W3 | Computer-Controlled Cutting

📝 Individual Assignment:

1. Design, lasercut, and document a parametric construction kit, accounting for the lasercutter kerf, which can be assembled in multiple ways.
2. Cut something on the vinyl cutter.

Vinyl Cutting

Roland GX-24 CAMM-1 Servo

During Week 3, I worked with the Roland GX-24 CAMM-1 Servo, a desktop vinyl cutter used to cut shapes and designs on adhesive materials. With this machine, I cut adhesive vinyl to create custom stickers.

I also explored another application: using the cutter to prepare vinyl masks for sandblasting. This makes it possible to transfer designs onto surfaces such as glass and create engraved patterns.

⚙️ Design Process
Before starting the vinyl cutting, I first prepared the design. I wanted to try a small sandblasting experiment on a glass coaster, so I measured it to define the area where the vinyl would be placed. While designing, I considered that the uncovered areas would be exposed during the sandblasting process and become engraved.

With this in mind, I developed the design. I chose Cinnamoroll, one of Hello Kitty's characters, and personalized the coaster with my sister's name. I arranged the figures around the border and added the text to fit within the defined area.

For this, I used CorelDRAW, a 2D software that allowed me to vectorize an image, clean unnecessary elements, and prepare the shapes for cutting. Once the design was ready, I exported it in SVG format.

⚙️ Setting Up the Vinyl Cutter Software

1. To set up the vinyl cutter, I first connected the Roland GX-24 to the laptop using a serial cable. The laptop had the necessary driver and controller software to communicate with the machine. Once connected, I opened the terminal to launch ModsProject, the program used to generate the toolpaths that the cutter follows. From the terminal, I ran the following commands:
   
   After pressing Enter, the ModsProject interface opened automatically in my browser, ready to configure the cutting settings and load the SVG file.

   
   $ cd Documentos/mods
   $ bash mods-local-server
                   

   • Here are the examples:
   

   

2. In ModsProject, the first step is to select the correct machine. In this case, I chose the vinyl cutter module, which allows the program to recognize the Roland GX-24 and generate the appropriate toolpaths for cutting. The workflow of this module is shown in the next image (2).

3. Once the machine is selected, the next step is to add the module that connects the vinyl cutter through the serial port. This enables communication between the computer and the Roland GX-24, allowing the cutting job to be sent once the file is loaded. The complete workflow is shown in image (3).



Select the machine (2)



Add the module (3)

4. This module must be linked to the workflow generated when the machine is selected. In this step, I also adjusted key cutting parameters such as force and speed. The force controls how much pressure the blade applies, while the speed defines how fast the cutter moves during operation.

   🖰 Force: 120 g   🖰 Speed: 2 cm/s

   
   For this test, I used a force of 120 g and a speed of 2 cm/s, which provided a clean cut while maintaining good control, especially for smaller details in the design.

   

5. Then, I loaded the SVG file into the workflow and checked both the size and DPI settings. The size is automatically detected once the file is uploaded, but the DPI needs to be adjusted manually so that all cutting paths are correctly displayed in the preview. This step is important to ensure that every line of the design is recognized and ready for cutting.

   • Here are the examples:

   📝 Note: For this example, I used 150 DPI. When testing other values, the preview did not show the complete toolpaths. This seems to be related to the scale of the design, so the DPI needs to be adjusted according to the file dimensions. This is something I plan to explore further.

   🖰 DPI: 150
   

   

6. Once I confirmed that all the toolpaths were correct and the machine was properly connected to the new module, I sent the file to the vinyl cutter.

   

⚙️ Setting Up the Vinyl Cutter Machine

1. First, I placed the material, in this case, blue vinyl. It is loaded from the back of the cutter, where a tray supports it, and inserted from back to front (a), leaving it at the correct height as shown in the image. Then, the material is secured using the lever located on the left side of the machine (b).

   📝 Note: The cutter has white alignment marks, and the vinyl must be positioned between them to avoid issues during the cutting process (c).
   

   • Here are the examples:

   Once the material was properly fixed, I turned on the machine. After powering it on, the cutter automatically measures the length of the material to detect the available working area. This ensures the machine recognizes the limits of the vinyl before starting the cut.

   

   a. Inserting the vinyl into the machine

   

   b. Adjusting and securing the material

   
   
   

   c. Verifying the vinyl position




2. After that, I followed the steps described in the previous section on setting up the vinyl cutter software. Once the file was sent, the machine began the cutting process. The following videos show how the Roland GX-24 performs the cut:

   • Watch the video:
   📝 Note: You can notice that in some areas, the vinyl started to slightly lift off the surface during cutting. I think this could be related to the design itself — perhaps due to broken vector lines or the DPI and size settings used earlier. 🤔

   • Watch the video:

3. After finishing the cut, I needed to remove the material from the machine. For this, I used a cutter knife to trim it off. The vinyl cutter has a small built-in cutting section that makes this step easier, as shown in the image. And with that, the cutting process was complete — the design was ready for the next steps!
   

   • Here are the examples:
   

   
   
   

   Removing the cut-out area

Applying the Vinyl Transfer

1. Once I had the piece of vinyl that was already cut, I placed a transfer sheet (also called transfer sticker) on top of it. This layer helps lift the entire design from the vinyl backing and makes it easier to position it on the desired surface.

   • Here are the examples:
   

   

   

   
   Process of applying the transfer paper

2. After applying the transfer sheet, I carefully placed the vinyl onto the glass surface, pressing it firmly to make sure it adhered well. Then, I started removing the areas that would be sandblasted, leaving only the parts covered with vinyl to protect them during the process.

   • Here are the examples:
   

   

   

   
   Process of removing the transfer paper

   • If the design is intended to be used only as a sticker and not for sandblasting, the same transfer process applies — you can place it on any smooth surface and simply remove the vinyl parts you don't need. For this step, I used a pair of tweezers to help peel off the small pieces of vinyl. It took a bit more time because of the complexity of the design, but the result came out just as planned. Here is the result:
   

   Removing the parts that will be sandblasted

   

   Vinyl mask ready for sandblasting

Sandblasting Process

Once the sandblasting was finished, we put everything back in its place and turned off the machines. It was time to clean the exposed surface and remove the remaining vinyl sticker. After wiping away the dust and checking the engraved areas, the design was finally complete — and this was the result.

Final result: personalized Cinnamoroll glass coaster

Final Thought