CNC Mat Cutter

[victorf]

Being somewhat of a newby in this forum, forgive me if this is not the appropriate place to post my query. My significant other is a watercolor artist and uses a Logan Mat Cutter to help in the mounting of her artwork. On a recent trip to the Atlanta area we visited the local Dick Blick store (all things artistic) in order to purchase some Mat Board to feed her hobby. As I wondered around the store, I saw that they were using a computer controlled Mat Cutter. It was a commercial unit and must have cost a small fortune.

Finally, the question. Has anyone built a CNC Mat Cutter? The Mat Boards come in approximatly 30" X 48" size, but mats are usually cut much smaller than that.

Any enlightenment will be appreciated.

Vic

[Switcher]

All mats I've seen are cut at a 45 (I think 45) deg. angle.

Something to think about.

A simple 3-axis stepper machine should work.


.

[Coogrrr]

I would think you could build a large table but small steppers and lighter wieght pieces (less costly) and be able to push a small pizza cutter through the mat no problem or take multi pass swipes. One thought would be make sure you have a 45 notch setting to tilt the pizza cutter over each way or simply attach another steeper with screw to tilt it left right or whatever to get angle you need.

just my .002 worth

P.S. could mock a drawing up for you on the cutter setup and I would push you toward the Solsylva.com plans.

[dalescnc]

Hi all 2 weeks into building a matt board cutter for my framing bussiness. The route im taking is normal x-y with a rotating z drive to control the cut head with a solenoid to pull the blade into the matt mounted @ 45 deg angle will keep posting as to the prog ;-) just hope im not gonna shelve the project bit expensive framex@webmail.co.za

[LenMcC]

why not use a 2-axis with a spinning v-shaped bit like a chamfer end mill? this would eliminate the need to adjust the z-axis in any way, and the profile can be whatever you want, instead of being limited to a 45.

[dalescnc]

Thanks all for the input as for the chamfer it causes to much fine board dust its ok on white board but black will take me as long to clean than to cut by hand ;-) The comercial cnc can only really cut matt boards ! So 100K less you could engrave,signcut,router, etc got my board working using the L297 but cant stand the current hiss no matter what i try. Using a 86frame motor high torque its slow but strong too late i bought it all ready ;-( gonna go the LMD route with pic hope that's gonna do the trick ;-)

[LenMcC]

maybe check out this thread, too: Cutting Mylar Stencils?

i don't know how these cutters work, but they might be relevant.