Franksville Wisconsin N-scale modutrak module buildout

[Sokramiketes]

Do you mean this - http://www.scrapbookdiecutter.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=KNK

Must be it, the specifications on the Groove model, the cheap one, says repeatable precision is almost .040" though. That's roughly the over-run I'm experiencing on my machine, so maybe it has the same pivoting blade issue...  Not good enough for N scale.

[Ian MacMillan]

Which cutter are you using? My wifes uses a Cricut blade that turns on center.

Is there a way to make a Cricut machine do other than what's on the pre-programmed cartridges? Or is this some other device that uses the same knives?

If you can program a Cricut for arbitrary shapes, then buying one of them is going near the top of my to-get list...

Yes, there is a program, its $75. I got it for my "wife" last year for Christmas....OK I really got it for myself. You need to have a cartridge in the Cricut, but then this program connects to the Cricut via USB and treats it like a printer. Draw your dxf or any linear file, then send to the printer and it cuts it out. Works really well. Its called Sure Cuts Alot. http://www.craftedge.com/

[lashedup]

Bunch of thread hijackers, I tell ya... 

Actually Roland makes an inexpensive line of cutters now that start below $500. Roland has an excellent reputation, decent service and top-level stuff. Finding a cutter that has enough pressure and can accept slightly thicker stock is tricky. If all you need is a machine to score material then it would probably work fine, however in the long-run the abuse to a machine not designed to handle that blade pressure or material thickness might end up in shorter machine life. That said it is very tempting to explore it further.

We have a show coming up this weekend and I'm off for the next few days on a short family trip, so I had to draw a line in the sand and stop work on the modules till the weekend is over. So I was cleaning track, checking connections, touching up the paint on the sides etc., etc. I was really itching to do some scenery and planted some more brush and such just to put something down. I need to fix the haywire grass though.

- jamie

[pfs]

*** Pre - Apologize for additional Thread Hi-Jacking ***


What about this 'consumer grade' machine ??

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2005&PRODID=xprd810738

I saw this when my ...cough...er..um Jo Ann mailer arrived.

Or is this too 'crafty' for the spec creating N items would require.

 

[asciibaron]

the muddy stream bank is awesome.  i swear that's real mud!

[Ian MacMillan]

*** Pre - Apologize for additional Thread Hi-Jacking ***


What about this 'consumer grade' machine ??

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2005&PRODID=xprd810738

I saw this when my ...cough...er..um Jo Ann mailer arrived.

Or is this too 'crafty' for the spec creating N items would require.

 

Thats the one we have been talking about. I would get the wider one though. I bought my wife the wider 18" one or something like that..the 6" wide cutting surface on that one didn't suit my, I mean her needs. She does a lot of scrapbooking. I enjoy it quite a bit. I do a lot of vinyl, cardstock and paper with it and I'm gonna try the scoring for Mike. For thicker stuff I obviously use my laser or rotary cutter.

Meanwhile back at the show...

[SkipGear]

Do you mean this - http://www.scrapbookdiecutter.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=KNK

Must be it, the specifications on the Groove model, the cheap one, says repeatable precision is almost .040" though. That's roughly the over-run I'm experiencing on my machine, so maybe it has the same pivoting blade issue...  Not good enough for N scale.

Mike,
 There should be a cure for the overrun in the driver for the cutter. I have used a Roland for close to 10 years now and there is a setting for the blade offset. The machined offset needs to be there for the blade to track curves. I have used my vinyl cutter to cut styrene passenger car sides, building parts and tunnel portals. I never noticed the kind of over run you are having. The Rolands 15" bed versions can be had for around $700 the last time I checked. I have been using an older 9" version for year to create vinyl decals for RC car racing and to cut my own paint masks.

This portal was done just as a quick solution for needing more clearance in a turn.

[Sokramiketes]

Do you mean this - http://www.scrapbookdiecutter.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=KNK

Must be it, the specifications on the Groove model, the cheap one, says repeatable precision is almost .040" though. That's roughly the over-run I'm experiencing on my machine, so maybe it has the same pivoting blade issue...  Not good enough for N scale.

Mike,
 There should be a cure for the overrun in the driver for the cutter. I have used a Roland for close to 10 years now and there is a setting for the blade offset. The machined offset needs to be there for the blade to track curves. I have used my vinyl cutter to cut styrene passenger car sides, building parts and tunnel portals. I never noticed the kind of over run you are having. The Rolands 15" bed versions can be had for around $700 the last time I checked. I have been using an older 9" version for year to create vinyl decals for RC car racing and to cut my own paint masks.

This portal was done just as a quick solution for needing more clearance in a turn.

Ah, good call.  I'll check in the SignGo settings.  I wish FlexiSign wasn't so expensive, but SignGo seems to be working.

[diezmon]

Hmm.. maybe we can start a new thread for the cutter discussion?   It's interesting, but I'm really here to drool over jamie's module work...

 

[tom mann]

How did you model the mud?  With a cutter?

 ;D

[diezmon]

How did you model the mud?  With a cutter?

 ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D : : : : :

[Dave Schneider]

Hmm.. maybe we can start a new thread for the cutter discussion?   It's interesting, but I'm really here to drool over jamie's module work...

 

I did yesterday over in the Weathering etc....section as this is a very cool and new (to me) tool.
http://therailwire.net/smf/index.php/topic,17730.0.html

Best wishes, Dave

[lashedup]

Ok, so a little lessons learned update...

I started work on the Klema shed - a long building along the siding where dry goods via box car were dropped off. Bad photo with arrow pointing at the specific building:



I drew it up and cut out the styrene pieces and assembled it. I added a floor to a portion of the building so that I could leave the loading doors open and put some people and goods in the doorway. This building is covered in corrugated metal siding and I found a "true" n-scale corrugated siding from Builders In Scale ( http://www.builders-in-scale.com/  look under "scratch building & detail parts"). This material is very fine and tricky to work with since it is so thin. However it looks really good. I originally ordered a bunch of scale 7 foot height sections (each section of material is a strip about 7.5" long). So I set out to cover one side of the building to see how it looked. I was planning on painting it as well as a test to see the finish product. So I covered the trackside of the building and took some photos of it:





I intentionally built this building on four corner posts that are elevated so I can adjust height later. My intent was always to trim off the bottom of the corrugated siding material to clean it up a bit and then bend it up and weather it a bit. So, I went back to the computer downloaded the photos and took a closer look at the prototype building and discovered that the siding was single sheet from top to bottom - not split up the way I did it. Further more looking at the above photos drew my attention to the fact that I spent so much time getting the pieces to align at the top of the roof first, that when I did the second piece on the bottom it wasn't tucked under the top piece - so in real life my building skills would have resulted in rain water running right into the walls. Here is a close up of the prototype:



So I'm not happy with the way it looks and ordered the scale 14 foot sections of the Builders In Scale corrugated metal material. Luckily I used white glue to attach this stuff with the idea that I might need to change something - phew! I pulled the pieced together stuff off and will wait to cover the building with the full-height corrugated metal stuff when I get it. I have other places I can use the shorter scale 7 foot pieces. I'll also cut the material into narrower sections similar to the prototype.

It was tempting to paint it up anyway to see how it looked. Damn I'm impatient some times.  ;D

[sizemore]

Bunch of thread hijackers, I tell ya... 

Actually Roland makes an inexpensive line of cutters now that start below $500. Roland has an excellent reputation, decent service and top-level stuff. Finding a cutter that has enough pressure and can accept slightly thicker stock is tricky. If all you need is a machine to score material then it would probably work fine, however in the long-run the abuse to a machine not designed to handle that blade pressure or material thickness might end up in shorter machine life. That said it is very tempting to explore it further.

We have a show coming up this weekend and I'm off for the next few days on a short family trip, so I had to draw a line in the sand and stop work on the modules till the weekend is over. So I was cleaning track, checking connections, touching up the paint on the sides etc., etc. I was really itching to do some scenery and planted some more brush and such just to put something down. I need to fix the haywire grass though. I took a quick crappy photo below.



- jamie

-jamie

What are you using for those tree's and underbrush? IIRC the grass you're using is the static stuff?

[wm3798]

Wait a minute, are those N scale salamanders?   Amazing...  I can almost smell the peat.
Lee