Ender 3 Vinyl Cutter Mod by greekjohnny

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is a Vinyl Cutter Mod for the print head of the Ender 3 printer.
You can click it on the head of the printer as shown on the photos and youtube video
https://youtu.be/W9Sjunk6gig
In order to print it you must enable the support option. I have included the sketchup files if you want to modify it on to your needs. (Different cutter).
The cutter I used can be easily found in Ebay, Bangood or other e-shops. Along with the cutter you can find spare blades too.
(Search for: 12mm Cutting Plotter)
It has a snag fit in the pocket. If it is too snag use some heat (lighter) to soften the pla and push it through.
If is loose then use the cup and a rubber band to keep it in place. This works as a safety feature too in case the head hits the bed. This way it will pop up and not damage the bed’s surface.
Once you install it you must measure the distance from the bed. Put some vinyl, paper, or other material to be cut on the leveled bed. Use scotch tape to fix them in place. Select the auto-home sequence in the menu of the printer, then disable the stepper motors. Using the “move axis” options in the ender’s menu, lift the head, move it on top of the bed and slowly bring it down until the cutter touches the material. On the LCD you will read the distance number which is needed as an offset number in the Cura settings.
In Cura now you only need one layer from the design you want to cut, so using the resize options bring it down to the appropriate height and size of one layer.
Use the following settings:
Wall Line Count :1
Top bottom thickness : zero (that option will bring to zero more settings)
Infill Density : zero
Nozzle and bed temperatures to zero
Print speeds down to 30 or 40 (this needs to be tested regarding the material, the slowest the better)
No Supports and No Skirt
Now the most important settings are the : “Z Offset” and “Z Hop when Retracted”.
In the Z Offset you must put the number you measured before using the move axis procedure described before and in after you select the Z Hop when Retracted you will need to add a value in the Z Hop Height of 2mm. This will enable the cutter to lift each time it moves to a new cutting point.
Important: Keep in mind that you have a smaller usable space on bed since the cutter is further to the left than the nozzle, so you must move your design stl to the right in Cura so as be in the center of the actual bed.
Go ahead and do the “print – cut” but be sure to test everything before you do your final cut. (do some tries without the cutter installed, use a pencil instead).
If you break something is not my fault… ok?
Best of luck!