never thought of it that way. . .dang it I knew she was smarter than me.
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I have the Cricut Explore Air 2. I really only use it for paint masks and cutting conspicuity stripes as it’s not suitable for much else.
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Yeah Cliff, we’ve made my birthday an annual thing, but Herself is a “just because” sort of gal, something can pop up at any time.
Slipping from the thread… I once got Herself a romantic rotary-hoe and was proclaimed Emperor of Romance that year. I thought I was on to something… The next year, she received, what I thought to be, a very romantic power hedge clippers, and I was ousted as Emperor. (Apparently a machine to clip your own flowers is not as romantic as being given clipped flowers)
I was today years old when Herself hijacked the thread and read Devon’s post and found out why I was ousted as Emperor of Romance. *”That’s how it’s done!”, she said.
I tip my hat to Emperor Devon Sinsley. (In the future, I’ll remember Devon’s advice and put the garden tool on her pillow).
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Have you go a photo of this?
Modern Cricuts and Silhouettes will cut more materials than the originals. I have been testing and using craftcutters since I bought a used Cricut Expression nearly ten years ago. Since then, Cricut has abandoned that line, but I still use mine, via a simple hack and some third-party software. The modern Cricuts work best with Cricut software that doesn’t let you save your files except in a Cricut file format that you can’t use with other machines. That said, they will let you import vector files from other graphics software programs now.
I use my machines mostly to cut vinyl for signs and occasionally car lettering, but in Europe there is a whole group of indoor modelers who use Silhouettes to make buildings and rolling stock. I’ve dabbled in both, using card stock, but don’t have anything worth showing.
What I HAVE done is document everything I’ve learned about these machines. And the same vector files you can use with Cricuts, Silhouettes, and similar machines work with laser engraver/woodcutters, too. So a craftcutter project you make out of posterboard could very well be a laser cutter project with wood or even plastic to use outdoors.
Hope this note or the articles in this web page help point you in a useful direction:
https://hobbycutters.com/
Would you mind telling me how you make the expression work with the “hack” and the name of the software? I’ll keep a free machine around for stencils if I can make it work.
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Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL) version 5 is software you can buy. You also have to use a hack called “libcutter”
First, check your machine to see if it’s one of those in the list on this page:
https://hobbycutters.com/legacy_cricuts/scal_n_craftcutters/scal_and_legacy_cricuts.htm
If your Cricut’s firmware needs updated, you can download install the demo version of Design Studio (Cricut’s first software). If you can’t find that free online somewhere, message me and I’ll send you a link.
Also, since “libcutter” technically violates a copyright, it moves around the internet. Also there are different versions for Windows and Mac. If you can’t find a version to download, message me and I’ll see if I can find it for you. One set of these I refer to in my articles is now behind a paywall, but I have a workaround for that, so don’t pay to have access to the file. If you can’t find it, I can track it down for you and message you the link.
Finally, you may need an upgrade to your USB system, especially if you have an older computer. There are instructions in the “Driver Update” section of my “SCAL and Legacy Cricuts” page.
Sorry if this sounds complicated. Once you do it, you can cut just about any vector graphic on most early Cricut machines. And those go for a song - if yours burns out, get another one. I recommend the Expression because of the larger width. AVOID the Mini and Expression II. They don’t work with external software at all, which turns the Mini into a doorstop.
Thanks Paul, much of what we’ve read is that the early Cricuts were built like tanks. I’ll pass that on…
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Again, don’t rush out and buy an early Cricut, unless you can get a working original Expression (CRX001) very cheaply. Understand that you’ll need to buy SCAL 5 and download the libcutter hack to make it work.
Silhouette and several other companies have tens of thousands of vector graphic files that you can import into SCAL OR into Cricut’s Design Space. So if you’re mostly looking to cut other people’s designs for greeting cards, funny signs, or fru-fru table centerpieces, a Cricut Explore or Maker may work for that and ALSO allow you to import other folks’ graphics, including your own. (The first Cricut Explores are coming on the market used, so that may be a way to “get your feet wet.”)
On the other hand, if you mostly want to cut designs for buildings, passenger car sides, business names, etc., you may discover that an early Silhouette (or SCAL and a hack and a CRX001 Expression) work for most or all of your needs. (And there are still tens of thousands of online fru-fru designs you can download.)
Once hobbyists get started using craftcutters, they find more and more uses for them. But don’t assume you have to lay out a bunch of cash. If you start with an inexpensive solution, by the time you know what you’re doing, the major manufacturers will have released another version or two anyway. If you start with the top-of-the line, by the time you know what you can do with it, it’s obsolete.
P.S. current Cricut Explores and Makers have a “feature” that lets you use special materials by just dialing it in (instead of testing materials first, and “wasting” a few bits before you get the right settings). I don’t think they offer much else, and to use that feature, you need to buy your materials from Cricut, another way they keep you “captive” to their “company store.”
If you’d rather get your materials from other sources anyway, older Explores and Makers (or any Silhouette) will work just as well.
Sorry, I’m addicted to saving money on my hobbies even if I can afford the big, shiny, new things. Until I outgrow what I have or until I need a function that it doesn’t provide, I’ll keep using “old reliable.”
Hope that makes sense.
Somewhere I do. I’ll see if I can find it.