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CNC Paper Cutter

Technical Report · September 2019

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6949748

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Seyda Islam Emu Sazid Noor Rabi

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Southern Illinois University Carbondale
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Rahat Chowdhury Somlata Dev Sharma

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Michigan State University
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 Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)

Project Report

CNC PAPER CUTTER

Course Name: Instrumentation and measurement Sessional

Course No: ME 366

Group No: C15

Project partners:
Rahat Chowdhury (1610122)

Sayeda Islam Emu (1610134)

Sazid Noor Rabi (1610126)
Somlata Dev Sharma (1610133)
21

Index
Serial No. Content Page Number

2.
Introduction 3
Mechanical components 4-8
3 Electrical components 9-11
4.
Software 11
Hardware modifications 11
6
Mechanism flowchart 12
Detailed mechanism 13
8
Cost Analysis 13
Future prospects and 14
limitations
10 Applications 14
3]

Introduction:
Our project is
CNC machine which can be used to cut
a
paper and other thin sheets of plastic and
other materials. The word CNC stands for
Computer Numerical Control. Which implies that the
machine is controlled by a computer.

It is used to process a piece of material to meet the required specifications by following a coded
programmed instruction and without a manual operator.
Instructions are delivered to a CNC machine in the form of
sequential program of machine control
instructions such as G-code and then executed. The
program can be written or generated by
Graphical CAD software.
So our goal was to cut a paper in any shape using a micro-controller with the structure we built.
4

Components of the project

Mechanical Parts:

1. X-axis clamps:
These clamps were 3D printed using PLA flaments. These clamps hold the stepper motor and
pulley respectively and with a belt chain they are connected to each other and with the

platform. It enables movement in x-axis. It also holds the rods.

2. Y- axis clamps:
These clamps are also 3D printed. They hold the other stepper motor and pulley. The stepper is
connected to the pulley with the belt chain. Between them there is the cutter holder connected
with rods frorn one clamp to another with the belt pulley, motor is connected to the holder
which moves in the y-axis direction.
5)

3. Platform:
The platform holds the page which needs to be cut. It is positioned between the x-axis clamps
with the help of rods and underneath it the pulleys are connected with belts. This belt helps the
platform move in the x-axis by the rotation of motor.
6]

4. Belt-pulley:
The belt pulley is used to connect the motor with the idler pulley. The motor rotates and the
belt transmits the motion towards the other
pulley. In the x-axis this belt is glued with the
platform for it's movement. In the y-axis the belt is connected with the cutter holder to
make it
move. The pulleys were connected with a
single belt chain to enable proper movement.

5. Cutter holder:
The holder consists of 4 parts. The back
portion is connected to the y-axis
clamps with rods. The
front portion has 2 rectangular pieces glued to the
top and bottom of theback portion. Also
there is a z-axis motion given by the main holder which is
connected to the back portion with
rods. This moving part holds the cutter.
17

6. Stainless steel rods:

The rods are 3mm diameter made of stainless steel. They connect the x-axis clamps to the
were made 3.5 mm in
platform and y-axis clamps with the cutter holder. The holes in the parts
diameter to keep some clearance and enable smooth movement of the parts over the rod.
There rods were cut into 14 inches and 3inch sections for the purpose of our project.

7. Cutter:
because of it's uniform diameter
The cutter is made from a pen. A matador i-teen pen was used
and it being compatible with the diameter, we had a design for the holder so that
cutter holder
we can adjust the tightness of the cutter. So we adjusted the tightness to make it firm,
otherwise it would not cut the paper easily. The front part of the actual pen was cut off and we
made a hole vertically in the front portion. Then we glued the blade out the top part of the pen

with super glue.

8 Nuts and Bolts:
Nuts and bolts were used to hold the
clamps down on the board. 12 of them were used directly
on the board. Some were used to fix the
motors to the clamps. To position the pulley we also
Used nut bolts. To fix the rods to the
clamps we used nut bolts. There were bolts in the pulley
which were screwed to the motors to fix them with the motors. 18 nuts and 22 bolts were used.

S Plastic wood board:

The main board which contains everything is made of plastic wood. It is 2'X2' or 4 sqft. It is 8
inches in thickness. It was drilled to put the bolts in.

10. Zip-tie:
Zip-ties were used to connect the belt chains together. One end was connected with the other
end. This resulted in the formation of a continuous belt.
9

Electrical Parts:
1. Stepper Motor

2. Servo Motor

3. CNC Shield
110)

4 Motor Driver A4988

5. Arduino Uno

-O1GITALEPuT

Oo UNO.
AREHNO

22
11]

6. Adapter (12v, 0.5A)

7. Laptop

Software:
Arduino
2. Inkscape
3. GRBL Controller

Hardware modifications:

1. The CNC shield is to shorted for microstepping.

2. 5-wire unipolar motor is needed to be modified to bipolar (4-wire motor)
3. We rearranged the order of stepper motor wire to get it compatible with the GRBL shield.
Orange and pink = coil-1

Yellow and blue= coil-2

(12]

Mechanism:

Drawing in Inkscape

Converting to G-Code

Opening G-Code in GRBL

Controller

Running code in GRBL

Controller

Motors move according

to code

Paper is cut by the cutter

13

Detailed mechanism:
At first, we have to downioad the GRBL code for CNC (it is readily available on the internet) and
upload it to the Arduino. Again, we have to download MI grbl extension' folder from the internet,
then copy this to the inkscape extension folder. This extension folder will control the z-axis-
(servo). Basically it is a professional vector graphics software. There are some basic shapes like
rectangle, circle, star, polygon, etc. Even we can use any traceable jpg, png file types in inkscape.
After setting the suitable parameters and the adjustment of the drawing, we have to set 'object

to Path' which will set the direction.

and in
The entire mechanism of inkscape is when the pen/ cutter is going to touch the platform
in the Grbl software we have
which direction it is going to draw or cut following the G-code. Then
to set the appropriate port name and baud rate. Then choose the G-code file. This will basically
end point is also connected with the
set a starting point and connect itself with the origin, the
started. When
[Link] makes a full cycle, the pen or cutter will be back to the point where it
we can control the axis and zero position.

Cost Analysis:
O. Name of the equipment/service Quantity Cost
Board 240
1500
3Dprinted parts 240
Stepper Motors
100
Servo Motor
400
CNC-Shield
Arduino Uno 360
360
Motor driver
8. Belt 10 250
200
9 Pulley
240
10 Metal rod
100
11 Nuts and bolts
12 Super Glue 20
13 Misc. 300
Total cost 4310
14]

uture prospects and Limitations

1. Due to problem in the structure and the software, we couldn't successfully cut the page

in both axes.
done.
2. Pressure was added to cut the page and without pressure it cannot be
adding this
have cut the
If our structure was firm and strong, this would not be needed and we could
page without additional pressure.
and cutting similar objects
3. For future, this cutting machine may be used for milling, drilling
powerful motors. Like the
to paper. We just need to make the structure stronger and use

NEMA 17 and bigger servos.

industries. This machine
4. This machine is a miniature version of the CNC machines used in
was aimed to be helpful at home made decorations and origami.
a motor on top of it that rotates the
5. Can be converted into a milling machine by adding
stepper motor may be used. Also for a milling machine
cutter continuously. A DC or a

structure, there needs to be support material around it. A

more milling machine has a
head or overarm which supports cutting.
structure and change the cutter
6. We can also make a PCB printer if we make a stronger
into a pcb printing cutter. It is used for making PCB.
7. We can also change the cutter and replace it with a laser to make a laser engraver. Laser

engravers useful for engraving plastic, wood, paper, fabric, acrylic, rubber and
are
cardboard. Also glass, ceramic, stone and coated metals such as anodized aluminium.
15

Applications:
a. Art forms related to
paper cutting:
1. Origami
2. Quilling
3. Kirigami
4. Card making
5. In-house decoration
6. Making papercut sculptures
7. Paper dolls
8. Papier mache
9. Pop up books
[Link]

b. PCB Printer

C. Laser engraver

1. Plant labels
2. Custom Phone Cases
3. Leather engraving8
4. Jewellery
5. Laser etched mirrors

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