Cricut Opinions Sought

[papercruiser]

Mods, can we split this thread into a general machine cutting info thread?

[sgoti]

OK, I am now the proud owner of a Silhouette Cameo cutter!

One of my friends needed some masks to paint a model of this train locomotive, and didn't like the thought of cutting them by hand. (He was worried about getting a smooth curve.)

After reading about some other model railroaders' experiences with the Cameo, I decided to bite the bullet and buy one. (Among other things, these guys were using it to cut styrene up to .020 inches thick, making beautiful windows, and scribing custom brick/block patterns in said styrene.)

Don had offered to share some of the cost, so that was a further incentive.

So far, the machine works beautifully (boldly stated after ONE project). I was actually able to figure things out using the (BG)-squared (by guess and by golly) method, and had four sets of masks made in fairly short order.

The machine comes with the standard version of Silhouette Studio software, which is now apparently the only way to drive the cutter. There used to be a plugin available to cut directly from Adobe Illustrator, but that is no longer available or supported.

Thankfully, the software will allow you to import DXF files, which both Illustrator and CorelDraw will export to. The Designer edition will allow for SVG file import, I didn't think this was worth the extra $50 at this time (maybe later).

As mentioned, the machine has the capability of reading registration marks for print then cut operations. The size and location of these registration marks is adjustable. Sometime in the next few days, I am going to try to add these to a file outside of Silhouette Studio and see how well they work (should be no problems).

Well, that should be enough for now. I'l try to post more info as I have time to experiment.

[OldSchoolDM]

Depending on what you're into, there are a lot of user-shared files for Silhoutte cutters:

See: Cardboard Warriors forum - Automated cutting files

[Jimcubie]

I am using cricut explore sucessfully. The main reason is that it can cut curved lines very well -- which I cannot do by hand. It is necessary to use svg files to get excellent curved cuts. There is a learning curve, but their phone support is excellent -- their chat support is not.

[Jimcubie]

You can upload your own designs to cricut. I find it invaluable of cardstock modelin. It can cut curves which I can never do well freehand. I am not saying it is the best of them. I bought becuase an older model was $130. If interested id "modeling with cricut" facebook site.

[Wulf111]

i also have a Silhouette Cameo that i use a lot and love it. i created a tutorial on my process for creating printed cut sheets it is in the tutorial section.