I am so excited to share this Cricut engraving tool with you! This tool is for the Cricut Explore machine, so that you can engrave on acrylic and metal. This is great for people who own a Cricut Explore machine and are not yet ready to upgrade to the Maker just to get the Cricut brand engraving tip.
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Can a Cricut Explore Air 2 Engrave?
As you might know, Cricut has an engraving tip but it is only available for use with the Maker machines. Since I own the Cricut Explore machine, I have not done a lot of engraving projects. I did do one engraved acrylic ornament which you can see HERE, but the process dulled my blade.
This is why the Cricut engraving tool from Chomas Creations is perfect! This tool is specifically designed to use with the Explore machines for engraving. The best part is that the tool is sold on Amazon, and I have added it to my Amazon Store, and also provided a link for you below. An additional bonus is that this tool will also work with your Maker if you decide to upgrade later on.
Also, some people worry that using non Cricut brand accessories and tools could void your warranty on the machine, but since the warranty on the machine is only a year, and I have had this machine since 2008 I was not worried about that at all. If this is something you want to read up on, you can check out the information HERE.
Additionally, I did this with my Cricut Explore, which is even older thatn the Explore Air, the Explore Air 2 and the Explore Air 3. I know that a lot of people were thinking of upgrading to a Maker just for the engraving feature. No need now! Now you have the answer to the question “Is there a Cricut engraving tool Explore Air 2.”
Cricut Engrave Tool Tips
Before we jump into the project I did, I want to share some tips I learned from using and reviewing this product. Make sure that you read the information about the thickness of the items you want to engrave on. The Cricut Explore machines need something that is 2mm or less in thickness so that they can easily pass under the roller bar. I would hate it if you purchased blanks to engrave on only to find that they would not pass under that bar.
Also, I would recommend using a strong grip mat. I also taped down the edges of my piece with painter’s tape. You can also add some double sided tape to the back of the blank piece to hold it in place. Because the engraving tool will pass back and forth over your piece, you want to make sure that it does not move. Any movement of the blank engraving piece can shift your design. This is why I started off with a larger business card sized piece of metal, so that I had plenty of room to place painter’s tape around the edges.
As you can see from the picture above, what really makes my design stand out is that I filled in the letters with a hatch that consists of lots of lines going back and forth across my letters. There are some design programs that allow you to easily add a hatch or line fill to your designs.
Since Cricut Design Space does not offer that option, I created a hatch fill SVG. I have a separate tutorial in which I show you how to apply that hatch fill to letters, and a link to where you can get that SVG for your own personal use. Click HERE to go to that tutorial now. You can purchase my Hatch Fill SVG in my Shop or use the button below.
How to Use the Cricut Engraving Tool
To insert the Cricut engraving tool into your Explore machine simply flip open the clamp that holds the blade housing, remove the blade housing and insert the Cricut engraving tool. Then close the clamp to secure it in place. That is it! It is that easy! Amy, the creator of this Cricut engraving tool has a video that shows this HERE.
I set my design to cardstock for the material setting, and made sure that all of my lines in Design Space were set to cut lines. You can see by the information in the Layers Panel on the right hand side of the image below, it says Basic Cut. This is one way to verify that your design is all set to cut lines.
When you click Make It you will see the cutting mat preview screen. Did you know that you can move images around on this preview to change where they will cut? Just click on the design and drag it anywhere you want. I am going to position mine in the center of the mat since that is where I taped the metal piece down.
If you are nervous that you did not line things up right, you can also make a template that you place your blank piece inside of. Amy has a video that explains that process HERE.
Cricut Engraving Tool Videos
If you would like to see some short videos I did using the Cricut engraving tool on the metal blanks I have those on my TikTok channel. For those of you that are not on TikTok, I have embedded the videos below so you can see the engraving process.
@shawnmosch #craft #engraving #cricut ♬ BRENT MORGAN What Dreams Are Made Of – Brent Morgan
@shawnmosch #craft #engraving #SmoothLikeNitroPepsi #cricuthacks #cricut @Disney Parks ♬ AIN’T GONNA STOP – Carol Kay
If you are ready to try something new with your Cricut Explore machine, engraving might be just the thing for you! Start by purchasing a Chomas Creations Engraving Tool and some blank pieces to engrave.
Besides metal blanks and jewelry pieces, you could engrave Christmas ornaments for gifts this year. Another idea is to make engraved acrylic cake toppers or acrylic pieces that fit into a light base, so that you can have a colored light glow to your engraved design.
