Craft Cutters, Vinyl Cutters, Craft Robo etc for CP's

[Hathegkla]

I apologize if this has been discussed before, I did a few searches and only came up with a couple posts that mentioned cutter/plotters.


So...does anyone here use a Plotter or anything similar to pre crease folds? I just started getting into tessellations and I'm looking for a faster way to pre crease my grids.

Right now I'm just printing out a grid and using a pointed metal tool I made along with a ruler to compress the paper on all the fold lines. it allows me to basically blindly airfold all my creases and still get perfect lines but its only a little faster than just folding them normally.

I saw a video of a guy using a Craft Robo cutter to pre score all his lines and do some pretty intricate stuff. it seems like you could replace the blade with a blunted metal pin and have it just press down where all the valley folds are, then flip it over and have it crease all the mountain folds. here is a link to the Article and videos: http://www.origamitessellations.com/200 ... -resistor/

does anybody here have any experience with this? can you recommend any cutters? I've been looking at the Craft Robo but it only has 8" of lateral travel (but can do several feet in length iirc), most of the ones that do 12" or more are quite a bit more expensive. Craft Robo pro is only $250 so its looking pretty good right now.

I've found some refurbished professional models but I'm worried about software compatibility. I want to be able to use Adobe illustrator to create the vectors (but solid works would be fine as well).

[qtrollip]

Hi Hathegkla
an easy solution is to get a round paper cutter with a blade the is similar to a cog-wheel.
It will cut _ _ _ _ _ like this, then you can easily just fold "in the air" on the striped cuts.

[Brimstone]

That page you mentioned on your post is Eric Gjerde's page. He has experimented with laser cutters but the problem with them is that they score the paper in only one side, making it difficult to fold in the other direction.

I have a friend who owns a Craft Robo. I do not know the model but it allows a sheet that is about 80 cm wide (31.5 In). With it we scored a sheet of polypropylene and made this model:

Advanced users like Jeff Rutzki can do the scoring on both sides of the media, but we did not.

[WhisperPuffin]

Robert Lang uses a laser scorer for some of his uber-complex designs, I suspect he used it for his recent tessellations as well.

[Hathegkla]

cool thanks for the info. I think the problem with the craft robo only scoring on one side can be fixed by making separate templates for valley and mountain folds (one of them being a mirror image) and then flipping the sheet over and doing the other side.

qtrollip: thanks for the idea, I'll look for one and see what I can find.

EDIT: and brimstone, that's an awesome model. I really should start working with pp/pe we have rolls and rolls of it at work as well as a ton of clear Mylar. a craft robo would be really cool for stuff like that.

[Brimstone]

EDIT: and brimstone, that's an awesome model. I really should start working with pp/pe we have rolls and rolls of it at work as well as a ton of clear Mylar. a craft robo would be really cool for stuff like that.

The CP is available from http://origami.oschene.com/cp/meditation-xvii.pdf and if you are experienced enough, you can score one layer, then turn the material around and score the other direction

[Hathegkla]

cool, maybe I'll give it a shot, I think some 0.003"-0.005" thick mylar would look pretty cool. I could probably just tape the paper to the back and do the scoring, flip etc.

the folding looks like the hard part though, looks easy to crush while trying to fold.

[Brimstone]

cool, maybe I'll give it a shot, I think some 0.003"-0.005" thick mylar would look pretty cool. I could probably just tape the paper to the back and do the scoring, flip etc.

the folding looks like the hard part though, looks easy to crush while trying to fold.

You should certainly give it a try. Taping and marking with ink or anything else are good measures to place the media right on the spot when you turn it over.

You have to experiment a bit until you get the right penetration of the blade in the material, that will allow you to fold it easily. Sometimes it is too shallow and difficult to fold and sometimes it is too deep and the material breaks when you try to fold it (or even before, right at the craftrobo).

[Hathegkla]

lol, well I gave it a shot with some 0.005" thick mylar. I did fine with the scoring, at least the depth part, but I totally messed up the lines on the back side. I didn't make a mirror image printout so I just tried to mark it with a blunt,old sharpie and then eyeball it the rest of the way...after drinking a bottle of sake .I ended up getting pissed and tossed it across the room at least the cat had fun with it, he ends up mutilating most of my origami eventually.

however I did still have the paper template I used and just did a quick fold with that (even though it'd crumpled a bit).

[img]http://icanhasupload.com/uploads/2009/10/box1.jpg[/img]

it didn't come out as "puffy" as the one in the pic you posted, I think I just creased my lines too hard. but a nice light score and a soft fold with mylar or polyethylene film would look better.

[Brimstone]

it didn't come out as "puffy" as the one in the pic you posted, I think I just creased my lines too hard. but a nice light score and a soft fold with mylar or polyethylene film would look better.

That is for sure

[leung_wwy]

Couple of questions on CraftRobo that perhaps some of you would know:

1) what's the difference between craftrobo and silhouette (craftrobo is on amazon.jp, craftrobo/silhouette is on amazon.com)

2) what is the use of the carrier sheet, can they be reused again and again or do they need to be constantly replaced?

I am just thinking of getting one but want to understand a bit more before investing since it's pretty expensive!

[Brimstone]

1) I don't know

2) The carrier sheet will eventually need to be replaced, but you can use it hundreds of times.

[mummykicks]

This is what I did for a large format cutter.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61599104@N ... 463394231/
Works sooo much better than any of the commercial cutters I've used.

[Foldtastic]

There are lots of plotting cutters out now. http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/pl ... nyl-cutter Has anyone tried any of them for origami scoring?