Hi Sarah- I have had an M1 since last November, and I can tell you it's not the first choice for blade cutting cardstock. I do 3D layered Mandalas, and tried with the blade first. But the designs are so intricate that I quickly found out the cardstock was easily torn when cutting acute angles, or I would have to weed after the cut. Not acceptable. With vinyl and other like materials the M1 is a champ, like a hot knife through butter. What works for me is to cut it with the laser. My average setting for 65 lb. cardstock is 100% power and 35 mm/sec speed with one pass. That'll cut through most any color except very light colors and especially white as they reflect some of the laser and don't get completely cut. Those colors will require multiple passes or a slower cut speed. Two other critical things that you should have are an air assist compressor and the honeycomb grate platform that the work rests on, to keep scorching the paper at a minimum. This can also occur if the laser has too much power for the material and/or the cut speed. It's a fine balance that must be physically perfected like you did with your Cricut (I started on a Silhouette Portrait). The M1 really does a good job at this, but I'm now looking for a more powerful laser (the M1 is only 10W) to speed up production. The cutting takes the second longest time as each Mandala can be up to 12 layers stacked, and since I'm selling them time is paramount, like not to take almost an hour in cut time alone. What takes the longest time? The design and layout I do in Photoshop (and ink to a lesser extent). I've also bought some stock .svg files but often I have to tweak them in PS as well. Here's a link to some of what I've done: www.flickr.com/photos/cncdesignmatt/
Hi Sarah, this was an interesting experiment to me. I have an old Cricut Explore One and have found that using the deep cut blade all the time gets me a better cut. I wonder, like the the last person, what settings you used but also which blade. And of course what was the actual weight of the card. Thanks, I enjoy your videos and the projects you share.
I used the Heavy Cardstock setting on my Maker, with the regular fine point blade. I'm not sure on the weight of the card as I don't keep my card in the packaging, but I would guess it's around 240gsm.
Thank you for responding. I've been using the custom setting for years because I didn't always get good results with the presets and I hate wasting pretty paper 😿. I think I need to go back and do some experimentation now that I have more experience. @@CraftWithSarah
I realize you were comparing the blade portion of this laser/blade cutting machine, but for sure you ought to experiment with the laser portion. I have a 90 watt co2 laser and boy does that baby do a beautiful job of cutting card stock and paper. It takes a bit to get settings right, but it will also do a beautiful job of engraving the card stock.
The link to my SVG shop is shop.craftwithsarah.com/ My Cricut tutorials (and lots of free SVGs) can be found on my main website: www.craftwithsarah.com/
@@CraftWithSarah thank you so much 😊 I’m usually using medium cardstock setting with my card which I think is 180gsm from Hobbycraft so I might try heavy setting next. Thanks as always for your help and the great videos ☺️
Hi Sarah-
I have had an M1 since last November, and I can tell you it's not the first choice for blade cutting cardstock. I do 3D layered Mandalas, and tried with the blade first. But the designs are so intricate that I quickly found out the cardstock was easily torn when cutting acute angles, or I would have to weed after the cut. Not acceptable. With vinyl and other like materials the M1 is a champ, like a hot knife through butter.
What works for me is to cut it with the laser. My average setting for 65 lb. cardstock is 100% power and 35 mm/sec speed with one pass. That'll cut through most any color except very light colors and especially white as they reflect some of the laser and don't get completely cut. Those colors will require multiple passes or a slower cut speed. Two other critical things that you should have are an air assist compressor and the honeycomb grate platform that the work rests on, to keep scorching the paper at a minimum. This can also occur if the laser has too much power for the material and/or the cut speed. It's a fine balance that must be physically perfected like you did with your Cricut (I started on a Silhouette Portrait).
The M1 really does a good job at this, but I'm now looking for a more powerful laser (the M1 is only 10W) to speed up production. The cutting takes the second longest time as each Mandala can be up to 12 layers stacked, and since I'm selling them time is paramount, like not to take almost an hour in cut time alone. What takes the longest time? The design and layout I do in Photoshop (and ink to a lesser extent). I've also bought some stock .svg files but often I have to tweak them in PS as well.
Here's a link to some of what I've done: www.flickr.com/photos/cncdesignmatt/
That is super helpful, thank you!
Hi Sarah, this was an interesting experiment to me. I have an old Cricut Explore One and have found that using the deep cut blade all the time gets me a better cut. I wonder, like the the last person, what settings you used but also which blade. And of course what was the actual weight of the card. Thanks, I enjoy your videos and the projects you share.
I used the Heavy Cardstock setting on my Maker, with the regular fine point blade. I'm not sure on the weight of the card as I don't keep my card in the packaging, but I would guess it's around 240gsm.
Thank you for responding. I've been using the custom setting for years because I didn't always get good results with the presets and I hate wasting pretty paper 😿. I think I need to go back and do some experimentation now that I have more experience. @@CraftWithSarah
this is a good and educational video, thank you so much
Glad it was helpful!
I realize you were comparing the blade portion of this laser/blade cutting machine, but for sure you ought to experiment with the laser portion. I have a 90 watt co2 laser and boy does that baby do a beautiful job of cutting card stock and paper. It takes a bit to get settings right, but it will also do a beautiful job of engraving the card stock.
Great suggestion! Thanks for that, I'll have to give it a try! 😁
I have both now. The xtool will make my cricut redundant except for a few items
That's exciting! There's so many options with the xTool! 😁
I was wondering if a laser could cut cardstock. Thank you for the comparison. I will definitely stick to my cutting machines for cutting cardstock!
Glad it was helpful!
Absolutely, a laser can cut card stocks and much better clean and indicate precise cuts than Cricut.
Thank You so much Sarah!!
You are so welcome!
Do you sell your designs. And do you have a site where you post your Cricut hacks ?
The link to my SVG shop is shop.craftwithsarah.com/
My Cricut tutorials (and lots of free SVGs) can be found on my main website: www.craftwithsarah.com/
Thank you for a great comparison.
My pleasure!😁
I’m still trouble shooting my cardstock cutting on my explore 3, what setting did you use for the pink card on the cricut?
I used the Heavy Cardstock setting on my Maker.
@@CraftWithSarah thank you so much 😊 I’m usually using medium cardstock setting with my card which I think is 180gsm from Hobbycraft so I might try heavy setting next. Thanks as always for your help and the great videos ☺️
Where did you get the lion head from? It would look good on a tee-shirt.
It's from my shop: shop.craftwithsarah.com/products/lion-mandala-head-svg-vinyl :)
Co2 Laser로 비교해야 합니다. 레이저 종류가 많다. m1은 레이저 종류상 종이 자르는 것에 적합하지 않다!!!
That's helpful to know, thank you! 😁