I haven’t seen much about it here but I’m getting fantastic results cutting sign vinyl using the widgetworks drag knife. The actual blade is tiny and rotates so a drag knife gadget (using Vectric Aspire) is not needed. Just run a profile cut on the vector. I tried the Donek dragknife first but that doesn’t work well for this type/size of project. I think it is more suited for heavier cutting of cardboard or leather, etc.
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you can make a drag knife with 3d printed It uses standard 608 bearings and a steel rod of whatever diameter your spindle shaft is. the are lot of designing online
to build the perfect drag knife for very cheap, and that can be mostly 3d printed.
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The more 3D printed stuff I see, the more I’m thinking I might have to get one of those too. That looks really good as it is essentially the same as the Donek dragknife knife. Do you have to run it with a “gadget” to compensate for the offset of the tip off centerline? That’s what’s good about the Widgetworks knife. It’s so small it can cut much smaller detail than the Donek knife.
you don’t need to compensate for the offset of the tip is on a centerline.
Plate 1.stl (66.8 KB)Lasche.stl (30.7 KB)
My latest test used a Cricut blade housing and a 3D-printed adapter to fit my Makita. Will work well once I find a way to generate the g-code for a drag knife.
So that small tip offset allows the blade to turn corners without munching the small tight corners in the vinyl? It didn’t work well when I was trying the Donek knife. I wonder if the off set was more than what yours has (don’t remember what the offset was)
This solution appears superior to the crazy 3d printed designs I have seen. It’s on my wish list.