Welcome to HobbyCutters.com(tm)

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Paul
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:17 am

Welcome to HobbyCutters.com(tm)

Post by Paul »

As of April 18, 2021, we are just getting started.
Before long we will update the registration forms and other page features to make it more convenient for members to post and share.

In the meantime, if you have questions or comments, please visit our site Contact Page:

https://hobbycutters.com/contact.htm

Have a great day, all!

- Paul
Paul
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2021 10:17 am

Re: Welcome to HobbyCutters.com(tm)

Post by Paul »

This is a reply to a reader question:
Jeanne,

I have Cricuts and Silhouette Cameos and use both. I've written more about Cricuts because ProvoCraft keeps changing the rules for what you can and can't do with the old ones, leading people to ditch good machines that still have a lot of uses - especially if you've got a big investment in cartridges that you can't use in the new machines (no matter what their advertising says).

Now it looks like Cricut's next line of materials will somehow be "coded" to work with the new Maker 3 (they skipped #2 for marketing purposes.) So if I want to "keep up," I'd have to buy not only a new product but a new line of materials.

Not saying they're evil. Just saying that being a Cricut user can be frustrating, confusing, and expensive. Plus I started this site because so much of what I read about vintage Cricuts was wrong, which just increased users' frustrations. So far I've written more about Cricuts because there is just so much misleading content that needed debunking. And some of that content has come from ProvoCraft, I'm sorry to say.

In contrast, the Silhouette Cameo (1) and the Silhouette Cameo 4 run on the same software. The Cameo 4 is faster and can cut a lot more materials, but there isn't a lot to learn about project design, etc., if you go from a 1 to a 4. Because of this approach, Cameo culture doesn't include a huge backlog of obsolete "hints" and workarounds or urban legends that may never have been true.

That said, as I get into the Cameo 4 features that my Cameo (1) didn't have, I may find things that need to be said. Like Cricut's "documentation," there's a lot of "you'll learn everything you need to know by cutting out a simple project you could have done with a first-gen machine."

Or better yet, watch 8 hours worth of videos to learn basic functions you could have learned in twenty minutes with effective documentation.

Hopefully, as I get more into individual projects, I'll be discussing topics that relate to cutting with either machine. My initial goal was to "level the playing field" between Cricut and Cameo users and provide or point to hobby-related .SVG projects that work with both. But my ongoing goal is to focus on projects, not technologies.

Hope that make sense,

Paul
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