Has anyone here used a Cricut machine to cutout a camera bellows?

[eli griggs]

Has anyone here used a Circuit Cricut machine to cutout a camera bellows?

If so or you simply have experience on these machines, please inform us of you impressions and results.

 

[eli griggs]

I ask this because the machines can cut leathers, as well as vinyl, thing wood, chipboard etc and with a 12" x 15' width and length, it should be an ideal, small bellows maker.

The 12" x48" sticky matt that allows "non smart" materials to be held down comes in several levels of tackyness and thin leathers are already available with their own "maker" backing as well.

If anyone has a pattern for a small bellows that they can send me a drawing or PDF of, I'd like to give this a workout to see what these machines can do.

Ridge splines for bellows is another pattern I'd like to try out, so if your bellows also uses these, go ahead and message me those patterns too.

Finally, if you've a common camera covering pattern you can send, I'd like to see what cutting one on these machines is like.

Cheers and Godspeed.

 

[StanMac]

From the instructions I’ve seen, cutting the bellows body out from a sheet of material is pretty straight forward once you develop the dimensions. A sharp Exacto knife and good straightedge is sufficient. The cricut machine would be much more useful in cutting the stiffener sheet, I would think.

Stan

 

[eli griggs]

The Maker 3 can use 12" x 12' rolls of vinyl or fabric backed material and does the cutting for you.

The cutting is so accurate, it's blades make several plus cuts in the same single path as your design.

That said, the largest backer sheet I've seen, on has a length of 24", so you need to use "Smart" materials, which has no need for a separate sheet.

These machines can also cut out up to 2mm thick leathers, as well a papers but you'll need third party leather for a long, wide bellows.


Circuit materials can be expensive, depending where you shop, so be competitive in your online searches and haunt sell items especially.

There are a number of different blades, including deep knives, standard knives, circular knives, etc, so look at some of the better videos on YouTube before buying or borrowing a machine.

I'm still looking for a pdf pattern of a small bellows and a common camera, so if you have one to post, please do

Cheers l.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Zeiss 6x4.5. 531/16. You need the outer line only for cut out. All other lines are guides for braces and folding. DM me if you need another file format or a copy without any internal lines.

 

[eli griggs]

Zeiss 6x4.5. 531/16. You need the outer line only for cut out. All other lines are guides for braces and folding. DM me if you need another file format or a copy without any internal lines.

Thank you, very much for the PDF bellows.

Do you have any printed measurements for 1:1 reproduction, that you can share, additionally?

 

[eli griggs]

The nice thing about this machine is it has two fixtures, side by side, for tools.

In addition to the many cutters, there is a pen position which can also use a pressure stylus to emboss patterns, text, ect.

There is also a tool for the multi tool that embosses, so the fold pattern can be laid out before the final cutting, with great accuracy.

Godspeed to All!

 

[Dan Daniel]

The file is a PDF generated from the Ilustrator original file at the same size. It appears to be the right size. Those 6x4.5 Zeiss cameras are small! As a first attempt, it i probably not the easiest because of its small size. But I don't have any other files.

Generating them is not that difficult. I used regular copy paper prints and some scissors to run test patterns.

The embossing tool will be very helpful. Even if the emboss is on the wrong side of a fold, it will give the guideline to hand emboss every other fold.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Sorry, but my Spelling OCD requires that I correct this incidence of Autocorrect...

It's "Cricut".

Thank you, and please enjoy the rest of your day.

 

[koraks]

It's "Cricut".

Thanks; I've updated the thread title so it's more likely to show up correctly when someone searches for it.

 

[eli griggs]

Thanks; I've updated the thread title so it's more likely to show up correctly when someone searches for it.

Cheers. I see two spellings of that name even amoungest sellers of these tools and materials.

Yes, I will be trying some card stock to lay out - cut out full size mockups, and see what it looks like in actual use before testing leathers.