Cricut Maker 3 for cutting 1/16 Basswood Walls

Joe,

That looks like a pretty nice piece of equipment.

I like that, it does a very nice job of cutting any shape you can put in

Thanks Alan - Though I procured this primarily for basswood but I am going to try some 80 mil styrene this week. I see no reason why it should not work. If it does work it could come in handy for complex dual angles (like a roof line that changes slope mid way).
I am also going to try the 'print and cut' option on card stock. One can load designs like bill board signs into the design space, size and move them around then hit a 'print and cut ' icon. Design space instructs your printer to print the sheet then you load it into the cutter and press 'go' to cut out each individual sign. When the sheet is printed a perimeter border is auto printed. The machine aligns the cutter head to the border with a laser to register the position of the signs and then cuts. I'm looking at complex signs with a lot of curves.

Only issue so far is that any material on the 'materials' list that uses the knife blade can not be edited (change number of cuts of pressure). I also can not make a new material for the list and specify the knife blade. All I got from Cricut was 'those options don't exist at this time'.

This is awesome, thanks for the information.  I've been using my trusty 3d printer for years for hobby and am optimistic for the Cricut as a hobby CNC with a reasonable price range.  I've often thought the laser cutters could be lower in cost but I guess lasers are still pretty expensive.

Joe thanks for the info.  Looks like a wonderful tool for scratch builders.  Don't know that I could use one but I will be following to see your results with styrene.

I should have bought the MAKER instead I got the Explore Air 2.

But then again I have a Glowforge.

I like the way the Cricut synchs with a printer. So that you can simply and perfectly cut out color prints or decals.  The Glowforge can't do that yet.

Nicely done. Do you have specific projects in mind for this? What was the motivation?

Don Merz

@AlanRail posted:

I should have bought the MAKER instead I got the Explore Air 2.

But then again I have a Glowforge.

I like the way the Cricut synchs with a printer. So that you can simply and perfectly cut out color prints or decals.  The Glowforge can't do that yet.

Alan - The Explore Air 2 will cut basswood. Use the deep point blade. This is the machine that was used in the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcTaHF-W8rE. Advantage to the deep cut blade (which I can't use on the Maker 3) is that the software allows you to make a new 'material' so you can choose the blade, pressure and number of cuts. So far Cricut Maker 3 does not have the capability to make new materials list and choose the knife blade nor does it allow me to change the pressure or number of cuts on an existing 'material'.

The syncing you are alluding to is called print and cut. I am going to try it for card stock signs with other than rectilinear sides.

@Don Merz 070317 posted:

Nicely done. Do you have specific projects in mind for this? What was the motivation?

Don Merz

Don:
I plan on using the Cricut for almost all basswood custom building, making card stock building front signs with other than rectilinear sides and hopefully to cut out windows and doors on styrene sheets. I have to build a grain elevator this next project so will cut the styrene sheets to size for the walls then try using the Cricut to cut out all the window openings. The machine is supposed to be good for about 10.7 by 24 inches which is more than enough for my work.

I have been using a Cricut Maker to do car sides for a while. I don’t really like their interface and I HATED that they were going to charge a fee for this and then thank goodness they saw the light and backed off monetizing something that was originally  billed as free. It would have bricked all existing Cricuts. Still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  

Here are some car sides I cut in styrene using it.

Some 19th cent British cars and some 19th century NYC Elevated cars.  I like odd things. I can say that not many others have these in O scale.

I'll check into the blade depth i thought it was limited.

Using the Glowforge to cut thin plastic fo windows is overkill.

Alan - 1/16 inch is about the limit

Silver Lake - beautiful work

Set up the Cricut "Print and Cut" for building front signs. Up to now I always used rectilinear designs because cutting out curves was pretty difficult for me for the thick backer board.

I set up a single image in LibreOffice presentation (can also use draw) and sized it to the dimensions I needed. This is a good idea to do if you want to print on regular bond paper to see how the size fits your structure. I then selected and exported the image as a ".png". Once in Cricut Design Space I uploaded the image, resized it to the size I had in draw then duplicated and re-positioned the images. These images must fit inside a rectangle that is 6.25 max by 9.75 max. Once done you click on print. Note - I used Card Stock paper - 80 or 100 pound - not sure. Cricut automatically adds a border around the images to act as registration for the cutter. There is a way to utilize a whole sheet using Inkspace to set it up but I am not comfortable with that yet. Once printed Design space prompts you to place the card stock on the sticky mat and load into the machine. Press 'go' and sit back.

It came out pretty good

The card stock is obviously too thin to stand on its own as a sign so I usually use conservation board (type of cardboard) as a backer board. This board is thick but the Cricut will cut it. Back in LibreOffice Presentation I copied the image onto a new sheet and blacked it out. I then exported this as a .png. I uploaded this image into design space as a new project  but made sure it cut only not print and cut. I placed the board onto the strong mat but forgot to tape the perimeter. I used the 'heavy matte board" material setting which meant 24 cuts so a pretty long cutting (38 minutes). I loaded the cutting mat into the machine and sat back. At cut 10 because I did not tape the board to the mat the knife blade was deep enough to push the board out of position so I had to stop the cut and finish up with a razor blade. That's why you see the ragged edges. However the process does work. I can start adding a lot more curves to signs from now on.

Tomorrow I will be cutting out 80 mil styrene for the walls on the main building for a grain elevator I am building. My plan is to cut the styrene walls to size then use C ricut Design Space to place rectangles for window openings. This will be simple black rectangles placed at specific locations on the design space but I will need to pay attention to the x-y location of the building wall so that I place the styrene on the cutting mat in the precise location.

A whole new side business, Signs For Sale.

I set up the Cricut for cutting 80 mil styrene. It did not go all that well. With the cutting options available the 80 mil thickness was too much for the machine so I had to finish up using my nibbler. 20 mil should be no issue. 40 mil should be ok also. I am going to try 60 mil. I am also purchasing the deep cut blade to see how well that works versus the knife blade.

Things Cricut needs to do:
1. Allow editing of knife blade material settings (pressure and number of cuts) which one can not do right now.
2. Though this won't make sense to a non Cricut user in order to cut out the window/door spaces one has to 'weld' all the openings together so they stay in the same position for the cut. Once welded one can not un-weld if a mistake in positioning is made. The project has to be deleted and you need to start over again with a new project. This is why I have learned to make copies of the basic cutting project to save all window /door space sizes and positions before I weld.
3. Right now if the basic cutting program does not result in cutting all the way through the styrene Cricut allows one to make one more cut before removing the mat from the machine. Yea you can keep pressing the 'go' button but Cricut should allow you to repeat the entire cut program without having to keep pressing the 'go' button. Note - there is too much wriggle room in loading the mat so if you remove the mat and reload it for another program pass it is virtually impossible to orient it in the same position as before.

One thing I learned after wasting some styrene is that you should always test the cut pattern on card-stock or even regular printer bond paper before committing to styrene.

Below is the styrene taped to the 24 inch mat ready to load into the machine. I forgot to take a photo of the card stock I used to make the cuts.

Below is the result on the card stock setup unit. The bottom window was too low so since I 'welded' the image I had to go back and create a new project to fix the position.

As I said the Cricut could not cut all the way through after even a 24x cut program and even pressing the 'go' button an other 5 times so I resorted to drilling holes and using my nibbler. at least I had the precise boundaries of the cuts visible.

Great information! Thank you!  My wife has a Cricut  Personal Cutter 29-0001, still new in the box. she never used.  From what I can find on the web, its cutting capacity is pretty limited.  There are many newer models for sale in the area, probably similar usage to my wife's.  The Cricut naming is a bit confusing, with many models with similar names.

If I were to go shopping for a second hand cutter, which models would you recommend?  I would definitely use it with the computer app.

Cheers,

Geary

Geary:
If you plan on using the machine for model railroading then the Maker or Maker 3. There may be more difference but the only thing I saw was the Maker 3 'cuts faster' however this is only for smart vinyl (does not require a mat). If your wife does not use smart vinyl then the older Make is just fine. You will have to double check to see if the older Maker can use the knife blade otherwise you are confined to the deep cut blade for you RR stuff. I don't know much about the Explore Air other then the fellow in the YouTube video I post earlier used the Explore and a deep cut blade to cut his clapboard. When I called Cricut and asked what was the best machine for my RR business they said the Maker 3 because of the knife blade.

https://www.makersnook.com/cri...ricut-explore-air-2/

Send me a .svg (Scalable Vector Graphics) file, the material and I'll laser cut the wall for you on my Glowforge.

I can cut this on 60 mil or 1/16" (white?) acrylic.  let me know.

Alan - Thank you - I will take advantage of your offer in the future. Right now all the walls are cut so all I need do is finish cutting them out.

I also learned something new today. I don't need to use the weld tool. I can use the attach tool to lock in the positions of the various images. What is good about the attach tool is I can detach and shift positions of the images then attach again.

Thanks Joe! Very helpful information.

Cheers,

Geary

I experimented with cutting out text using adhesive vinyl. I had to make several attempts with number of cuts and pressure to be able to remove the letters with transfer tape but am still having issues here. I think it is my removal technique.

It is somewhat difficult to see but below is the result of the Cricut cutting the text for Cargill and ADM.

I cut the letters ADM with normal spacing and lifted them off the vinyl sheet as one unit then placed on the main building.

I spaced the text out on design space then cut them. I lifted them off the vinyl sheet one at a time and placed on each silo. I had blue tape on the bottom so I could align them correctly.

The vinyl is shinny. I also sprayed gloss cost on the areas where the text would go so I need to go back and spray Dullcote to tone things back down. All in all the vinyl letters worked out pretty good (once I get the lift off technique right). The neat thing is that there are no 'decal lines' visible.

Looks like you've gotten another useful tool in your scratchbuild toolbox.

For cutting styrene, I’ve found anything over .030” is not going to cut well. So I stick with thinner styrene and laminate it. I prefer the fine point blade over the knife blade when cutting styrene. In my experience, the deep blade is worthless for cutting styrene (and every other material I’ve tried it with)

Cricut software does have some strange limitations. For example you cannot cut with the knife blade and use the engraving tool in the same project. You can’t run cut jobs from your phone when you use the knife blade & Cutting from your phone is very handy because you use a photo of the mat to arrange your cuts. (I usually keep several mats loaded with different materials and so when I need a part I can snap a photo of the mat to arrange the next cut piece)

Ive attached an example of a building  engraved and cut with my Cricut Maker. This building is 3 layers of .020” styrene laminated, the multiple layers allowed me to recess the window and door castings and have a roof support ledge. The inside is braced with strip styrene.

Greg:

I did not even think about engraving! What tool and setting do you use? I just bought the deep cut blade to try on styrene - oh well. I do have the fine point blade and will try it.
The knife blade does have limitations but hopefully Cricut will make changes to make it easier to use.
Joe

Hi Joe,

Engraving

Cricut sells an engraving tool for the maker. It’s basically a hardened point that scrapes a shallow line. There is also a de-boss tool that has more of a round tip point (like a ball point pen) it impress your pattern into the material.

The engraving tool is pretty nifty, but the complexity of something like a brick pattern can easily overwhelm the Cricut Design Space software, it trips up on too many open lines. I had to design my bricks in Adobe illustrator and connect them so they were closed shapes (basically I connected all the horizontals alternately at each end and ran a dummy line back to the start to start to flow them into a continuous shape).

Also, you can’t do a project that uses both the engraving tool and the knife blade.

You can use the de-boss tool with the knife blade. I didn’t really have much luck etching brick patterns, but I think it could be useful for something like impressing a year on a tunnel portal or adding corrugated relief to a wall.

As for settings you can indicate what to do with every shape in Design Space (Cut, Score, Engrave,De-Boss). The option is in a drop down box on the tool bar. As far as I know you can only control cut settings. In my observance everything that is not a cut only runs one pass at a default pressure. So if you engrave and cut something, it will run one pass for the engrave and the up to 24 for the cut. So if you want to increase the relief with another tool you have to layer multiple copies of those shapes on top of each other.

For styrene I made my own cut setting that uses the fine point blade at max pressure.

I have to make and cut about 28 different signs. I use the 'print and cut' function to make the signs on card stock then the simple 'cut' function to cut out the backer boards (conservation board from Hobby Lobby). I use the fine point blade for the card stock with default settings. I use the knife blade for the conservation board but I need to keep an eye on the cutting since I need to stop the machine at about 18 cuts. The knife blade setting is 21 cuts and can not be changed. Unlike the last time I cut this material this time I used the strong stick mat and added blue tape to the edges of the board. Every thing held just fine which is good since it took close to an hour to cut the board.
Some photos are shown below.

This is the conservation board once I removed the cut sections. The top is a design I could never free cut.

The card stock sign

A bunch of signs I have cut

I am still waiting on a basswood project to try out a new blade I bought called the deep cut blade. Unlike the knife blade I can control number of cuts and pressure with this one. The original video I saw used the deep cut blade with 'more pressure' and 6 cuts so I have no reason to think I can't cut my stuff.

A friend who had owned ALPS printers and operated a small business making custom decals for customers such as me has passed away. I no longer have access to a decal printer who can make decals that work with dark colored backgrounds.
I had a conversation a while back with a friend who told me he uses photo paper to make decals; however I never tried it because just like white decal paper I always had issues cutting the decals out.

I am going to need decals so I decided to try the print and cut function on the Cricut with photo paper. I set the machine up to cut heavy card-stock paper with 'less' pressure. The result was excellent decals cut right to the ink borders. I did notice a slight cutting alignment error on the right side of the smaller PRR decal. Since these are photo paper I will use super glue to attach them.

I have started making all text on permanent adhesive backed vinyl. The only drawback is that I am restricted to one color unless I want to start placing individual letters. The end result is crisp looking letters without any of the issues associated with trying to hide the edges of decal paper.

@Joe Fauty posted:

I am going to need decals so I decided to try the print and cut function on the Cricut with photo paper. I set the machine up to cut heavy card-stock paper with 'less' pressure. The result was excellent decals cut right to the ink borders. I did notice a slight cutting alignment error on the right side of the smaller PRR decal. Since these are photo paper I will use super glue to attach them.

Hi Joe,

Your results look great. I tried print them cut on photo paper but the Cricut would never let me do it, the camera kept picking up the slight gloss on the paper and wouldn’t recognize the photo. What photo paper did you use? Did you experience any issues getting the camera to work?

Your Maker is a 3, mine is a 2 maybe the 3 has a better camera.

@Greg Amer posted:

Hi Joe,

Your results look great. I tried print them cut on photo paper but the Cricut would never let me do it, the camera kept picking up the slight gloss on the paper and wouldn’t recognize the photo. What photo paper did you use? Did you experience any issues getting the camera to work?

Your Maker is a 3, mine is a 2 maybe the 3 has a better camera.

Greg - I using HP Everyday Photo Paper 5.3lb. Glossy. I have a Brother inkjet printer. I use the 'other photo paper' option and set the print quality to 'fine'. I doubt the type of printer has any impact on the issue. I'm not sure about camera upgrade. I don't have direct light over the machine. Leaving things a little dark seems to help the camera better pick up the alignment box edges. When I set up the Cricut to print I always use the 'bleed' option. The decals look kind of ugly coming out of the printer however the Cricut seems to like this and cuts the decals as shown above.
I have learned one thing. I used to set up and use the Cricut in the garage. When done I would put the machine in its box and store on a shelf until I needed it again. Cutting text or designs on vinyl or basswood isn't an issue but Print and Cut is a different story. When I first used the print and cut function I set up and calibrated the camera per instructions. The next time I pulled the machine out of it box and set it up to run a print and cut procedure the results were awful. The knife blade missed every decal by a wide margin. -Forgot to mention I use the fine point knife blade-. Since it takes me a good hour to run the print and cut calibration I decided to place the Cricut in a permanent position next to my laptop inside the house. I will still run the print and cut calibration but not every time I turn on the machine.

Joe

I just found out about and ordered a sample of printable adhesive backed vinyl. I will perform a 'print and cut' to see if this stuff works as decals.

Great thread.

I have a Cricut. I just haven't used it enough.

And I was going to use it for mounting decals on a surface; to be placed on a 3D printed engine.

Alan - as I go forward with Cricut designs I will start adding machine settings and any Cricut tools I use for image manipulation.

Joe-

Look into the paper product called Taskboard.  There is a namesake website to order from. I use 1/16" white for all the inner structures of our building models. Taskboard assembles best with Tacky Glue and can be brush painted with latex and acrylic paints. Taskboard can also be wetted, curved around a form, and will hold that shape once dry. The "basswood" color has a slightly less smooth surface and is also a couple of thousands thicker than the white.