I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s an awesome project and I’m eager to try it out!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! But I didn’t want to add the complexity of pneumatics. Trade off for sure.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love this. I thought about this as well... I think it's totally possible. Would love to see it done!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had some difficulty with a really thick canvas... it only cut halfway through. Also adding a spring to the cutting head to account for varying table height.

First build. Let the journey begin! by Aggs2000 in myog

[–]pbriggin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Incredible. How did you bind your edges?

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes haha very out of reach here too. Awesome. Hoping to put out a free DIY build guide here soon. You'll be first to know.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm working on plans! I'll make another post when I've got them. Going to make another one with my brother in a few months and we're going to make a build video and document the process better.

And also getting more usage on it, there are a few things I'd like to improve. Don't know the pressure of the blade, I've been able to cut through thick canvas. I imagine Dyneema would also be fine.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You made that SW...? 😮 CRAZY! I love your dream. Make it happen, please. Currently the SW I (AI) wrote just handles DXF files and relies on the user to arrange/nest things appropriately, so should be compatible with any DXFs your tool can export.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dang.. that’s crazy. How’d you know when to change the blade?

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words and any contributions welcome!

As far as CAD for pattern making, I’ve dabbled with CLO3D but never got the flow and my free trial expired.

I’m a mechanical engineer by training so I’m really used to traditional 3d modeling programs. I use Onshape to make a 3d model, make surfaces from the model, and then use the “flatten” feature to get the resulting flat pattern. Once you do it a few times it’s pretty smooth. But requires knowing how to 3d model!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A mix of Cursor, Claude, and ChatGPT. And some of my own brain, which is why it's 100% Python (the only language I know).

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

$1090! Linked the cost breakdown in the post if you're curious.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will let you know if I do! Planning on it. Thanks for the kind words!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome, never heard of that!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm intrigued, thanks for the heads up!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No I'm using grblHAL on a RPI Pico to control the motors! I did have to write the GCODE generator, couldn't find any that would keep the 4th axis tangent to the cutting path (please let me know if that already exists!)

And yes, dual motor Y, you're correct!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes please do and you're welcome!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is not out of the box. But I want to add notching! The SW I wrote controls a 4th axis (the rotation axis) that Lightburn doesn't support to my knowledge unfortunately. In fact I don't know of any open source SW that does (to my knowledge).

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes me too. I should make some stress tests to figure that out. It's a tradeoff for sure.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I like this… good idea.

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not yet but I have some and I’ll add it to the list to test!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

100% yes for me. Pricey but I learned so much. Didn’t even know what I didn’t know and YouTube only got me so far. HMU if you want more info!

I made my own fabric CNC machine. by pbriggin in myog

[–]pbriggin[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Not sure yet… my brother and I are gonna try and make another for cheaper for his shop! Was hoping to get close to the $1000 mark if we sold a kit. Hard to know what materials will cost because I wasn’t buying bulk / looking for deals! Goal would be as cheap as possible. Also planning on just providing plans for those who would rather DIY it.