I recently purchased the new Cricut engraving tip and set out to learn how to use it. I used it to make Christmas presents for my family. They will love them! These are some of the things I made.
I got the spatulas and slicers at the dollar store. They are stainless steel. I learned several things in doing these including how to get the Cricut to engrave them even though they aren’t exactly flat. I’m linking to the Design Space files here. I know you don’t want to make my family stuff but it will give you an idea on where to start. And I will tell you how I made the design using the spatula as an example.
And I will tell you mistakes to avoid.
Measure and Design
The flat part of the spatula is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. You want some border around the design so I made mine 2 inches by 2.5 inches. Design Space has some very nice corner designs. Pick the one you like and pick a monogram text that you like. In my designs I used several different ones.
Once you have corners and a monogram, weld the whole design together. Then change the line type to engrave. This is done in the menu where you choose cut, draw, score, etc. Once you change it to engrave the image will become an outline. Make at least 3 copies of the design. The more copies you make the deeper the design will engrave.
Then select all the copies and center them on top of each other and attach them. This is very important because you want it to go over the same lines each pass.
Attaching the Project to the Mat
I lined up the edge with the 1 inch line and put the curve about a half inch beyond the 12 inch mark. This allow the roller not to hit the curve. I learned this the hard way. Tape it down on all sides with masking tape or painters tape.
Now your spatula is 2.5 inches wide so the center of the spatula is at the 2.25 inch mark. When you hit make it you need to rotate your design upside down and center it on that point. You can put it on the bottom because you moved the spatula off the bottom line. It should look like this:
Load the mat and tell it to continue. You may need to support the handle while it is engraving. By the way, occasionally the Engraving tip will stop and the tip will spin for a few seconds. I don’t know why but this is completely normal.
When it is done you can remove the spatula from the mat. Now everything I read said to use the strong grip mat but I used the regular grip Paper Studio Brand mats from Hobby Lobby and it worked fine.
It is very important to center the design properly and invert it on the mat or you get results like these. (my oops) I now have extra spatulas in my kitchen. No sense in wasting them. LOL
If you have any other questions about using the Engraving tip, email me.
So, I was under the impression that you could only use their blanks for engraving. This is very interesting. Is there a certain amount of thickness that you can use or any other speculations?
Yes abouut 2 mm is all the thicker it can be so that it fits under the rollers. Also the surface must be fairly flat. A spoon being thin enough would never work because it isn’t flat.
After reading your tips, I’ve decided you are my BFF! I just got my Cricut Maker yesterday, and Design Space is intimidatig. After discovering your page, I’m confident that I am going to master it! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.