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Equipment/VinylCutterOld: Difference between revisions
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* I have had a certain amount of success running the cutter with a serial connection from Inkscape under Linux. More messing around is needed.--[[User:Artag|Artag]] 13:32, 19 August 2010 (UTC) | * I have had a certain amount of success running the cutter with a serial connection from Inkscape under Linux. More messing around is needed.--[[User:Artag|Artag]] 13:32, 19 August 2010 (UTC) | ||
* I have gotten the cutter to reliably cut reasonably complex shapes (see image to the right). See http://github.com/muz/Ruby-PNC950. Looks like the serial port needed negotiating correctly.--[[User:Muz|Muz]] 20 August 2010. | * I have gotten the cutter to reliably cut reasonably complex shapes (see image to the right). See http://github.com/muz/Ruby-PNC950. Looks like the serial port needed negotiating correctly.--[[User:Muz|Muz]] 20 August 2010. | ||
* I used the cutter on 5th July 2011. It had a problem where the carriage for the cutter was sticking in the "up" position for about 0.25s after the "pen down" command was sent to it — this was making it miss most of the first cut of each section. The problem was fixed by taking the cover off the carriage (single black cross-head screw) and applying WD-40 to the point where the carriage meets the adjustable end-stop screw at the left. (Try to push the carriage down gently by hand a few times and you'll soon see where the sticking point is.) The WD-40 and, presumably, whatever contaminant was making it stick was removed using kitchen paper. --21:36, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | * I used the cutter on 5th July 2011. It had a problem where the carriage for the cutter was sticking in the "up" position for about 0.25s after the "pen down" command was sent to it — this was making it miss most of the first cut of each section. The problem was fixed by taking the cover off the carriage (single black cross-head screw) and applying WD-40 to the point where the carriage meets the adjustable end-stop screw at the left. (Try to push the carriage down gently by hand a few times and you'll soon see where the sticking point is.) The WD-40 and, presumably, whatever contaminant was making it stick was removed using kitchen paper. --[[User:Sde|Sde]] 21:36, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | ||
==Model== | ==Model== | ||
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It should be possible to enable the serial port as a printer and print direct to it, but I found this produced cutter errors (flashing power light) and no cut. | It should be possible to enable the serial port as a printer and print direct to it, but I found this produced cutter errors (flashing power light) and no cut. | ||
* I didn't need to use the Ruby script. I just made sure the serial port was at 9600bps, 8N1, RTS/CTS flow control enabled (stty sane </dev/ttyUSBwhatever, then stty crtscts </dev/ttyUSBwhatever) and then did cat filename.hpgl >/dev/ttyUSBwhatever. --21:49, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | * I didn't need to use the Ruby script. I just made sure the serial port was at 9600bps, 8N1, RTS/CTS flow control enabled (stty sane </dev/ttyUSBwhatever, then stty crtscts </dev/ttyUSBwhatever) and then did cat filename.hpgl >/dev/ttyUSBwhatever. --[[User:Sde|Sde]] 21:49, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | ||
The following file was generated by inkskape for a star shape. This works. | The following file was generated by inkskape for a star shape. This works. | ||
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* File > Save As > HPGL | * File > Save As > HPGL | ||
* I didn't find this step necessary with a recent (0.48.1-2ubuntu2) version of Inkscape. It was happy to save in HPGL after loading a SVG. --21:41, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | * I didn't find this step necessary with a recent (0.48.1-2ubuntu2) version of Inkscape. It was happy to save in HPGL after loading a SVG. --[[User:Sde|Sde]] 21:41, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | ||
'''Creating your own image in Inkscape''' | '''Creating your own image in Inkscape''' | ||
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At the start of your HPGL file you should have at least two commands: IN; and SP1; (for "intialise" and "select pen 1"). If you add another command VS after these you can choose the cutting speed. VS1; is the slowest and VS40; is the fastest. Reducing the speed may be useful if your design has lots of fine detail. | At the start of your HPGL file you should have at least two commands: IN; and SP1; (for "intialise" and "select pen 1"). If you add another command VS after these you can choose the cutting speed. VS1; is the slowest and VS40; is the fastest. Reducing the speed may be useful if your design has lots of fine detail. | ||
DIP switch 8 can also be used to reduce the cutting speed (it's set to "very slow" if it's set to "ON" when you turn the cutter on), but it's a bit of a blunt instrument. Inserting a VSnn; command into your file gives you much finer control. --21:53, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | DIP switch 8 can also be used to reduce the cutting speed (it's set to "very slow" if it's set to "ON" when you turn the cutter on), but it's a bit of a blunt instrument. Inserting a VSnn; command into your file gives you much finer control. --[[User:Sde|Sde]] 21:53, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | ||
==Tips== | ==Tips== | ||
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There is a [[Pledges/Vinyl|pledge]] running for the purchase of more vinyl. | There is a [[Pledges/Vinyl|pledge]] running for the purchase of more vinyl. | ||
I have left a small roll of blue vinyl (about 4m) and a large roll of black vinyl (about 47m) in the space. There is also a roll of medium-tack application paper, about 30cm wide. Feel free to use small amounts of these. If you want to use larger quantities, please let me know. --21:55, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | I have left a small roll of blue vinyl (about 4m) and a large roll of black vinyl (about 47m) in the space. There is also a roll of medium-tack application paper, about 30cm wide. Feel free to use small amounts of these. If you want to use larger quantities, please let me know. --[[User:Sde|Sde]] 21:55, 5 July 2011 (UTC) | ||
