Good afternoon:
I finally decided to put some of what I know about Silhouette Studio, Silhouette Cameo and Curio and down on “paper”. I’ve been around in the Silhouette world for a few years now (about 5) and I’ve been active in the Silhouette Facebook community as well as attending several All Things Silhouette Conferences in Peachtree, Georgia. This weekend, I will be attending the Terri Johnson Creates Silhouette Instructor Licensing. At the end of that, I will be a licensed instructor, capable of troubleshooting issues, working one on one with Silhouette Cameo owners as well as hosting group classes and retreats.
Since that’s coming up in a few short days, I thought that now would be a great time to get a few things started. So Welcome, to the new Blog for Gina’s Goodys (look us up on Facebook!! Mention this blog in a post, and you’ll be added for a random drawing.
Let's start with blades. There are several type of blades available for silhouette machines; some made by Silhouette and others are after market blades made specifically for Cameo and or Curio. I'm going to give you the low down on them.
Blades that can be used in BOTH the Silhouette Cameo and the Curio
This photo shows both the tools that can be used in the Cameo and Curio; however the autoblade at the top can only be used in the Cameo 3 and the three silver tools at the bottom are Curio ONLY.
This would include the ratchet, the fabric, the Premium and the Deep Cut.
Let's start with the first one. The Ratchet Blade. The blade is in a black plastic housing and it's manually adjusted from 0 (out of the package) to 10 (deepest cut). This blade can be used for any number of material types, but let me caution you that using it for cardstock will dull it fairly quickly, and using it on Glitter even moreso. I recommend that if you vinyl (adhesive or heat transfer), that you have a specific ratchet dedicated to vinyl only (I use a silver sharpie and write a "v" on the blade housing.
The second blade is the fabric blade. This blade is in a blue plastic housing. The ONLY difference between this blade and a ratchet blade is the color of the housing (blue, not black). The blade inside is exactly the same. It cuts the same material, it reacts and behaves the same as a ratchet blade.
The third is the Premium Blade. It's in a white housing with a blue metallic top. This blade also manually adjusts from 0 to 10. The claim to fame for this blade is that it' supposed to last three times longer than a regular ratchet blade, but that also depends on what you but with it.
The fourth is the Deep Cut Blade. This blade comes in the same white housing as the Premium Blade, but the top is metallic silver. This blade adjusts manually from 0 to 20.
Cameo 3 ONLY:
Fifth is the Autoblade. This is the newest of the Silhouette blades and comes with the Silhouette Cameo 3. Currently, the Cameo 3 is the only machine that can use this blade. The blade has had some known issues (it doesn't always adjust correctly, if at all). Be sure to check the blade depth (there's a small window with numbers and red indicator to show where the blade is set). While the other blades can be taken apart for cleaning, this one should not be. The Silhouette Studio software needs to be set to Autoblade for the blade to self adjust. This blade makes a loud clicking sound over to the left of the machine to adjust to the correct depth that corresponds with the material chosen in the Send Tab of the software.
Silhouette Curio specific Only:
Etching and Stippling tool - this is an all blue plastic blade. It's used for stippling (small dots) on acrylic or metal as well as for etching various materials.
Fine Embossing - white plastic blade. The function is as the name implies. It's used for making very fine embossing lines.
Wide Embossing - Gray plastic blade. It's used for making wider embossing lines.
After Market Blades
Amy Chomas has three sets of tools for the Curio. They all look the same down to the very tip. They are metal tools, and all are one piece.
Engraving Tool - has a somewhat pointed edge and is used for engraving on metal, acrylic and other materials. It does a fairly good job, but I tend to use the Silhouette Etching and Stippling tool when I etch (especially acrylic)
Blunt - Great for making wider engraving lines; I'll be honest, I don't use this tool all that much.
Precision Tool - The newest tool from Amy Chomas. This is an ultra precision tip that does extremely fine lines. It's great for clay and leather etching.
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