The entry of Cricut Knife Blade in the market is a game-changer for many reasons, changing the world of precision cutting. With it, users probably have to alter designing, crafting and creation skills. The Knife Blade, which entered the market in 2017 together with Cricut Maker and Rotary Blade, was officially launched in 2018. The number of users who wish to know more about the blade has been increasing since then. This article looks at its uses. It also delves into a few tips that should help you to use the blade more effectively as part of your precision cutting tools.
What can it cut?
To understand Cricut Knife Blade requires a deeper appreciation of its capabilities. First, you’re probably wondering if it’s even necessary when the Deep Cut Blade seems to have been doing a good job, thus far. Well, the truth is Deep Cut Blade has its share of inadequacies. For this reason, it was paramount for Cricut Knife Blade to come into the scene. Its main attraction is the ability to cut much thicker materials. Here, we’re talking about materials with a thickness of around 3/32 inches. Such materials are impossible to cut with the previous types of blades. In this category, you will find the following types of materials:
a) Thick chipboard
b) Thick leather
c) Balsa wood
d) Basswood
e) Matboard
f) Kraft foam
Not for Easy and Fast Projects
Generally, the best Cricut machines are efficient and boost productivity. For this reason, it’s normal to find users who use them whenever there is a need for completing projects fast and efficiently. However, Cricut Knife Blade isn’t for those kinds of projects. Why? You’re dealing with thicker materials here. Obviously, you would need more effort to cut through such materials. For example, you would require numerous passes to cut through thicker materials successfully. It wouldn’t be abnormal to have to wait for an hour or more for the Knife Blade to finish making a single cut. Therefore, don’t turn to this tool for your last minute heavyweight projects.
Observing Cut Sizes
Do not start using Cricut Knife Blade to cut whatever you want. The first issue to clarify is the thickness of the material you wish to cut. In this regard, ensure that the material has a thickness of 3/4” and above. Anything less than that could present an unwelcome problem to the Knife Blade.
What is more, the material you intend to cut should have a width that’s similar to that of a pencil. Otherwise, you would end up shredding the material to pieces considering how sharp and powerful the Knife Blade is. the best way to go about it is first to test it on a small portion of the material first. If satisfied, you can proceed with the whole thing.
Taping the Material
As you may already know, the Cricut Knife Blade exercises remarkable force on the material the moment you command it to start cutting. To put this into context, it applies a force that is ten times more than what you could get from Cricut Explore. For this reason, you need to tape or hold the material down and in place firmly to prevent it from moving around. If it moves a lot, you could have a cumbersome cutting session, which would then result in unprecise and inaccurate cuts. In this circumstance, a stickier adhesive wouldn’t be a good solution since it could peel the material’s top layer off. Taping is the best solution!
Clearing the Debris
During each cut, the material produces plenty of debris. As powerful as the Knife Blade is, it cannot work with all the debris gathered along its path! The debris needs constant removal though. Otherwise, it would prevent the Cricut Knife Blade from proceeding to cut. For this reason, failure to clear the debris could stop the Knife Blade from cutting your material; hence the need for removing and clearing all of it. Does this mean you should remove the mat or tape to clear the debris? No! To do this, you only need canned air. Get a blower and use it to blow all that debris away before pressing C one more time to proceed with the cutting.
Pre-Programming and Adding One More Pass
As earlier stated, Cricut Knife Blade operates more powerfully compared to all the previous models. Essentially, what this means is it requires more passes, which are often pre-programmed, to cut the material in question. However, at times you might need to add one extra pass. Usually, this happens when the cut is done.
Additionally, this happens when the need for confirming and finishing the cut arises, especially when the pre-programmed passes failed to complete the job. As you do this, it’s good to note that you don’t have to remove the mat. Just press “Go” to set the additional pass in motion.
Post-Cut Procedures
Lastly, it’s important to know what to do once you finish cutting the materials. The first task is to remove the mat from the machine immediately you’re through. Secondly, the tape that you used for holding the material firmly in place should also go. Three, do not forget to review all the cuts, as a way of ensuring that they are all complete. It is possible to find a few pieces that the Cricut Knife Blade has been unable to cut cleanly and completely, as it should. Upon this discovery, you would need to take a few measures. First, turn the materials over before cutting the unfinished sections lightly with a craft knife.
In summary, the Cricut Knife Blade is a must-have for anybody interested in precision cutting. With it, you will never struggle to cut any material regardless of how thick it is! Therefore, go ahead with your project with all the confidence you can muster since the Knife Blade will not disappoint you. Before proceeding, it would be great to remind you that the Knife Blade is not a choice fit for your last-minute precision-cutting projects considering that it takes upwards of one hour to finish a single job. Moreover, the materials it cuts are quite costly; hence, the need for proper planning to avoid rushing through the job.