this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2025
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Any resources on using a 3D printer as a plotter cutter (slrpnk.net)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
19 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi!

I've daydreamed about getting a cutter plotter without actually planning on really getting one. Too expensive and shelfspace-consuming for something that I'm not going to actually use that often.

Then I remembered that I could "just" mount a dragknife on my Ender-3 pro to do the job (maybe get one of these fancy quick-toolhead-changing systems as an excuse to tinker with CANbus, or something ;).

After a bit of online search, I found that I'm hardly not the first one with that idea. I've found a few videos, posts on reddit and files on thingiverse/printables, but nothing too in-depth. So I wanted to ask y'all if you know any resources to check out on this. Some github-pages style homepage of someone would be ideal, but I'm not too hopeful that there's something out there if I haven't found it yet.

Things I think I've found out:

  • Roland Cutting Plotter Vinyl Cutters are apparently the way to go. With 45° for vinyl.
  • I can use gcodetools to create gcode from svgs. The exact details aren't clear to me, though. Probably gonna have to create a klipper macro for this.
  • I can simply attach a cutter to my toolhead, or use something like the BTT hermit crab for a more fancy approach

Things I'm still not sure how to do:

  • If I'm using a BL-Touch - how should I handle z-homing? Can Klipper use BL-Touch for z-homing with an endstop-failsafe? Should I just monitor the print by hand?
  • Is there a comprehensive guide on the materials?

Do you have any experience on that topic?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I have made something similar before for my Ender 5:

https://www.printables.com/model/1071387-ender-5-x-mgn12-detachable-toolhead-3d-print-laser

It's definitely possible and the biggest challenge is making gcode that is compatible with Marlin. I've tried using gcode substitution commands in Prusaslicer as well as programs like FlatCAM and gotten good results out of it. You could indeed just tape it to the toolhead and set your home coordinates manually.

Try reading the gcode it produces. For cutting it should only have G1 X Y Z commands but it relies on a set home position.

You can set the home position in Marlin using G92 X0 Y0 Z0 and the run the gcode from there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Sweet! Are you satisfied with the results?

I'm actually leaning towards just using a silhouette, after I found out that my makerspace has one. 😅

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's not bad I would say. Right now I'm making a dedicated CNC for these kind of things and have the 3D printer just 3D print.

Here's an example of a result from the laser cutter attachment.

And here's a result of the plotter addon: