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Posted

It's ok Slick, Skynet will wake up and annihilate mankind before then :P

LOL ! Ah well, survival of the fittest and all that ya know.

(John 8:32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (KJV)

And the truth is that religion is nothing more than the lame attempt by largely ignorant people to

bring sense and order to a world that was beyond their comprehension. Once you see religion for the

delusional and superstitious artifact it is............... you will be free !

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Posted

Great discussion here!! WyomingSlick and Bad Hide, you gave me a lot to think about. As far as the difficulty programming, I was planning on using Illustrator drawings imported into the Handibot as SVG files. Glendon, I looked up the URL you provided, but I could not find what kind of knives they are using. One of the reasons I like the Handibot is that they are using Onsrud knives - so there are a lot of knives to choose from. I also like the Handibot because they have a good size company behind them.

As far as the Cricut (and larger machines like the Black Cat Silver Bullet and the KNK Maxx-Air), I question the sturdiness of those machines and whether they can consistently cut anything over a mm without giving me fuzzy edges. Ioline also make an applique cutter, but it also does not look very sturdy, and it's $6800!!

BTW -- I'm interested in appliques because I intend to decorate high-end evening bags with multimedia embroidery done by machine (sorry WyomingSlick). So I'll be using Illustrator files any way.

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Posted
http://donektools.com look at the video there is one of cutting leather. I have yet to by the knife but they are very well regarded on the shopbot forum. I have no interest in debating the ethics of cnc. I own a shopbot & love it I have yet to combine it with my new interest in leatherwork. Programming today is a snap the preferred product today is Aspire or Vcarve Pro and they have plugins that work with drag knifes.
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I've seen that Donek video many times, and I considered getting a desktop shot bot with a Donek knife. I have 2 problems with that idea though. One, if you watch that Donek video carefully, you'll see that one of the points on one of the designs is pretty ragged (probably tore when he separated the design from the rest of the leather). My second problem is that in an earlier thread on this forum, one of the frequent contributors to this forum wrote that he had used a CNC router repeatedly to cut leather without a lot of success. He did not say how thick the leather was, and I do not know whether he used veg tan or chrome tan -- but my guess would be veg tan. In any case, if I am going to have to limit my CNC use to thin leather, I don't want to invest in a full size shop bot. The handibot is a better fit for me. If you do get a shop bot, be sure to tell us how well it cuts leather!

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Posted

I've been considering getting a Donek drag knife for my Shapeoko --- I find cutting leather tedious and trying, but would be patient enough to carefully pull pieces apart and finish any corners which it didn't finish cutting.

Probably though, a laser would be a better option, for the reasons stated by others already in this thread. I've been considering drawing up a set of items and filling up one of the leather sizes available at Ponoko and then ordering that --- it's kind of pricey though.

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Posted

I was looking into a laser for my work but I was told it's not something you want anywhere near a house due to the 'burning flesh' smell. Even with top-quality extraction the supplier said it's something you want well away from other buildings.

Kind regards, Raven

http://wolfscrafts.com/

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Posted

Good point about the smell --- my first job out of college involved working w/ a company which had a location which did laser-cut/engraved rubber and it was noted as an unpleasant place to visit --- guess that decides for the drag knife.

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Posted

Yes--I considered a laser. In fact at a recent show, I asked Epilog to cut some leather for me since they said their laser will cut leather. It cuts it, but it burns it badly. I have hopes that they will eventually figure out a wavelength that will cut leather without burning it. But until they find that sweet spot, I'm going to try the Handibot. The standard desktop Shop Bot is more than I want to spend for appliques.

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Posted

seems the leather could be cased before laser cutting it to keep from scorching the edges.

No Matter Where Ya Go There Ya Are.
I was Southern Born, I am Southern Bred And when I Die I will Be Southern Dead!
I fly this Southern Flag Because my Ancestors Flew it in A war to ensure
our God given rights against a Tyrannical Government. Heritage Not Hate!
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