DIY bellows - Anyone have a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine?

[photonsoup]

My wife has a Cricut Explore which is comparable to the Cameo. She has friends who have both and the Cricut will cut finer designs and is a little more accurate. Im sure that either one would easily cut out any pattern that you would need. My wife could cut one out for you sometime in August. My daughter will be here in a week or so and she has actually used it more than my wife. So if you get the pattern Ill see who could do it first. maximum cut size is 12' x 24"

[B.S.Kumar]

Joe,

Thank you for the links. I will study them and figure out if I can make a half-decent bellows for my project. I'm more of a broad idea person, so we'll see how it goes I have of course read your own article, as well as Steve Smith's.

Kumar

[Joe Smigiel]

Have you considered using one of the larger mat board cutters? Thee would make cutting the long side quicker (and possibly more accurately and SAFER) than the ruler/knife method. That you can set them to cut continuously parallel would save a lot of time, particularly with bigger bellows.

Not sure what you mean by the "long side." I have used a mat cutter in the past and even bought a small transparent Fiskars paper cutter with a dedicated track cutter to cut the individual stiffeners. However, I'm looking for a way to transfer the entire pattern at once rather than as individual stiffeners. If I'm reading your post correctly, you are suggesting a method that would involve the mat cutter slicing through any tape or backing that would hold the entire pattern together before transferring it. Perhaps it could be accomplished using stops on the mat cutter. But, shifting a partially-cut pattern under a hinged mat cutter straightedge can be frustrating. It's easier to just move a small metal ruler over the pattern. Or am I missing something?

I do have a decent size Logan mat cutter with 90-degree sidebar and stops but I don't know how to cut these patterns easier on it than doing it with a ruler and knife.

One thing that might make the knife method easier is to buy/build a cutter with twin blades offset from each other by 1/8" to match the gap in the pattern. That would eliminate half the work.

[Joe Smigiel]

My wife has a Cricut Explore which is comparable to the Cameo. She has friends who have both and the Cricut will cut finer designs and is a little more accurate. Im sure that either one would easily cut out any pattern that you would need. My wife could cut one out for you sometime in August. My daughter will be here in a week or so and she has actually used it more than my wife. So if you get the pattern Ill see who could do it first. maximum cut size is 12' x 24"

That would be great! I visited a couple print shops and craft stores today but no one could really answer my questions on the machines. One print shop had a machine/method to do the cutting but the price would have been about $75 for 4 panels. By the time the fabrics and adhesives are included, not to mention the labor involved, buying a ready-made bellows from the vendors in Japan or Hong Kong wouldn't be much more of an investment.

I plan to construct a bellows by hand this week to test some materials. If it fits the camera as planned, I can send the verified pattern to you and see if the machines will do the trick as envisioned. One panel is about 8" x 19" but I can also cut it in half to fit 2 letter-sized sheets. I'll attempt to track down some double-sided, press-on transfer sheets to affix the pattern to so that when it comes out of the cutter it will have an adhesive surface attached. I'll be in touch.

Thanks.