Drag knife utility

[donek]

Many of you have probably seen the drag knife tool I developed. If you haven't just visit the donek tools web site. Shopbot kindly allowed me to display and demo the device in their booth at IWF, where I showed it's veneer cutting capabilities. I owe them a huge thanks for that opportunity. They are, by the way, now a dealer, so you can purchase the tool from Shopbot if you like.

I have just finished the development of a tool for adding corner actions to your shopbot code. This tool is actually an excel spreadsheet. You simply enter your pertinent parameters and click the "Add Corner Actions to a File" button. You are prompted for an input and output file. The output file contains all the necessary additional code at the corners of your tool path to reorient the knife and cut sharp corners.

You can download this tool here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1uoo38icntkt
If you own a Donek Drag Knife, this is the tool you have been waiting for. Please put it through it's paces and let me know how it works for you.

I will be generating a program shortly that will allow you to specify the dimensions of a cardboard box and cut and score the cardboard with your drag knife and shopbot.

[jTr]

Have been looking at the drag knife and after recently viewing your demo video, I was seeking this device thinking shopbot offered it - looks like they're still not setup.

Also - download not working - looks like an enticement to purchase their web-based product. All indicators are that it is downloading after selecting the slooow mode, but is not successful at delivering the file.

Once it is, I'd like to try this swivel feature, as I'm currently faced with a project that will give me good reason to purchase your drag knife, and what you've described here sounds like it and this new tool would be optimal for this and many future jobs.

Let me know when ironed out - if need be, I'll simply order direct from you. Is there a more direct method to obtain this swivel file if I do so?

Thanks

Jeff

[Ajcoholic]

I bought one of Sean's knives at the IWF show. It really did a great job cutting the veneer they were demonstrating in the Shopbot booth.

I just got home Wednesday (this week) as we went camping after returning from the USA. I am looking forward to trying the knife out on some veneer in the hopefully near future.

I was able to down load the Excel file, although I am not 10% sure what to do with it in regards to using it with the CAM file (I use Aspire to create my cut files).

AJC

[donek]

Have been looking at the drag knife and after recently viewing your demo video, I was seeking this device thinking shopbot offered it - looks like they're still not setup.

Also - download not working - looks like an enticement to purchase their web-based product. All indicators are that it is downloading after selecting the slooow mode, but is not successful at delivering the file.

Once it is, I'd like to try this swivel feature, as I'm currently faced with a project that will give me good reason to purchase your drag knife, and what you've described here sounds like it and this new tool would be optimal for this and many future jobs.

Let me know when ironed out - if need be, I'll simply order direct from you. Is there a more direct method to obtain this swivel file if I do so?

Thanks

Jeff

I just tried downloading it and it worked, but I have to admit, it's totally lame. Does anyone have a better idea for a file host? I can put it on google drive or maybe dropbox? Feel free to e-mail me and ask for the file. It's only 221kb. Sorry. I'm new to providing files this way.

[donek]

I bought one of Sean's knives at the IWF show. It really did a great job cutting the veneer they were demonstrating in the Shopbot booth.

I just got home Wednesday (this week) as we went camping after returning from the USA. I am looking forward to trying the knife out on some veneer in the hopefully near future.

I was able to down load the Excel file, although I am not 10% sure what to do with it in regards to using it with the CAM file (I use Aspire to create my cut files).

AJC

It's always pretty straight forward to the guy that created it. I'll put together a video tutorial this weekend.

You just create a part file with sharp corners in your cam package. Then you open the part file with the Excel file and provide an export file name. The exported file will have the actions at the corners added to it. After you've done it once, it won't seem strange at all.

[kubotaman]

Sean your drag knife is interesting. I certainly see a need for it and allowing someone to cut materials easily. I just have one question " What makes the spindle or router turn the drag knife when cutting any angle other than a 90 degrees"? Is it the fact the blade is still slightly touching the surface?

[adana]

Very cool approach to making a drag knife... I wish I'd seen it a few weeks sooner! I just got a different drag knife, which is totally adequate for cutting vinyl, but there's no way it could cut beefier materials. Blade replacement cost will also be much higher.

The file download didn't work for me either, but I'm eager to try it with my existing knife.

[gerryv]

It's always pretty straight forward to the guy that created it. I'll put together a video tutorial this weekend.

You just create a part file with sharp corners in your cam package. Then you open the part file with the Excel file and provide an export file name. The exported file will have the actions at the corners added to it. After you've done it once, it won't seem strange at all.

Very true Sean but any good trainer will tell you it's not the easiest thing to overcome. It's why the "For Dummies" books took off so quickly when introduced. Best to assume nothing. i.e. there might well be a lot of folks in your larger target market that have never used a spreadsheet or don't know how to provide an export file name. Like me, there are likely others that can't quite see how the corner cutting spreadsheet files are somehow merged with the existing cut files the Best to show us without needing to dwell on it. A decent screencast (video screen capture) program can be a huge benefit in this regard.

Like a growing number of folks, I'm a Mac user when not using the Shopbot and Vectric's software so will make my buying decision based on if I think the learning curve will not be a pain. I look forward to your video. It looks like an impressive product and, I'm sure, could sell even better to folks like me if backed by a good tutorial.

[donek]

Sean your drag knife is interesting. I certainly see a need for it and allowing someone to cut materials easily. I just have one question " What makes the spindle or router turn the drag knife when cutting any angle other than a 90 degrees"? Is it the fact the blade is still slightly touching the surface?

The blade is oriented by the motion of the machine. Whatever direction it is moving, the tip of the blade follows. It can be reoriented to any orientation. It is done so at the corners with very small movements of the cnc while the blade is still contacting the material surface.

[donek]

I created a video tutorial today. Most of the screen capture applications I tried have some sort of problem. This one has the sound slightly missaligned with the video by the end, but it did a reasonably good job. Here's the video:

http://youtu.be/tNMvzJu9VO8

I am talking with my web hosting company about the download situation. We should have something up and running this week.

There is a cardboard box program that is 95% functional right now. As soon as the download ability is resolved, those files will be posted too. I'll keep you informed of the developments.

I also put together a short video on what the tool can do and how. It's here:
http://youtu.be/edivb-mzxIA

[billp]

Sean,
I finally got a chance to see what the tool is capable of at this weekend's Tidewater, VA Camp. Rodney Brown brought in some veneer projects he has done with your tool and they were impressive! Tight turns, and absolutely NO kerf to create assembly issues. I think this tool will really let people add to their arsenal..... Nice job !

[donek]

Sean,
I finally got a chance to see what the tool is capable of at this weekend's Tidewater, VA Camp. Rodney Brown brought in some veneer projects he has done with your tool and they were impressive! Tight turns, and absolutely NO kerf to create assembly issues. I think this tool will really let people add to their arsenal..... Nice job !

I'm glad to hear you got to see it Bill. The ability to add sharp corners with the excel app I produced makes for great results too.

[Pete M]

I have been befuddled by the drag knife for some time now. Not any more, I was able to download the excel spreadsheet and tried it on a simple quick engrave toolpath in Vcarvepro. I see where the moves to reorient the blade are added...pretty damn cool.
The only thing that concerns me is some of the numbers are in scientific notation('CG, ,-0.249206250377323,1.44348639636232E-02,0,-0.07, ,1)
I haven't tried it on my machine yet, could be no problem.
Excel-ent job

[donek]

I have been befuddled by the drag knife for some time now. Not any more, I was able to download the excel spreadsheet and tried it on a simple quick engrave toolpath in Vcarvepro. I see where the moves to reorient the blade are added...pretty damn cool.
The only thing that concerns me is some of the numbers are in scientific notation('CG, ,-0.249206250377323,1.44348639636232E-02,0,-0.07, ,1)
I haven't tried it on my machine yet, could be no problem.
Excel-ent job

You can verify it in preview mode, but you've found the next correction. I just change the number format in the output. That should go away once we offer it for download on our web site. That should be by the end of the week.

[Pete M]

I ran the program(sans dragknife), and the Bot had no trouble with the scientific notation. The scratches my vbit made looked just like the preview.

[donek]

I ran the program(sans dragknife), and the Bot had no trouble with the scientific notation. The scratches my vbit made looked just like the preview.

Great. If you send me an e-mail, I can send over the updated version of the program and you can confirm that the zeros are zeros, rather than xxxxE-7.

[donek]

The downloads are now available on the web site. I've also posted the first cardboard box cutting program. It is actually a part file that allows you to enter the finished dimensions of the box and specify the orientation on your table. It will then cut the cardboard and crease it.

Check it out:
http://donektools.com/software-and-cool-gadgets/