Dspiae stepless circle cutter replacement blades

[ColonelKrypton]

I recently purchased a Dspiae stepless circle cutter which if you didn't already know is similar to or a copy of the Thinnerline stepless circle cutter https://shadowhobby.com/tlcc-000-thinnerline-circle-cutter.html

In any case, after a couple of months of use I now can't imagine how I made do before. Over the years I tried various tools to cut circles and masks like the Olfa circle cutter and similar as well as using a good drafting compass with a custom ground and sharpened blade in place of the pencil lead. These all worked to a degree but had limitations in how small a circle I could manage. They also put a pin gentleman's parts hole in the center of your circle as well.  There is no comparison, Dspiae and Thinnerline cutters are head and shoulders above the rest.

But, this was not meant to be a sales pitch or review; there are plenty of those around.

The cutter comes with three cutter blades, 30, 45, and 60 degree blades. The ones most likely to be used for day to day model work are the 45 and 60 degree blades; the 30 degree blade being intended for cutting heavier and thicker material.

Problem is finding replacement blades. The Dspiae part number is MT-CB and the retailers I buy from have the cutter but report difficulty in getting replacement blades. Of course you will find sellers on located in the far East on eBay with reasonable prices but buying from afar can result in long delays.

What good is an expensive stepless circle cutter with dull blades and no replacements to be easily had?

As you might know, vinyl cutters such as the Cricut and Roland plotter cutters are quite common as are replacement blades for these devices.  However, these plotter cutters have cutting blades which are 2mm in diameter - the Dspiae stepless circle cutter uses blades that are 1.5mm in diameter.

It turns out that some (or all) of the Mimaki cutter plotter https://mimaki.com/product/cutting/  use cutter blades that are also 1.5mm in diameter.

And, replacement blades are available on amazon https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=mimiki+blade

I have tried these ones https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07GRD7GMD/  and they work just fine although they are about 2mm shorter in length than the Dspiae blades but the stepless circle cutter has enough adjustment in the blade holder that the Mimaki blades work just fine.



cheers, Graham

[WD]

Thanks Graham, I may have to get one of these.

WD

[Bughunter]

Thank you for your informative post about this cutter!

Sorry, but let me add my personal meaning on this device.
I think it is high priced due to the amount of precision produced parts, but I would take that money and add a bit more to get a Silhouette electronic cutter. This one can do the same circles but much more, crosses, letters numbers and all shapes you can think about!
For my latest models I scanned the decals and let the cutter do masks, because I like the real painted on look much more then decals.

If you wait for an offer (e.g. the coming Black Friday) you can get the smallest cutters ("Portrait" line, which can cut A4 size - that is big enough for our models) for a bit more then double amount of the mechanical circle cutter.
I could understand, if one cannot or do not want to use a PC to draw the masks, but otherwise the electronic cutter is worse the money due to it's flexibility. This was my best investment in hobby tools in recent years!

Cheers,
Frank

[ColonelKrypton]

Frank,

I agree on all of that. Certainly, if one has the extra $$ and can find such a cutter that meets their needs then by all means that would be the better choice.

Those vinyl cutters ( i.e. Silhouette, Cricut, Vevor, Roland, etc ... ) are marvelous tools and certainly something I have always wanted; in due time, maybe. I would also like a 3D printer and to finally finish building a small CNC mill.

Absolute cheapest one I can find is exactly double what I paid for the Dspiae cutter, the cutter models I have been considering are three to four times and that requires a bit more careful thought.

Still, I can set up the Dspiae and start cutting circle masks in about five minutes - it is that quick and easy. To do the same thing with one of the vinyl cutters would likely have taken five times as long.  Both devices have their place and the best choice would be to have one of each.

cheers, Graham