HobbyCutters.com Home Page

Craftcutters like Silhouette's Cameos® and ProvoCraft's Cricuts® were initially designed for the purpose of cutting vinyl and other materials for craft projects, but since then, they have found many other uses and become much more flexible and robust.

Although many hobbyists are adopting more sophisticated products like 3d printers and laser-based woodcutters, there is still room for the sorts of things craftcutters do well.

This site is intended to:

• Help hobbyists who are just getting into craftcutters make good choices and avoid both common mistakes and popular myths,
• Suggest ways to use craftcutters' capabilities in model-building and related hobbies,
• Provide templates and other downloadable files that will help you make quick progress, and
• Collect and share tips, tricks, and resources with fellow hobbyists.

Craftcutters For Hobbyists and Designers

A modeler, designer, or putz house builder who wants to get the best use out of any computer/craftcutter setup will need:

• A computer connected to the Internet,
• Software that talks to your cutter, and
• A cutter that your computer can talk to.

Fortunately, there are many options and multiple combinations. One reason for this site is to help folks find the best combination for their needs (and avoid some "urban legends" that are still prominently posted on countless amateur sites).

Another is to share ideas and resources that will help modelers, war gamers, and countless others make optimum use of their cutters.

About Time-Sensitive Material - When talking about individual products or even product lines, it's possible for everything you "know" about them to be overturned by one decision on the part of the manufacturer.

For that reason, we are including the month and year of publication prominently in some of our more time-sensitive articles. That way if for some reason we don't keep up and you come across the article five years from now, you'll have an idea of how outdated it is. Frankly, a lot of other folks could have saved me some trouble if they'd been doing the same thing all along.

About Our Resources - When we started writing articles about simple craftcutter projects for another resource, we realized that the vast majority of reader questions were not about our projects, but about hardware, software, and related issues. Consequently, we realized that this site also needed to answer those questions before some of our project articles would even "make sense" to beginners.

We have a number of project articles in the works, and we created this site as a place to make them as accessible as possible. If they're presently outnumbered by reference articles at this time, please don't assume that's our long-term plan. :-)

Topic Index

Introduction to Craftcutters Redux - This article was written for another resource several years ago, and so much has changed that the original article became flat-out-wrong on several important points. The current version is an overview of the current classes of machine and what they're most likely to be useful for.

Craftcutter Applications for Hobbyists - Suggests several craftcutter uses for model railroaders, war gamers, putz house builders and others. Includes suggestions about the kind of software and hardware combinations you should consider for specific applications.

This article even includes suggestions for projects you can attempt if you are just using a cartridge-based first-generation Cricut.

Plotters and Signcutters - describes the industrial predecessors of the modern craftcutters, explaining how X/Y coordinates can generate shapes. This is most useful for folks transitioning from industrial equipment or trying to dig a little deeper into the history and operation of their craftcutter.

Graphic Software for Craftcutters - Reviews the software that Cricut and Silhouette supply with their machines, as well as useful third-party software; explains the difference between vector and bitmap graphics.

Craftcutter Projects for Hobbyists - A collection of ideas and resources for folks whose main interest is some other hobby besides "crafting." We're just getting started on these, but this is where future projects will be listed.

Legacy Cricut Articles

Legacy Cricut Frequently Asked Questions - Information about what can be done and what can no longer be done with first-generation Cricuts, especially Personal Cutter, Expression, Create, Cake and Cake mini. Updates and debunks "urban legends," and provides links to helpful resources.

Cricut History So Far - Explains how Cricut created an industry, then 'switched gears' in ways that left loyal users feel left out, as well as current status. If you ever wondered why so many people seem to love their devices and distrust their manufacturer, this should give you some clues.

It might also help you decide if that old device in your garage is worth dusting off and trying new things.

Using Sure-Cuts-A-Lot With Legacy Cricuts - describes a currently available solution for using the "latest and greatest" version of Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL) to drive first-generation Cricuts, so you can cut downloaded and original graphics. You can even download a trial version of SCAL to test the process before you even spend any money on it. Unlike several other pages that allude to this content, we also tell you where the potential 'gotcha's' are and suggest some troubleshooting steps if it doesn't work the first time.

Cameo Corner

Conclusion

In addition, if you've been thinking about getting a cutter for your own or your club's purposes, I hope this helps you avoid any critical mistakes.

Watch this page: more articles are in the works.

As always, we want to hear your suggestions, criticisms, additions, etc. Enjoy your hobbies, and especially any time you can spend with your family in the coming months!

Paul

Note: HobbyCutters.com™, Family Garden Trains™, Garden Train Store™, Big Christmas Trains™, BIG Indoor Trains™, and BIG Train Store™ are trademarks of Breakthrough Communications (www.btcomm.com). All information, data, text, and illustrations on this web site are Copyright (c) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Paul D. Race. Reuse or republication without prior written permission is specifically forbidden.
Family Garden Trains is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

For more information, please contact us