Are you planning to cut some die-cuts from acrylic for your upcoming project? The answer is obviously Yes! And if it was a ‘No’ then you might have not been scrolling here. So, the most confusing doubt in your mind would be that can you cut acrylic with Cricut maker or not? The facts demonstrate that you can cut acrylic with your Cricut as long as it is the correct sort of acrylic.
The Circut is fit for piercing through materials up to 2.4 mm thick. The Cricut Maker is known to be multifunctional and has more power as compared to any other similar machine, yet that doesn’t mean your Air 2 won’t have the option to work with cutting your acrylic plans. So, without wasting one more second let’s jump into the world of acrylics; what it actually is, and how it is used for the maximum impact.
In this article, you will discover data on what Acrylic to utilize and how to utilize it for the greatest impact.
Can You Cut Acrylic with Cricut Maker?
To cut acrylic with Cricut Maker you must have the right blade that can cut acrylic finely. It is called knife blade. The thickness of the acrylic must be 1mm or less (should be around 0.02 mm for best results). Engrave your design first and then start cutting the acrylic. Always do a sample first so you can get an idea of it.
Types of Acrylic
The most common difference between the two ‘Plexiglas ‘and ‘acrylic’ is what you’ve always been wondering about. To start off with the main difference, you may not know that Plexiglas is a brand name while acrylic is known to be the type of material used in manufacturing. There have been a lot of experiments by the crafters in the crafting network to find out the ideal thickness of the acrylic which can work with a Cricut machine. The most widely recognized thicknesses that really carved right through are:
- 0.007 Acrylic
- 0.020 Acrylic
- Thin Acrylic Sheets
Through a lot of research and experiments, crafters have discovered that the ideal thickness was 0.020 mm for the Cricut Maker. For the Air 2, the Deep Cut Blade can pierce through most of the materials that are about up to 1 mm in thickness, so contemplate that when cutting acrylic.
How Do I Cut Acrylic with Cricut Machine?
To begin cutting your acrylic with Cricut machine, first of all, you’ll have to prepare for it. Prepare for it, in a sense that you’ll have to make sure if you are using the right blade according to your material or is the mat clean and sticky enough to get hold of your material. The most ideal blade in Cricut blade collection for cutting acrylic finely is known to be the Knife Blade.
The profound cut blade broadcasting in your Cricut Air 2 will likewise cut acrylic yet you should ensure the thickness of your acrylic is 1 mm or less (I do not recommend going for 1mm, as it hasn’t showed good results. Around 0.02 mm is still the best).
Before you start cutting your acrylic, it is necessary for you to engrave your design first because it is undeniably progressively hard to imprint a piece and ensuring it is focused appropriately after you have cut the shape. By appending you engrave and cut determinations, you can accomplish both of these (cutting and engraving) simultaneously.
So, always do a sample test for engraving on your material before you start to cut it. Also, you can dispose of the sample in the event that it doesn’t work out. I presently can’t seem to recall many of my first runs at a project being flawless. I realize that you will go through different materials, however, as with almost anything else, a sample test on a small piece of acrylic permits you to make modifications on the off chance that anything goes wrong or isn’t feeling the way it should.
With acrylic, you will have to use a mat that has a really strong grip and holds material in one place. I generally use painters tape and tape down the sides too. You truly don’t want your material to move around and end up with a plan or cut that doesn’t work. In the event that you need to work with thicker acrylic that your machine won’t have the option to cut, you can cut the pieces by hand first and afterward do the engraving.
As I said previously, focus on your engraving because it is somewhat more troublesome along these lines yet it very well may be finished.
For the setting; you would need to change it to the basswood setting as there isn’t an acrylic setting. You can attempt different settings yet I found that this one works the best, trust me.
Incidentally on the off chance that you are not engraving your acrylic, then you can leave the defensive covering on your acrylic sheet. Your machine will require about a minimum of 14 tries to cut this acrylic and this thickness is the greatest that works with a smooth edge.
For 1 mm thick acrylic all, you will have the option to engrave it first and afterward cut by hand. I have engraved the cut lines with the goal that I had a way to follow when cutting by hand and it worked incredibly well for me and I hope it works in the same way for you. In case you are hoping to make your acrylic structure thicker, cut out more than one piece of similar size and paste them together for that thicker look.
FINAL VERDICT
To wrap this all up, it is officially safe to cut your acrylic with Cricut. All you have to do is to change the cutting settings and make sure that the needle is sharp enough to pierce through along with your Cricut mat being clean and adhesive enough to get hold of your material. I hope this article cleared all your doubts for can you cut acrylic with circuit maker or not.
Cutting acrylic adds another cherry to your tasks and over the long haul, there might be another approach to cut thicker materials as Cricut keeps on making enhancements for what their machines can do. For the time being, the most extreme thickness gives off an impression of being 0.020 mm for a decent cut. In the event that you find different settings that work, it would be ideal if you share them with the gathering.
Beatrix Ainsley (Bea to her friends) is an abstract artist who was heavily inspired in her twenties by the abstract expressionist movement of the 1940s. Since then Bea has acquired three degrees in Science, Education and most importantly Fine Art. Her art works showcase exploring emotion and introspection of self. To achieve this – the use of bold, sweeping, intricate layers of color, and spontaneity of form is enhanced by reflecting on decades of life experiences. Bea has amassed a vast knowledge of art in all its forms, and hopes to pass it on with her contributions here.
