# Finished design of my slab soap cutter



## DWinMadison (Mar 17, 2019)

Can't wait to get building....



DWinMadison said:


> Can't wait to get building....


I have no idea how this will work in reality, so if anyone is handy or has a s/o who is he/she wants to look this over, I’ll be glad to add the dimensions and share the file in Sketchup.  I’d appreciate a critical eye before I waste a weekend building it.  There may be design flaws I cannot see.


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## Cal43 (Mar 18, 2019)

My husband is a draftsman. He does drawing for homes and businesses and he is a builder . I’ll ask him.


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## Cal43 (Mar 18, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Can't wait to get building....
> 
> 
> I have no idea how this will work in reality, so if anyone is handy or has a s/o who is he/she wants to look this over, I’ll be glad to add the dimensions and share the file in Sketchup.  I’d appreciate a critical eye before I waste a weekend building it.  There may be design flaws I cannot see.



He said he can look it over.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 18, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> He said he can look it over.


Excellent.  Does he have access to Sketchup?  If not, I'll put the dimensions on a PDF and post it.


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## Hendejm (Mar 18, 2019)

Brilliant!  Looks like it will work great!!


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## DWinMadison (Mar 18, 2019)

Hendejm said:


> Brilliant!  Looks like it will work great!!





Hendejm said:


> Brilliant!  Looks like it will work great!!


Thanks, man. It was a fun weekend project/diversion/stress reducer. Will be interesting to see if it translates from design to execution and actually works.  Pretty ambitious to try a home-built linear rail system. {grimace}


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## dibbles (Mar 18, 2019)

My son made me a slab splitter and used a drawer slide. I don't know if that will work with your design, but it moves very smoothly.


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## Cal43 (Mar 19, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Excellent.  Does he have access to Sketchup?  If not, I'll put the dimensions on a PDF and post it.


Hello, he has AutoCad, but he says pdf will work. You can also send it to his email if you like. That way it can be downloaded to his computer for better viewing. His email is [email protected]


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## DWinMadison (Mar 19, 2019)

Here's an updated version.  After some comments by a friend, I decided to:

1) Move the linear rails (the part that makes the cutter arm slide under the table) farther apart for added stability
2) Add a handle at the right  side of the cutter arm to allow the user to apply more even pressure when pulling through the slab/loaf
3) Since I had the table top space, I added 2 additional cutting wires, but of course, using them would be optional.

Hope this helps someone.  I'll keep working on it.  Maybe I'll get some time to build on it this weekend.  My plan is to mock it up in plywood before investing in anything better.  
It's still only a theoretical model.


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## Marilyn Norgart (Mar 19, 2019)

I cant imagine making that much soap at one time


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## DWinMadison (Mar 19, 2019)

Marilyn Norgart said:


> I cant imagine making that much soap at one time


Lol. Agreed, but keep in mind, the original idea was for cutting slabs, not loaves, and cutters 2 and 3 are purely optional.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 19, 2019)

Marilyn Norgart said:


> I cant imagine making that much soap at one time


Then again, cutters 2 and 3 only make sense for slabs if you’re cutting square bars which approximately zero people do :/


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## DWinMadison (Mar 20, 2019)

Here's some cuts with dimensions in case someone wants to have a go at it.  CAL, I'll email them to your hubby as well.


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## Cal43 (Mar 20, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> View attachment 37656
> View attachment 37657
> View attachment 37658
> Here's some cuts with dimensions in case someone wants to have a go at it.  CAL, I'll email them to your hubby as well.



Some of the numbers need to be fixed. There are some where the “ is in the wrong place. This makes it look like the measurements are small than they should be. Ex 1” 3 1/4 I think should be 13 1/4”


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## DWinMadison (Mar 20, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> Some of the numbers need to be fixed. There are some where the “ is in the wrong place. This makes it look like the measurements are small than they should be. Ex 1” 3 1/2 I think should be 13 1/2”


Can't be.  Sketchup measures them, not me.  They may be too small in the format I had to save them too.  I've looked them over, and they are correct.  Perhaps my nomenclature is unclear.  the 3 1/2" on the slots is the distance from one another and the edge.


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## Cal43 (Mar 20, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Can't be.  Sketchup measures them, not me.  They may be too small in the format I had to save them too.  I've looked them over, and they are correct.  Perhaps my nomenclature is unclear.  the 3 1/2" on the slots is the distance from one another and the edge.



Ok , this is just me looking at it. Hubby is about to check it out


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## Atihcnoc (Mar 20, 2019)

DwinMadison your slab cutter looks great!! please show the final product as soon as it is done....Good luck!


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## DWinMadison (Mar 20, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> Ok , this is just me looking at it. Hubby is about to check it out


What file extensions can he read?


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## Cal43 (Mar 20, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> What file extensions can he read?


He said DWG


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## DWinMadison (Mar 20, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> He said DWG


Sorry.  To export to DWG I have to upgrade to a higher version of Sketchup for 119.  Don't see how that makes sense.


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## Dawni (Mar 21, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Then again, cutters 2 and 3 only make sense for slabs if you’re cutting square bars which approximately zero people do :/


I've seen them! Let me look for you. They work for some designs where the rectangular ones cut off the nice parts. I think they're cute. 

And oh, your prototype looks rad!


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## Cal43 (Mar 21, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Sorry.  To export to DWG I have to upgrade to a higher version of Sketchup for 119.  Don't see how that makes sense.


Oh my!!


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## Cal43 (Mar 21, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> Oh my!! He said to send it in whatever form you have , he can download the trial version to check it out.


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## amd (Mar 21, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> Some of the numbers need to be fixed. There are some where the “ is in the wrong place. This makes it look like the measurements are small than they should be. Ex 1” 3 1/4 I think should be 13 1/4”


Actually the dimension is 1' 3-1/4" - or 15-1/4", not 13-1/4" (that would be 1' 1-1/4").

Which makes sense to use foot & inches notation to match your tape measure. The mechanical drafter in me wants it to be a clean notation (inches only) but the architectural drafter in me knows that the foot & inches notation is the correct way to do it. (Sorry... I felt the urge to chime in. I have a degree in architectural drafting and civil engineering, but worked as mechanical drafter for 14 years.)


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## Clarice (Mar 21, 2019)

This looks AMAZING!!!!  Well Done YOU!


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

amd said:


> Actually the dimension is 1' 3-1/4" - or 15-1/4", not 13-1/4" (that would be 1' 1-1/4").
> 
> Which makes sense to use foot & inches notation to match your tape measure. The mechanical drafter in me wants it to be a clean notation (inches only) but the architectural drafter in me knows that the foot & inches notation is the correct way to do it. (Sorry... I felt the urge to chime in. I have a degree in architectural drafting and civil engineering, but worked as mechanical drafter for 14 years.)


Yep.  That drives me crazy, and I might be able to change the dimensions.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

The free version of Sketchup is quite robust.  I can save it to their work space, and he can view it there.


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## Clarice (Mar 21, 2019)

Hey @DWinMadison 
So am I right - the vertical bar to which there appear to be three wires attached is pulled "forward" and the slab is cut in three pieces, then you flip the pieces 90 degrees and cut the other way, yielding 9 bars?  Is the vertical bar designed such that you can add additional wires and / or reorient the positioning to adjust sizing?

This is freaking amazing!  

I love when folks can do this kind of thing! 

I was all chuffed with myself yesterday because I made four log loaf molds out of coroplast   THAT, I can do!


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

Clarice said:


> Hey @DWinMadison
> So am I right - the vertical bar to which there appear to be three wires attached is pulled "forward" and the slab is cut in three pieces, then you flip the pieces 90 degrees and cut the other way, yielding 9 bars?  Is the vertical bar designed such that you can add additional wires and / or reorient the positioning to adjust sizing?
> 
> This is freaking amazing!
> ...


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

Yes, the table is designed such that you pull the cutting bar toward you allowing the wires to slice through the slab.  I added the 2nd and 3rd wires on a whim thinking I was being smart, but thanks to Cal43 I realized that it's not the best design choice unless for some strange reason you want square bars.  The wires cannot be adjustable left-to-right because of the slots necessarily cut into the table.  SO, It's better to stick with the 1 single wire on the left side, slice in 1 direction, then change the guide block to get the other dimension of your soap cutting 1 row at a time.  In other words, wires 2 and 3 are pretty much useless unless you are looking cut a slab into 3, 3.5" loaves.  The single wire provides the most flexibility.

In my case for example, I would set the guide to cut my slab into 3.5" columns.  I'd cut 1 column.  Take it out.  Move the remaining slab to the left.  Make another cut, etc...
Then I would move the guide block to the right 1" reducing the cut width to 2.5."
I'd turn my now cut 3.5" columns 90 degrees, and pull the wire through again.
That will produce bars from my slab that are 3.5" x 2.5."

The other reason the single wire is more flexible to use is that I could also unmold my typical 3.5" W x 13.5" L x 2.5" H loaf, set the block to 1" (or any other width) and cut individual uniform bars from the loaf one at a time.

Does that even make sense?  I love the ability to design first on the cumputer, so you can visualize and work out  all the kinks (e.g. 3 wires is a dumb idea) before you waste the time building.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

The new version of Sketchup is web-based, so you don't have to download anything, and it's free.  Just sign up for the account at www.sketchup.com, and under products choose sketchupfree.
I've uploaded the model to teh Sketchup 3D warehouse.  If he the goes to 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com and searches for "slab soap cutting table" he'll see my design and can download it and play with it all her wants.  

If he doesn't want to fool with all that, I've sent the .png flat files to his email.


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## Cal43 (Mar 21, 2019)

amd said:


> Actually the dimension is 1' 3-1/4" - or 15-1/4", not 13-1/4" (that would be 1' 1-1/4").
> 
> Which makes sense to use foot & inches notation to match your tape measure. The mechanical drafter in me wants it to be a clean notation (inches only) but the architectural drafter in me knows that the foot & inches notation is the correct way to do it. (Sorry... I felt the urge to chime in. I have a degree in architectural drafting and civil engineering, but worked as mechanical drafter for 14 years.)


Yeah, my husband corrected me and the numbers are right. I was reading it wrong.


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## Cal43 (Mar 21, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> The new version of Sketchup is web-based, so you don't have to download anything, and it's free.  Just sign up for the account at www.sketchup.com, and under products choose sketchupfree.
> I've uploaded the model to teh Sketchup 3D warehouse.  If he the goes to 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com and searches for "slab soap cutting table" he'll see my design and can download it and play with it all her wants.
> 
> If he doesn't want to fool with all that, I've sent the .png flat files to his email.


Ok I’ll give him the info


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## penelopejane (Mar 21, 2019)

There are a few of these with detailed instructions on how to make them on YouTube. Might be worth a look before you actually finalise your plans. 

Looks good though.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

penelopejane said:


> There are a few of these with detailed instructions on how to make them on YouTube. Might be worth a look before you actually finalise your plans.
> 
> Looks good though.


I looked at several and stole what I think are the best concepts from them with abandon.


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## SaltedFig (Mar 21, 2019)

I've enjoyed looking at your cutter designs (especially the cut-out images - those are always fun to see )).

In Catherine Failor transparent soap book, apparently there's a design for a flat bed soap cutter with a single (adjustable) wire fixed at one end (to push the soap through, like http://riverleasoap.blogspot.com/2011/02/making-wooden-soap-cutter.html) ...

I was wondering what advantages there are to having a moving cutter head over this type of design?


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

SaltedFig said:


> I've enjoyed looking at your cutter designs (especially the cut-out images - those are always fun to see )).
> 
> In Catherine Failor transparent soap book, apparently there's a design for a flat bed soap cutter with a single (adjustable) wire fixed at one end (to push the soap through, like http://riverleasoap.blogspot.com/2011/02/making-wooden-soap-cutter.html) ...
> 
> I was wondering what advantages there are to having a moving cutter head over this type of design?


Great question. I actually started with a moving-table design. What bothered me about it was all the space it would take up (basically twice the size of the table top) when fully extended.  This design doesn’t require any additional clearance to operate, since all the movement happens under the table.  Still all theoretical, of course.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 21, 2019)

I got all the pieces cut out this evening after work.  Hopefully I can sand and paint tomorrow, assemble Saturday and possibly cut soap on Sunday.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 23, 2019)

I got the pieces all sanded and partially assembled last evening. I’m only planning to paint the top (the part that touches the soap) since  this is a mock-up.  I’m also not gluing, so (assuming it works) I can disassemble it and tweak  the individual pieces as templates for the real thing and future builds. More to come...


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## DWinMadison (Mar 23, 2019)

Finished the “Mach 1” this afternoon.  It’s obviously rough—no sense in committing resources until I know that it works.  The sliding motion works, but it needs to be a little smoother.  I have some ideas for accomplishing that in the “Mach 2.”
I’m hoping to get the energy to make a slab to try it out.  Gosh, I havent’t made a slab of soap in about 2 years for lack of a way to cut it.  I’m not even sure where to start...


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## Cal43 (Mar 23, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> View attachment 37723
> Finished the “Mach 1” this afternoon.  It’s obviously rough—no sense in committing resources until I know that it works.  The sliding motion works, but it needs to be a little smoother.  I have some ideas for accomplishing that in the “Mach 2.”
> I’m hoping to get the energy to make a slab to try it out.  Gosh, I havent’t made a slab of soap in about 2 years for lack of a way to cut it.  I’m not even sure where to start...


You know I was anxiously awaiting this right? She is beautiful!!! How did you cut the groove for the wire to more back and forth? What special tool did you use?

Another question? What size slab mold do you have that would fit this shab cutter?

Oh boy sorry for annoying you. Can I see the bottom of the cutter?


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## DWinMadison (Mar 23, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> You know I was anxiously awaiting this right? She is beautiful!!! How did you cut the groove for the wire to more back and forth? What special tool did you use?


Thanks for your interest.  Nothing high-tech at all for the groove;  I eased my skill saw in carefully to cut the length.  I widened it and finished squaring the ends with my jig saw.  Then I used sandpaper in a shoe-shine motion to smooth the inside. I used 1/2” conduit for the rails.  I drilled 5/8” channels through the 2x4 block (actual 1.5” h x 2.5” w) to pass the rails through.  I’m not happy with the fluidity of motion.  There’s got to be a better way....I’m noodling over that.  It’ll work fine, but can be improved upon.



Cal43 said:


> Another question? What size slab mold do you have that would fit this shab cutter?


My preferred bar size is 3.5 x 2.5, so I have a 12-bar slab - 3 @ 3.5 wide (10.5”) x  4 @ 2.5” (10”) so...
[ ___][___][___]
[ ___][___][___] 
[ ___][___][___]
[ ___][___][___]

The cutter tables is 14” wide, so it will easily accommodate that as well as my loaf mold, which is 13.5” long for turning sideways and cutting bars from that.

You may have noticed, I forgot to cut the groove for the spacer bar on the back rail, so Ill need to take the rail off tomorrow and fix that, so I can cut the 2.5” heights of my bars as well as the 3.5” widths, which is the default width.  I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting a bar wider than 3.5.”







Cal43 said:


> Oh boy sorry for annoying you. Can I see the bottom of the cutter?


Here’s the bottom view.  LOL, you’ll also see that I originally drilled the channels for the rails on the wrong face of the 2x4. Oops.  The metal bar was my solution for attaching the cutter wire on the bottom.


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## Cal43 (Mar 24, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> View attachment 37734
> 
> Here’s the bottom view.  LOL, you’ll also see that I originally drilled the channels for the rails on the wrong face of the 2x4. Oops.  The metal bar was my solution for attaching the cutter wire on the bottom.


These oops are good to know. Thank you


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## DWinMadison (Mar 24, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> These oops are good to know. Thank you


LOL. This is why we build a mock-up.  I also think I need to chisel a deeper channel for the string anchor. It may be part of the reason I’m getting drag on the push-back as it is awful close to the tabletop.  Off to church, then slab pouring this afternoon.  Blessings.


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## Cal43 (Mar 24, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> LOL. This is why we build a mock-up.  I also think I need to chisel a deeper channel for the string anchor. It may be part of the reason I’m getting drag on the push-back as it is awful close to the tabletop.  Off to church, then slab pouring this afternoon.  Blessings.


 These small details are a great help for me and others. Have a bleeding day.


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## Clarice (Mar 24, 2019)

@DWinMadison  - I am super impressed with your planning and building expertise!  Way to go!


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## Cal43 (Mar 24, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> These small details are a great help for me and others. Have a blessed day.


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## DWinMadison (Mar 24, 2019)

Inspiration comes on Sunday!  I resolved my rail/friction problem with these. 1/2” metal sleeves from the screw/hardware aisle at Lowe’s.  Now to make some soap!


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## Amy78130 (Mar 24, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Sorry.  To export to DWG I have to upgrade to a higher version of Sketchup for 119.  Don't see how that makes sense.


Your design looks awesome.. Did you try an online conversion site to convert it to DWG without having to upgrade? Something like https://cadsofttools.com/pdf-to-dwg-online/
I don’t have experience with dwg files, but convert 3d print files similarly. Hope this helps!


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## DWinMadison (Mar 24, 2019)

Amy78130 said:


> Your design looks awesome.. Did you try an online conversion site to convert it to DWG without having to upgrade? Something like https://cadsofttools.com/pdf-to-dwg-online/
> I don’t have experience with dwg files, but convert 3d print files similarly. Hope this helps!


I have not but will check into it. Thanks.


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## Deadgroovy (Mar 24, 2019)

Iv'e built one very similar to this .... no CAD or  Sketch up involved!


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## DWinMadison (Mar 24, 2019)

Deadgroovy said:


> Iv'e built one very similar to this .... no CAD or  Sketch up involved!
> View attachment 37771


Very nice.


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## DWinMadison (Apr 1, 2019)

Here’s the design specs I promised with measurements.    I’m providing a link to my new (very rough) soap blog.  The post has 3 PDF files (top, base and cutter).  If you need more specs like hole sizes, just let me know. I think they are pretty intuitive...at least enough if you wanted to print and give them to a friend to build it out.  I’ll detail them a bit more as I get the time. That’s the beauty of putting them on a blog site...I wont need to constantly repost them here, and y’all can be done with my prattling on about it.  Blessings for a great week!

https://www.myweaverweb.com/Soap/2019/04/01/slab-cutter-design/


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## Amy78130 (Apr 1, 2019)

DWinMadison said:


> Here’s the design specs I promised with measurements.    I’m providing a link to my new (very rough) soap blog.  The post has 3 PDF files (top, base and cutter).  If you need more specs like hole sizes, just let me know. I think they are pretty intuitive...at least enough if you wanted to print and give them to a friend to build it out.  I’ll detail them a bit more as I get the time. That’s the beauty of putting them on a blog site...I wont need to constantly repost them here, and y’all can be done with my prattling on about it.  Blessings for a great week!
> 
> https://www.myweaverweb.com/Soap/2019/04/01/slab-cutter-design/


You are awesome!!! Thank you!


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## DWinMadison (Apr 2, 2019)

Here is my ultimate solution for lining the channels on the bottom of the cutter arm (that the rails pass through). You may find a better solution.  If you use this approach, you’ll need 3/4” holes to insert them, then glue them in place. https://www.amazon.com/Bunting-Bear...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01G8X6WI6


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## reeeen4 (Apr 2, 2019)

If you ever decide to change the sliding mechanism design you could try using telescopic roller or ball baring draw rails for the sliding mechanism, they are really smooth and very strong too and I've seen other designs of cutters using them.


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## DWinMadison (Apr 2, 2019)

reeeen4 said:


> If you ever decide to change the sliding mechanism design you could try using telescopic roller or ball baring draw rails for the sliding mechanism, they are really smooth and very strong too and I've seen other designs of cutters using them.


Thanks. I’ll check into them.


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## DWinMadison (Apr 2, 2019)

reeeen4 said:


> If you ever decide to change the sliding mechanism design you could try using telescopic roller or ball baring draw rails for the sliding mechanism, they are really smooth and very strong too and I've seen other designs of cutters using them.


I found linear ball bearings on Amazon. They will require me to reduce the size of the tails to 1/4”  but that might actually work better. Thanks for the suggestion.  Will follow up asap.


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## DWinMadison (Apr 3, 2019)

So, as I was awake all night dealing with the searing pain associated with my "wine-tasting related foot injury" my brain came up with the bevel cutting jig to use with my new soap cutter.  It uses the cutting wire to make 1/16" bevels on all sides of 1" thick bars.  You could also use it to trim whole slices/multiple bars of your loaf or slab so long as the slices are also 1" thick.  Obviously, if you cut thicker, you could adjust the size of the jig slightly to accommodate other thicknesses.  Note: For visual effect, I hid the back cutter rail in this PDF, but the jig abuts the back stop rail eliminating the need to affix it to the table top.  All you have to do is take off the guide bar using the knob and set it in place.  I have another integrated beveling idea that I'm working on as well.  More to come....

Not sure why this would only attach as a pdf instead of imbedding the image.  Sorry.


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## Cal43 (Apr 3, 2019)

You are on a roll. That’s awesome!! ? Does the jig sits over the “rail thingy” that allows you to guide the soap slab ?


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## DWinMadison (Apr 3, 2019)

Cal43 said:


> You are on a roll. That’s awesome!! ? Does the jig sits over the “rail thingy” that allows you to guide the soap slab ?


It sits on top of the table and holds your soap at a steady 45 degree angle for beveling with the cutting wire.


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## DWinMadison (Apr 3, 2019)

Here's another option that uses a "V" cut groove in the table with a "blade" or thin metal strip at the end.  I shouldn't need to be to sharp to keep you and the kiddo's safe.


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## earlene (Apr 3, 2019)

Looks like a good plan to me.  I am fine with it as a pdf.


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## Lin19687 (Apr 3, 2019)

Only way to find out how good it is is to make it.
Looks like many of the others I have seen.
I guess it all depends on how you want to cut.  Seems like a lot of work to cut individual bars..


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## DWinMadison (Apr 3, 2019)

Lin19687 said:


> Only way to find out how good it is is to make it.
> Looks like many of the others I have seen.
> I guess it all depends on how you want to cut.  Seems like a lot of work to cut individual bars..


Well, it's actually a slab cutter by design, but several folks have expressed interest in obtaining smooth bevels, so I realized last night that this cutter design can be easily adapted to perform that function too.  And, you can actually bevel several bars at one by leaving your slab in slices or lining the already cut bars in a row.


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## srenee (Oct 22, 2019)

Great thread!  I needed a cutter for a 32lb slab.


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