Cutting machine

rustywallet

Hi, I have a lot of my own designs which I would like to use for decoupaging furniture. 
I saw a shop assistant showing a cutting machine in a shop the other day, just briefly, but it made me think about the possibilities!

I wondered if anyone had any feedback on machines that they use?

I have a lot of questions.... Would a cutting machine cut out simple silhouettes, what sort of machine would I need, how thick/thin does the paper need to be?

Thank-you!

Flowfy

Hi, I have a Cricut machine. I have the Explore which is the mid range model. It cuts paper, vinyl, heat transfer vinyl, card, fabric, leather etc etc. You can choose the weight of your paper that you need to cut. I have made shadow boxes out of photocopy paper, with an acetate lake for instance. It will also cut foam board and at a stretch, wood. The top of the range model definitely cuts wood. I can score cards, draw and print and cut designs with it. I make signs, t-shirts, felt baby shoes, cards etc. It was the best Christmas present I ever had  

dreaming

I have a Brother Scan and Cut machine. They are pricy, but you can scan designs into it and then draw them or cut them out, as well as download svg files from the internet etc.. My model is the CM900 and I have to adjust the blade for cutting different materials but the later (and obviously more expensive) models have an auto adjusting blade. I have no experience of Cricut machines but they don't have the scanning function.

PerfectChristmas

Like @dreaming I also have a Scan N Cut CM900. We went a little crazy when we first got it and bought a load of SVG files from some of the sites and the intricacies of what it can do are amazing. It can also update itself wirelessly (where as the other CM editions need to be updated via USB)

It can also draw with felt pens that you can get from brother or there is a pen adapter that means you can use pretty much any pen in it. It can also do parchment, foiling, embossing and more. There was even a stamp maker kit that I think we had at one point but we never used it.

I have to admit I haven't heard good things about the new ones (the DX or whatever it is) as I'm a member of a few craft groups on facebook and they either arrived without all the add ons (mats etc) or arrived faulty/developed faults quickly. Again I stress I haven't had any experience of that myself and people do complain more than praise.

Several friends have cricuts and have been incredibly pleased with them but I haven't played with one myself. I do know that they have a shop where you can buy files from (online) and (admittedly pre covid) it was VERY good and the membership price was reasonable.

Winterqueen

I had a Silhouette Cameo machine. Recently sold as I’m not crafting much now. But there is a craft forum with plenty of free cutting files, members upload their own etc. But they are also very reasonable from the manufactures website, cheaper than cutting dies. I did not find this machine was much use for cutting an image from pre printed paper though, even with special software.(You know, if you had wrapping paper, and just wanted to cut the angels from it, or something like that.) All these machines are expensive, so do lots of research so you buy the right one.

halfamo

The cricut machines are expensive but there are lots of guide videos on youtube. The small 'joy'  can do quite a lot , the  explore can do more and larger and the maker can do most and is the same size as the explore. 
All of the new ones work with your computer. Older models used cartridges.  
Mine is the maker which was bought from amazon as i had gift vouchers else would defo have shopped around.

mrrightfirsttime

My wife wants to start a sticker shop, I think the cricut sounds like the way to go

waso12

I think maybe it should be adapted for that