How to Cut Thick Paper With a Cricut

The Cricut quickly cuts through thick paper.

The Cricut is an electronic desktop cartridge-based paper cutter. You can select shapes, words, phrases and alpha-numeric characters on the built-in keyboard and view your selections on the liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. The Cricut can cut a variety of paper types; you simply adjust the cutting speed and pressure. The Cricut Personal Electric Cutter (the original Cricut machine) can cut paper up to 0.5 mm thick. According to the user's manual, the Cricut Expression can cut card stock, poster board, vinyl and thin chipboard, but does not identify a maximum thickness.

Things You'll Need

• Cricut
• Cardstock paper

Instructions

1. Place the paper on the cutting mat, which comes included with the Cricut.

2. Load the cutting mat into the machine.

3. Press the "Blade Navigation" buttons to move the blade to the desired location on the paper.

4. Set the size dial to choose the desired height of the shapes, words, phrases and alpha-numeric characters.

5. Adjust the speed dial. Select "Max" for heavy cardstock paper. Select "High" for cardstock or textured paper.

6. Adjust the pressure dial. Select "Max" for heavy cardstock paper. Select "High" for cardstock, textured or high-fiber content paper.

7. Press the "Cut" button.

Tips & Warnings

• Adjusting the speed and pressure dials will enable the Cricut to adequately cut card stock or thick paper. If the paper you are using is extremely thick or the cuts are not completely through the paper, you may need to replace or adjust the cutting blade. Refer to the Cricut machine user's manual.

• Unplug the Cricut before removing the cutting blade assembly.

References

• Cricut Expression User Manual
• Cricut User Manual

Resources

• Cricut Expression User Manual
• Cricut User Manual