Dragknife question

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highpockets
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Dragknife question

Post by highpockets »

I'm getting ready to use my dragknife for the first time. I have a bunch of .4" circles I want to cut out of some .0625" thick rubber drawer liner material.

I'm generating the toolpaths using the Dragknife Gadget. All seems to go well, but in the preview I'm not getting complete circles cut out. Is this normal? How do I correct this. If I add an overlapping vector I can create a complete circle cut, but this seems to be the long way.

Any help would be appreciated...
Image 266.png
Image 267.png
Left circle has a vector overlap.
Left circle has a vector overlap.
John
Maker of Chips

Bill_L
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Re: Dragknife question

Post by Bill_L »

Been cutting headliners for vintage Corvettes for about a year now. After consultation with Donek, I just use the "profile on vector" toolpath and it works fine. Give it a try and as always run a test first.

Bill

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highpockets
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Re: Dragknife question

Post by highpockets »

Thanks Bill, I'll give it a try....
John
Maker of Chips

rig gap
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Re: Dragknife question

Post by rig gap »

I noticed you have .125” blade offset...My dragknife only requires .040” offset...and I specify the tool diameter as .015”...specified blade offset creates a loop at the end of the toolpath equal to that offset as the blade turns to change directions, in this case to reset the blade direction for the start of next circle...tool diameter is just a number to use to get a visual image of what the toolpath will look like, so I use the smallest number I can get away with since actual cut width is only the thickness of the dragknife blade.

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highpockets
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Re: Dragknife question

Post by highpockets »

rig gap wrote:I noticed you have .125” blade offset...My dragknife only requires .040” offset...and I specify the tool diameter as .015”...specified blade offset creates a loop at the end of the toolpath equal to that offset as the blade turns to change directions, in this case to reset the blade direction for the start of next circle...tool diameter is just a number to use to get a visual image of what the toolpath will look like, so I use the smallest number I can get away with since actual cut width is only the thickness of the dragknife blade.
Thanks for the input. I double checked and the blade offset is correct according to the manufacture. I have the tool diameter set to .01.

I'm back in my shop tomorrow so I'll give it a try.
John
Maker of Chips

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