Craft ROBO Unboxing
Trader Sam | June 16, 2009
Well, the Craft ROBO machine arrived Monday, and I’ve had some time to play with this new toy. First, let’s take it out of the box. Inside is the machine, a power cord, a power adapter, a USB cable, a pen plotter tip, a blade cutting tip, three cutter caps, a CD-ROM, a user’s manual, an installation sheet, and a media pack. The media pack contains the carrier sheet, a sheet of thin cardstock, a sheet of blue vinyl, and a sheet of clear transfer film.
I tested the machine by cutting part of the Holiday Carousel Card using the Illustrator plugin, which was simple and straight-forward. The images show some cut pieces of vellum. The cuts are clean and beautiful. Corners are sharp, and it can cut intricate work. There was a problem with one of Goofy’s ears, though. It seems that it was just too narrow to cut.
I tried cutting on parchment, too. Big mistake. The loose weave of the paper’s fibers just ripped apart under the pressure of the cutting blade. During the process, I also dropped the carrier sheet, a big piece of plastic with a sticky side. Guess which way it landed on the carpet. It was a mess, but I quickly grabbed my handy-dandy lint roller and gently rolled it across the sheet. It picked up the carpet lint without any problems.
Removing the paper from the low-tack carrier sheet was fairly easy, though intricate work will obviously require more time and patience to pry off. Tiny cuttings are even harder to get off without a sharp blade and a pair of tweezers, but that’s to be expected.
The Craft ROBO cuts deep into the carrier sheet. The manufacturer recommends that the sheets be used no more than ten times. Too bad they cost $20 for a two-pack. But, reading through the various crafting forums (there are plenty out there dedicated to this machine and others), it seems that the carrier sheets for the Cricut (they call them “cutting mats”) work just the same. Buying the largest mat (12 x 24) two-pack and cutting them down to size can give you fout to six carrier sheets that Cricut says last for about twetty-five uses. So, theoretically, four to six carrier sheets can be obtained from Cricut for about $17, while only two can be bought from Graphtec (maker of the Craft ROBO). Of course, Graphtec says that using any non-Craft ROBO products could void the machine’s warranty.
Did I mention that the machine is loud? It is. But, it’s not enough to send the thing back, no sir! I love this machine, and I can’t wait to use it on my new paper model. Oddly enough, I didn’t try the one type of paper that I’ll be cutting the model from. I’ll have to test that out. I also have to test out the media pack that came with the machine. In one of the booklets, there are a couple of test projects (with step-by-step instructions) that are ready to be used for testing the supplied media. Neat, although I think I can find more creative uses for the pack.
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I bought a two-pack of the large 12×24 Cricut cutting mats yesterday. They extend an inch past the 24-inch cutting area, so they can be cut into six mats. They seem to be the same thickness and stickiness as the Craft ROBO mats. They have a grid printed on them, so aligning paper is a breeze, and they have a plastic film cover to protect them.
The pack (the last one on the shelf) cost $14.99 at Joann’s, but they price-matched it at $13.49. There’s a Michaels store just down the street, so I guess that’s the store the they matched the price with.
Sam,
Have you figured out how to use the RoboCraft to score the cut pieces?
The machine doesn’t score, although I think there is a way. You’d have to dig through crafting forums to find out. The Craft ROBO does perforate, though, and there are several patterns to choose from. The length of the perforation pattern can be controlled, so you can have long cuts or what appear as tiny dots. This is good, because you can control how strong the perforations are.
Japanese users use thick card and low tacky spray glue as the carrier sheet.
Yes, another good tip, although the Craft ROBO does sometimes cut into the mat, which is why it’s plastic. The cutting blade is NEVER to touch the cutting strip on the machine.
I believe 3M has a re-positionable spray adhesive. The tack of the carrier sheets is a lot like a post-it note, only a tad tackier.
Just saw this article on the kraft blog and I wanted to say thank you, this un-box photos just pushed me to the right direction and I’m planning to get one. Would you be offering Craft robo templates of your previous paper models?
I don’t know. I never even promised templates for future models. The Craft ROBO was really just a way to cut down on construction time for me.
I guess it all depends on how/where I can place the required guides onto the pages. We’ll see what’s possible as I continue to explore and experiment. I might be able to offer cutting templates. I don’t want to make any promises only to find out that I can’t deliver.
Come to think of it, I still need to rebuild the Tower of Terror. I never got a chance to get any really good photos before it fell apart (DON’T use rubber cement!). I’ve been meaning to build a new one, but I could never bring myself to cutting out all of those parts again. It could be worth looking into creating a template for that model first.
Oh, ok, I didn’t know that it was just so you can cut down on assembly time.
Well, we’ll see. Don’t rule it out just yet; it’s a new toy.
I am a BIG fan of your models! And I am waiting patiently for one that I always wanted you to make! The DLP castle! I was wondering if you’d be willing to actually use the craft robo for us. Of course with a price. I’d be willing to pay to have nice clean cuts without buying the machine itself. It’s be really great! Thanks!
Oh, that’d be nice, but that goes against my contract with Disney.
Aww too bad, now that I think of it, that price for a craft robo is not bad at all. I can’t wait for this model! Keep up the awesome work!
It’s not bad at all. In fact, I think it’s a steal.
Let me know how cutting printer paper, cardstock, and whatever you might use to make your paper models (I’d like to know!! :D) This is really exciting for me since I HATE cutting out the paper. Worst part. I have a lot of unfinished projects due to just NOT wanting to cut them all out. But this kind of takes the pain away! How much are they, exactly? Keep me updated because I may invest in one soon! :D
Since many paper model designers use this machine (or similar) for their own designs, I don’t think it will be a problem. But, I’ll keep you all posted.
I hate cutting, too. I just want to get to the assembly! Another thing is that I always hate cutting out repetitious areas like the spaces between railings and such. Cutting them out would add so much to the models, but cutting by hand is a major pain. The Craft ROBO should make those cuts a breeze now.
Although I will be saving myself TONS of time having the machine cut and score everything for me, I do have to take the time to carefully peel and label every part. Not to mention separate each set of pieces in sandwich bags.
I bought my machine on Amazon.com for $199.95 (+ $10.49 shipping). It was originally $249-$259 (I don’t remember which), but the price suddenly dropped last week. I don’t know how long the new price will last. Most online stores sell them for around $349-$359.