Everything You Need to Know About the Cricut Knife Blade

The Cricut knife blade is here! Here’s everything yous demand to know close how to occupation the knife blade, including how it works, materials it cuts, together with projects yous tin brand alongside it!

I was there, inward person, when Cricut announced that they were coming out alongside a knife blade. It was announced alongside Cricut came out alongside their newest cutting machine, the Cricut Maker. I’ve been using a Cricut since my scrapbooking days, together with inward those days, honestly, it was mostly a arts and crafts tool for newspaper crafters, but these days, the novel Cricut Maker is for ANYONE that wants to DIY! I’ve made roughly amazing projects alongside leather, wood, together with chipboard on my Cricut Maker together with no i every believes that I made it myself when it’s cutting out thence perfectly! I’ve seen the knife blade inward action, used it many times, together with today I desire to portion everything yous demand to know close the Cricut Knife Blade!

*This post service was sponsored past times Cricut together with may comprise affiliate links. As always, opinions are 100% my own. For to a greater extent than information, delight meet my disclosure page.*

What is the Cricut Knife Blade?

The Cricut Knife blade is i of the newest tools for the Cricut Cutting Machines. It was released alongside the novel Cricut Cutting Machines. If yous don’t know what a Cricut is, it’s basically a mini CNC – it tin cutting out a ton of designs that are pre-made or designed past times yous upwardly to 12″ past times 24″ (at a time).

The Knife blade is precisely what it sounds similar – a mini knife blade. It is operate of the Cricut Adaptive Tool System, which way it has that lilliputian gears at the top that permit yous to alter it out alongside other blades inward the adaptive tool system. It allows yous to FINALLY cutting thicker materials than ever before on your Cricut!

What Materials Can the Knife blade Cut?

The knife blade cuts materials upwardly to 2.44mm thick – which is soooo  much thicker than whatever previous cutting arts and crafts tool!

Here are roughly of the materials together with thicknesses that the Knife blade cuts:

• Balsa Wood – upwardly to 3/32″


• Basswood – upwardly to 3/32″


• Tooling leather – upwardly to vii oz. (stiffer leather)


• Garment leather – upwardly to 5oz. (Cricut sells a bunch of these!)


• Cricut Chipboard – 2mm


• Matboard – 2-ply or 4-ply


• Craft foam – upwardly to 3mm

So far I receive got cutting balsa wood, genuine leather, together with chipboard alongside my knife blade together with it worked genuinely well! Here are those projects if yous are interested:

• Balsa Wood – Cutting Holiday ornaments


• Leather – Entry Wall Hooks


• Chipboard – Decorative Bowls (coming side past times side week!)

What’s the Difference Between Balsa Wood together with Basswood?

I idea that I would briefly impact this, since I had didn’t know the respond to this myself! inward both cases yous demand to purchase forest pieces that are direct (i.e. non warped or bent) together with pieces that full  together with non composite pieces (i.e. non glued together), or they could teach stuck inward the automobile together with non cutting properly.

Balsa Wood: Balsa is a real lightweight together with frail forest that is oftentimes used for crafting models (like model airplanes). I’ve cutting a few things together with definitely receive got to continue it out of achieve of my toddler fingers! It is cheaper together with easy to uncovering on Amazon or inward arts and crafts stores. The Cricut Maker tin cutting it at 1/32″, 1/16″, together with 3/32″ thick alongside the Knife Blade.

Basswood: Basswood is a stronger arts and crafts wood. It is heavier together with sturdier than balsa. It’s to a greater extent than oftentimes than non easier to pigment together with stain because it holds the products meliorate together with isn’t equally frail to handle. The Cricut Maker tin cutting it at 1/32″ together with 1/16″ thick alongside the Knife Blade.

How practise yous occupation the Cricut Knife Blade?

First, yous must receive got a Cricut Maker – the knife blade does non piece of work alongside before machines, together with yous must occupation the Cricut Design infinite to pattern the projects yous are cutting.

Second, yous receive got to occupation the strong suitcase mat for whatever knife blade projects. These are the majestic mats that Cricut sells. I never genuinely used these mats until the knife blade was released together with immediately I occupation them all the time. They are sold inward 12″ past times 12″ together with 12″ past times 24″ versions. Most of the materials also require yous to record downward your projection thence that yous receive got the best adherence to the mat possible, together with your mat doesn’t jostle out of place.

Third, yous must motion all of the stars over to the right-hand side of your Cricut. You tin meet a photograph of how I moved the stars inward a higher house this paragraph. You but motion them past times hand. The stars are meant to feed the mat together with thinner materials through the Cricut machines, but when it comes to thicker materials they are non needed, together with inward fact, they inhibit the automobile from pulling the thicker materials through! Once I forgot to motion the stars spell cutting leather, together with it left a very noticeable imprint on my leather all the way downward the sheet! Then the cloth yous cutting must endure solely 11″ inward width (because yous don’t desire whatever cloth nether the in conclusion inch where yous receive got moved the stars). If yous are using Cricut genuine leather, for example, yous must cutting off an inch of the leather before yous rootage the cutting (I’m petitioning for them to sell 12″ past times 11″ pieces instead of 12″ past times 12″ thence I don’t receive got to cutting it off myself! lol).

Fourth, together with in all probability the most important, is that cutting alongside the Knife blade tin receive got a looooong time! Some of the cuts I’ve tried to do, required twenty passes of the knife blade. Depending on how detailed your pattern is, this could endure a lot longer than yous expected, particularly since the Cricut tin cutting newspaper together with vinyl inward just minutes or fifty-fifty seconds sometimes.

Three Mistakes I’ve Made alongside My Knife Blade:

I’ve been experimenting a lot alongside my knife blade together with receive got definitely made a few mistakes already! Here are roughly of the things I tried to practise that didn’t quite plow out equally planned:

1. Too Intricate of a Design – Above yous tin meet that I cutting out roughly eucalyptus leaves out of chipboard. Those worked great, but before that, I tried to cutting out another floral stems together with it was waaay besides intricate for the Knife Blade. I started it together with walked away – when I came back, many of the small-scale pieces were already ripping, together with the Cricut Design Space said I had 23 to a greater extent than hours of cutting left! So I promptly stopped that, lol. What I didn’t realize was that it is non recommended to occupation the knife blade for cutting images or details smaller than ¾”.


2. Not Leaving Enough Time to Cut – When the Cricut cuts thicker materials, it has to practise multiple passes on the same cutting path, together with increases pressure level gradually. This way that it tin oftentimes top upwardly to twenty times on a pattern together with takes much longer than whatever thinner material. I’ve majorly underestimated how long this tin take. Some unproblematic designs (e.g. pentagons) I’ve cutting tin endure done inward x minutes – other designs receive got taken hours to cut. So endure patient together with give yourself lots of time!


3. Materials are Too Thick – The thickness measurements that Cricut has given, are non just suggestions. I was cutting balsa forest in i lawsuit together with having an awful fourth dimension alongside it. My forest kept getting caught nether the bar, together with shifting on the cutting mat. I finally realized that my forest was besides thick. We genuinely ran my forest through our planer to flatten it out, together with and then tried in i lawsuit again together with it cutting perfectly!

How the Knife Blade Works:

If you’re curious how the knife blade works, yous may desire to banking enterprise fit out this video. It shows the Cricut Maker using the knife blade to cutting balsa wood:

I promise that answers all of your knife blade related questions. If yous receive got whatever to a greater extent than questions, delight ask! I’d dear to portion to a greater extent than of my knife blade cognition alongside you!

If you’d similar to withdraw heed to a greater extent than close the differences betwixt the Cricut Maker together with Cricut Explore Air machines, here’s a peachy overview!

Of perhaps yous desire to meet how I used the Cricut Maker to cutting leather for these amazing Entry Hooks!

This is a sponsored conversation written past times me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions together with text are all mine.