Doug Holverson
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How well does a Cricut Maker cut balsa? Especially longer pieces?
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Laser / CNC cricut maker?
- Thread starter Doug Holverson
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I am pretty sure there is a size limit.
I have a maker (got it for my wife, but I probably use it more than she does to make decals and other random stuff). I have yet to try balsa - not sure what blade would be needed. There is an option for 2 pass cutting. My guess is with the correct blade (something other than the standard one) you could probably cut 1/16 reasonably well. Maybe since my wife is less interested I will just go for it.
russell_t
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One of the Cricut FAQ-type web pages (here) states that the Cricut will cut 1/32", 1/16", and 3/32" thick balsa wood. Additional questions pertaining to cutting balsa wood (size, mat type, preparation, etc.) are answered as well.
Haven't yet tried to cut balsa on the Cricut that I bought for my wife, but we've used it to cut adhesive vinyl for various rockets I've assembled, particularly scratch builds.
Haven't yet tried to cut balsa on the Cricut that I bought for my wife, but we've used it to cut adhesive vinyl for various rockets I've assembled, particularly scratch builds.
John McClane
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I tried on Cameo 4 which has stronger head pressure than cricut and results were terrible. That machine is not up to that task. So I got k40 laser instead. Using Cameo for vynil and similar tasks.
The Maker is supposed to cut balsa up to 3/32, using the knife blade.
I haven’t tried it yet, but another forum member said you have to be careful to clean the swarf out of the innards. He didn’t seem overly impressed.
I’m sure it will take some practice to figure out the pressure, number of passes and how small of a radius it will cut. I do have balsa strips to experiment with, but no time for that one right now.
I haven’t tried it yet, but another forum member said you have to be careful to clean the swarf out of the innards. He didn’t seem overly impressed.
I’m sure it will take some practice to figure out the pressure, number of passes and how small of a radius it will cut. I do have balsa strips to experiment with, but no time for that one right now.
It cuts balsa and basswood really well as long as the knife is sharp. You can specify the pressure and number of passes so if it's not cutting well you can tweak the process.
There are definitely some limitations, though. I'm not sure I'd try anything too intricate. But maybe it'd be fine.
There are definitely some limitations, though. I'm not sure I'd try anything too intricate. But maybe it'd be fine.
Ok, so I got the knife blade just for kicks, we will see what happens. I was reading elsewhere that it takes like 14 passes to get through wood, and then asks you if its complete - apparently this is the point to clean out the sawdust gently and then tell the software that more passes are needed.
The bigger problem - I was wanting to use basswood, and of course the garbage I found on amazon was warped in every dimension. So, going to try hobby lobby tomorrow, but anyone know of any other good sources for basswood? My wife has dictating that I reign in my HPR reload budget, so figured over the winter I would fool around with some low power stuff again. Will update with results.
Good balsa/basswood sources would be appreciated.
The bigger problem - I was wanting to use basswood, and of course the garbage I found on amazon was warped in every dimension. So, going to try hobby lobby tomorrow, but anyone know of any other good sources for basswood? My wife has dictating that I reign in my HPR reload budget, so figured over the winter I would fool around with some low power stuff again. Will update with results.
Good balsa/basswood sources would be appreciated.
Ok, an update with some pictures. I returned the warped stuff from amazon - it was definitely some sort of plywood - admittedly it was nice and stiff, but maybe this stuff is what people were having trouble with. I went to hobby lobby and was able to get several pieces of nice and straight 1/16 basswood (kind of an odd shape - 4"x24").
So, I found some fin templates and tried it out. Overall I would say it cut more easily than I expected. The program initially sets 14 passes - I had to turn off the machine after 9 because several pieces had become loose already and were about to get rolled into the machine. As it turns out all the pieces were completely cut through by 9 passes, and it had mostly cut through the mat as well (I was using some cheap aftermarket 'strong grip' purple mats.
As you can see from the photos it isn't perfect, but I would think its better than I can do by hand. For stuff this size I have mainly been 3d printing, but those fin cans are heavy, and this is still nice and light (plus I can paper them to add some stiffness). Still seems to be much more robust than balsa. Given how easily it cut this, I suspect it could do 3/32 basswood as well - I think the difference being this isn't the plywood stuff that most people were trying to use. Even if it couldn't get all the way through, at least you would have a good line/grove to follow. Time to buy some more body tubes and perfect my lightweight ABS nosecone printing because I think this will work nicely for making fins.
So, I found some fin templates and tried it out. Overall I would say it cut more easily than I expected. The program initially sets 14 passes - I had to turn off the machine after 9 because several pieces had become loose already and were about to get rolled into the machine. As it turns out all the pieces were completely cut through by 9 passes, and it had mostly cut through the mat as well (I was using some cheap aftermarket 'strong grip' purple mats.
As you can see from the photos it isn't perfect, but I would think its better than I can do by hand. For stuff this size I have mainly been 3d printing, but those fin cans are heavy, and this is still nice and light (plus I can paper them to add some stiffness). Still seems to be much more robust than balsa. Given how easily it cut this, I suspect it could do 3/32 basswood as well - I think the difference being this isn't the plywood stuff that most people were trying to use. Even if it couldn't get all the way through, at least you would have a good line/grove to follow. Time to buy some more body tubes and perfect my lightweight ABS nosecone printing because I think this will work nicely for making fins.
Fins look nice, but how is the grain running?
Yea I realize in the wrong direction - I wasn't paying attention as I just threw this in as a test. I would guess if I paper this it would be ok for low power purposes. Will have to pay mind to that next time (my other thought was doing this again with the grain going the other way, and then gluing them together as a kind of makeshift plywood - but no idea if that can work without pressure while bonding)
Just set some heavy books on them while the glue dries. That will also keep them flat and not let the glue wrap them.
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