Paper] Kent paper 157 g / m2, drawing paper, postcards, scrapbooking paper, inkjet photo paper, basil paper, 0.5 mm thick paper, inkjet photo paper, basil paper, 0.5 mm thick paper
- OS: Windows 10 / 8.1, Mac OS X 10.10 and upwards

(*1 : Supported by pinch roller switching)

2. Installed Software

silhouettestudio
- Although silhouettestudio is available for mac M1, but it shut down as error wit just one click. I test the latest version and ex-version, both version had the same error. I was stumped and finally decided to borrow Windows in FabLab West-harima.

alt text

  • error:
    My action is only open silhouettestudio and just 1 click, then Error say "Silhouettestudio has an error and needs to exit". I was struggled this annoy error for 1 hour. alt text

3. The machine part

I looked at the blades and parts to get to know the machine better.

  • Pen holder alt text
  • pen holder can remove alt text
  • Blade：It had a small blade to cut the film.　　 alt text

4. How I made the sticker?

  1. Get the logo of "Fab Lab West-harima" (PNG file)
  2. Outline with Inkscape, and export with DXF file. (the format should be DXF for silhouetter CAMEO)

  3. Import DXF file to Silhouettestudio.(If size change, do it this ) alt text

  4. Set the material (follow the datum line)
    alt text
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    If the material is not good position, Loosen the fixing knob and reset the material to the correct position. alt text

  5. Set initial settings (blade out, cutting pressure, path, speed) and Test cut.
    In testing, the manufacturer's recommended setting values tended to be overcut, so I use recommended settings by FabLab West-harima, and did Test cut (1cm square size).

  6. Cut
    Push sending data through USB code, and Cut the film (cutting sheet).

    1st cut:
    the setting is same as test cut. (blade out:3, cutting pressure:15, path:1, speed:5) alt text
    The materials are not enough length, so the material was slanted during the process.
    From the mistakes, I learned that it is important not to be stingy with materials. alt text
    Also, I found the pressure seemed to be too strong.
    alt text
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    2nd cut: Success
    The setting (blade out:2, cutting pressure:12, path:1, speed:5)
    alt text

  7. Remove unwanted parts.
    alt text
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  8. Transfer
    I use Transfer paper.
    alt text
    Transfer logo to PC is complete.
    alt text

5. My impression

  • Errors were hard to make in the absence of time.
  • It was difficult to transfer, because the logo was divided into smaller parts.