A few years ago, Cricut released the Cricut Maker Ultimate Smart Cutting Machine. This was an upgrade to the Cricut Explore Air family of machines. So, what makes the Cricut Maker so ultimate and smart?
One of the main differences between upgrading to the Maker from previous Cricut machines would be that there is no cartridge port and replaced by solely using Design Space. This is a big jump from anyone upgrading from a Cricut Personal machine or a machine from the Cricut Expression family, as these machines rely on cartridges. If you have a machine from the Cricut Explore family you may have already transitioned from cartridges over to Cricut Design Space so it might not be that big of a deal but for someone still using a library of Cricut Cartridges, this can make it very scary to upgrade.
Cricut Design Space also replaces the big Smart Set Dial on the Cricut Explore machines. The Smart Set Dial was programmed for seven material types along with a Custom option. You could choose “half steps” to increase or decrease the pressure. The Material Settings within Design Space will give you an unbelievable amount of materials to choose from that you can cut and additional options to choose the depth and pressure of your cut.
The Cricut Maker can cut over 300 different types of materials - everything from delicate fabrics and paper to thicker materials like leather or chipboard. This was achieved by the creation of the Adaptive Tool System. The cutting performance is 10x stronger than that of a Cricut Explore machine and gives you the ability to expand your crafting with the many different blades and tools that the Maker can utilize.
Previously, the Cricut blade was powered to move along an X / Y axis. This basically meant that when the machine was cutting the blade was dragging from side to side or from front to back. Within the Maker, the gears of the drive housing interlock with the gears of the Adaptive Tool System to lift and turn the blade. This controls the direction of the blade and the cut pressure to match the material, which is what allows the Rotary Blade to cut fabrics and the Knife Blade to cut thicker materials with such precision and finesse.
- Rotary Blade for cutting the most delicate of fabrics...with no bonding needed
- Knife Blade for cutting materials that are thick and dense
- Scoring Wheel and Double Scoring Wheel
- Wave Blade
- Debossing Blade
- Engraving Tip
- Perforation Blade
- And the newest...Foil Transfer Tool
If the above hasn’t convinced you of what a cool machine the Cricut Maker is, then you may need a little more convincing. The aesthetics, thought, and design that went into this machine really created a beautiful machine that compliments any crafting space. No need to push a button to open it like the Explore machine, just lift the lid and it just glides open for you. I don’t even know if I can say enough about the storage space that it comes with. The storage space on the inside of the lid is so spacious and holds all my extra tools - with a magnetic strip to hold extra blades! How thoughtful is that?!? Two storage cups on the outer side of the machine. One is great for holding pens and your most useful tools. The other storage cup isn’t as deep and is perfect for holding your different blade housings and Adaptive Tools.
The Maker comes with Bluetooth wireless technology so connecting to Design Space and cutting with your Maker via your phone or tablet is a breeze. It has a docking station to hold your phone or tablet while you are cutting. And they really did think of everything by adding a handy USB port so you can charge your device while crafting! The Cricut Maker is a powerful crafting tool that is as beautiful as it is functional.
