using CNC mill to cut vinyl letters and numbers

I need to cut some backed vinyl sheet to make some bespoke letters and numbers for the number-plate on an old motorcycle. I have a small CNC mill which I drive by making .dxf files from which I make GCODE that I send to Mach3, which then drives the mill.

I’m aware that one can buy small vinyl cutter knives cheaply on eBay and that these operate in swivelling heads which can be fitted to a CNC mill or router. There seem to be quite a variety of heads available, at a very wide range of prices. One of the cheaper ones seems to be:

**LINK**

I would very much welcome advice from people who have cut vinyl sheet this way on selecting a swivelling head that works ok.

Practical advice on setting up the mill to cut vinyl, e.g. downward force needed and how to achieve it, type of backing and how to mount the vinyl sheet, any things to watch out for, would also be very welcome.

Thanks for all help,

Jon

Would it be quicker or less fuss to use the mill to make a template, in say brass sheet, and then cut the letter out with a scalpel?

Just a thought.

regards Martin

I've not done this type of thing but there are a number of YouTube videos that cover it. Search for tangential, Mach3 tangential, tangential control, tangential vinyl or other suitable word combinations. Hopefully they cover what you need to know.

Martin C

Sounds good to me.

Although for just one number plate, I'd use a normal printer for the template and be a bit more careful with the scalpel.

My local garden centre used a specialist in house vinyl cutter for all of its instore advertising. Perhaps you could save yourself some effort if you can find someone like that to do it for beer money.

I haven’t actually used them in a machine, but I was impressed by the quality of the ‘Roland style’ cutters that I bought cheaply ... I can’t see any reason why your plan should not succeed.

MichaelG.

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Here’s a ‘card’ for a stereo viewer [or for ‘parallel’ free-viewing if you can do it]

I can see the 3D version on my screen, same eye relaxation technique as used for SIRDS (single image random dot stereograms).

Martin C

Thanks for replies so far.

I'm really looking for advice from people who have cut vinyl sheet this way regarding selecting a swivelling head that works ok. I'm also looking for practical advice on setting up the mill to cut vinyl, e.g. downward force needed and how to achieve it, type of backing and how to mount the vinyl sheet, any things to watch out for, would also be very welcome. If I can get a working system then I will have other uses for it, e.g. cutting gaskets or lettering for such as tank badges.

Kind regards,

Jon

I've done name tags on my CNC converted Proxxon MF70. These were done in quite a simple way using a 1mm cutter, trafolyte style layered sheet and a single stroke 'font'. The same cutter also cut around the outside of the tag and made a hole for a keyring.

It took a few failures but after a while I got the hang of it.

Not quite what you are planning I know but I'm happy to answer any questions.

Looking at this video, it seems to be quite easy to do.

Martin.