Using the Cricut Knife Blade with the Cricut Maker

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

The Cricut Knife Blade is a fabulous tool for cutting a wider variety of materials than with any other previous machine. This post contains affiliate links which, when purchased through, add no cost to the consumer but help support this site with a small commission in order to bring more Cricut related tips and tutorials. 

As an avid crafter, I am a huge fan of all the ways that the Cricut Maker machine enhances my crafting time. The Cricut Knife Blade is a large reason way. I enjoy creating durable projects, especially for seasonal decorations and home decor. Crafting with thicker materials such as leather, basswood, balsa wood, faux leather, and chipboard is a great way to make quality items. However, sometimes cutting these items with traditional scissors leaves undesirable results. The Cricut Maker combined with the Cricut Knife Blade is the perfect solution!

WHAT IS THE CRICUT KNIFE BLADE?

The Cricut Knife Blade is part of the Adaptive Tool System that Cricut introduced with the Cricut Maker machine. The system allows the machine to offer 10x the pressure in comparison to the previous machine models in addition to allowing the user to switch out a variety of tools (enter the Rotary Blade, the Knife Blade, and the Scoring Wheels!). Below is a comparison photo of the fine point blade with the Knife Blade.

With past machines, such as the Explore Air series, there was no simple solution to cutting thicker materials. The amount of pressure supplied by the machine was just not enough. I recall using many techniques such as double or triple cutting a design or experimenting with the Cricut Deep Cut Blade in order to get even a faint cut on thicker materials. The pressure from the Adaptive Tool System with the Cricut Maker machine solves the problem of cutting heavy-duty crafting materials with the Cricut Knife Blade. Durable material projects have a whole new level of precision for professional-looking projects every time!

HOW DO I USE THE CRICUT KNIFE BLADE?

The Cricut Knife Blade is only compatible with the Cricut Maker machine. To use, switch out fine point blade with the Knife Blade housing into the B clamp.

WHAT MATERIALS DOES THE CRICUT KNIFE BLADE CUT?

The Cricut Knife Blade cuts a wide range of materials, including:

• Balsa wood, up to 3/32”
• Basswood, up to 1/16″
• Craft foam, up to 3mm
• Cricut® Chipboard, 2mm
• Garment leather, up to 5oz
• Matboard, 2-ply or 4-ply
• Tooling leather, up to 7 oz

TIPS FOR USING THE CRICUT KNIFE BLADE

Keep in mind that the Cricut Knife Blade is only approved for the desktop version of Cricut Design Space. This means that Cricut Knife Blade projects must be completed on a desktop or laptop. This is due to the fact that Cricut Knife Blade projects often take an increased amount of time to cut (sometimes up to an hour!). The machine needs a constant connection to Cricut Design Space during this time, and Bluetooth connections can often be lost.

Cricut does not recommend cutting designs smaller than 3/4″ with the Cricut Knife Blade.

Cutting thicker materials with the Cricut Knife Blade is not as quick as cutting a material such as card stock or vinyl. The Cricut Knife Blade will cut multiple passes to create the design, making lighter passes at the beginning and end of the cut and deeper passes in the middle of the cutting process. Depending on the intricacy of the project, this may take many minutes. Plan accordingly when crafting with the Cricut Knife Blade and thicker materials.

The Cricut Knife Blade should be calibrated before first use. This calibrates the Cricut Knife Blade housing. When using the Knife Blade for the first time, insert it into the machine. Within Cricut Design Space, click the left drop down menu and click “calibrate.” Choose Knife Blade and follow the instructions.

Move the star wheels when working with thicker materials. The star wheels may make indentations in the thicker materials. Simply slide them all the way to the right when cutting materials with the Cricut Knife Blade.

Don’t be afraid to tape crafting materials to the mat. Even when using the StrongGrip Cutting Mat, thicker materials may want to pop up when cutting. Tape the edges to the mat to help prevent this.

I’m excited to share more Cricut Knife Blade projects soon! What would you create with the Cricut Knife Blade?

See more Cricut related tutorials and tips on my Cricut project page.