Hi, I was thinking of using a Cricut Expression 1 that I have around and is already working with the computer (Sure Cuts a Lot) fine.
The idea is basically disassembling the whole thing and redo it on a flat board. Remove keypad, screen, etc, to make room around the carriage.
The final goal is to cut 1-2mm carbon fiber. I know this material is really hard so I'm sure I'm going to come up with a bunch of issues before I get it working.
My 2 first ideas were:
-Being a RC hobbyist that I am, using a big outrunner brushless motor to drive the spindle. Not sure if this is going to be powerful enough, I haven't been able to find any specification on how much power I need to cut CF.
-Use an second brand dremel-like tool. It already comes with the complete spindle, but takes more room.
For me it's just a challenge, I could for sure buy a real CNC router, but I already have a Cricut sitting around that I wanted to use for this. If this project fails, it's OK So please don't try to convince me that a Cricut is not the best option for this, as I already know it is not! As said, it's just a challenge for me.
So now, my main concerns are two:
-The solenoid that "pulls" the blade down in the cricut doesn't seem too strong, I mean, it has some power and it cuts thry cardstock, vynil, think balsa wood, etc, but I'm not sure if it will handle well with a router bit. I could probably redo the solenoid and output transistor to make it stronger if needed.
-Speed. The software can go as slow as I want, but I'm wondering how slow any of those options for the spindle (RC motor / dremel-like tool) will need to go to cut smoothly. I'm scared of all the comments about how hard the FC can be to cut.
Any thoughts from anyone who has approached a project like this before?
Thank you in advance!
Eduardo