How do you set up a Drag Knife

[cwagley (Chris Wagley)]

Cutting EVA foam, how do you set up a drag knife so the spindle does not run?

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

I always just unplug it (and the vacuum) as well as set the spindle speed to 0 or 1 (depending on which Carbide Create version I’m using and what is supported) or, I edit the G-code to not have spindle on commands since I have to hand-edit the G-code for corner arc overcuts (or at least that’s how I did it the last time) — Carbide 3D doing an official drag knife and adding support for it in Carbide Create would do wonders for my getting back into leathercrafting…

Drag Engraver (MC Etcher) on Leather Question

The diamond tools are far too dull to cut leather and would just grab and snag and damage the surface — a drag knife is a far more workable tool for leather, so long as it isn’t used at a depth beyond which it can cut safely/consistently. While not a decorative cut, I was able to use a drag knife to successfully cut leather (workholding was double-sided tape — profligate, but it works): [WIN_20210524_20_57_18_Pro] [WIN_20210525_00_14_37_Pro] Spotted the holes using a 30 degree V endmill an…

[CullenS (Cullen Simpson)]

I can attest from experience that having the spindle run with the drag knife in it is a very bad idea

Luckily when I did that I was using the compact router. I needed a new drag knife and also replace the innards on the router.