originally published 23 November 2019
updated 22 April 2023
Learn How to Cut Corrugated Cardboard with the Cricut Maker Knife Blade: easy step-by-step instructions for doing test cuts and understanding material pressure settings in Design Space
I like to build things from corrugated cardboard boxes.
Why?
– it’s an abundant material that is usually free
– it’s easy to work with
– it works perfectly with a hot glue gun
– it’s simple to dispose of without any guilt when your creation isn’t useful any longer.
When I bought my Cricut Maker, the knife blade wasn’t released yet. Design Space has a cardboard setting for the standard fine-point blade, so I tried to make it work. I couldn’t get it to cut all the way through the cardboard, even after the machine cut the maximum number of times. #fail
The deep-cut blade was supposed to be for thicker materials. I bought it… but it tore the edges of every cut. #fail
Cricut released the knife blade, and after some trial and error, we had a #win!
I couldn’t find any information on how to cut corrugated cardboard with the Cricut Maker Knife Blade, so I’m sharing the results of many (failed) trials with the fine-point blade and deep-cut blade with you.
You’ll become an expert at finding the right pressure settings in Design Space and performing test cuts for your Cricut Maker too!
These instructions and pressure settings are all for the Cricut Maker and Cricut Maker 3.
* Links to products are for your convenience in finding tools and materials, however, they are affiliate links.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. *
Cricut does list settings for other machines on their site; however, I think the cardboard they mean is thin craft cardboard and not from sturdy boxes like I’m using.
First, find cardboard that is the correct thickness.
It MUST be under 3 mm. Choose a piece of cardboard that is smooth and dry; a box that looks like it’s been thrown off a truck will not work.
It seems that the newer the cardboard is, the better it cuts. I have a pile of “good” boxes I saved, but they don’t seem to cut as well as new boxes.
Do you have a digital caliper in your craft room? (All of my blogging friends do! We test and test and test so we can find the best methods for you.)
No digital caliper? Here’s a quick guide.
Double layers of corrugation? No way; the Cricut Maker won’t be able to cut it.
A very large box? Too thick to cut.
Was it an outside shipping box? Most likely, it’s too thick.
A very sturdy box? Probably not.
You can slide a corner under the roller bar to check if it will fit.
Do you need a digital caliper?
Click here to get one on Amazon.
You also want to have a sharp Knife Blade. They do last quite a long time, especially if you clean/sharpen it.
Question: How do I sharpen the Cricut Maker Knife Blade?
Answer: You can use a ball of aluminum foil.
Jab the knife blade into the ball around 50 times; tilt the blade so that it goes in at different angles. I didn’t think this would work, so I didn’t bother to take “before” and “after” photos… but it actually worked very well. My box cut much more smoothly after I did this!
Step-by-step instructions for cutting corrugated cardboard
1) Choose your cardboard wisely.
It’s going to be easiest in the long run if your cardboard is all the same because the thickness won’t vary. If you use a different type of cardboard, you will need to test the cut pressure and multi-cut settings again.
Currently, I use the boxes our coffee K-cups come in from Sam’s Club. They’re 1.5 mm thick and we have a consistent supply.
The downside to these is that they aren’t huge, so I can’t cut something too large with them.
The mystery boxes from Cricut work perfectly and you can cut a larger piece from them.
2) Cut your cardboard down to a size that fits your mat. Cricut recommends the material be less than 11 inches wide so the rollers can be pushed to the side.
3) Make two simple shapes using Design Space for your test cut, such as a circle and a star. Use something with corners; the corners are a good test to be sure it cut all the way through the material.
4) Tape the cardboard to the center of your purple StrongGrip mat. (Hint: A new green mat will also work for a light material like cardboard, especially if you tape it down on all sides! You don’t want any little cut pieces popping up and jamming your Cricut though, so it does have to be sticky.)
5) Slide the white roller wheels to the sides so they don’t run over the cardboard. (If you’ve never moved them, they may seem stuck. Use more pressure – you won’t break them.)
6) Insert the Cricut Knife Blade in slot B.
7) In Design Space, press the green “Make It” button.
In the preview screen, arrange the shapes so one is on top of the mat and one is on the bottom.
8) Click the Continue button and select your material. Try the “Matboard 1.5mm” option first. For my cardboard, this setting is perfect. It cuts through cleanly and does not cut into the mat.
You can download a handy chart of the materials that you can cut with the Cricut Knife Blade from the Free Files Folder.
The printable cheat sheet is design #104 – Knife Blade Settings Cheat Sheet PDF.
Download and print it out for easy reference.
9) Load the mat and press the “Go!” button. You’ll see a message about it having a longer cut time than normal. When it’s finished cutting (or whenever you choose to pause it), check if the cardboard cut through BEFORE you unload the mat.
Tip: You might want to pause the cut after a few passes instead of the full amount, just to check it.
➡️ Did it cut through without cutting into the mat?
If it cut entirely through the material – great! Write down that setting or number of cuts for future reference.
➡️ Did it NOT cut entirely through the cardboard?
This is what is most likely to happen on the first try. No problem – we’ll try again.
Retape down the material. Move the test shape to a different stop on the mat (on the preview screen.)
Did you stop the cut early? If so, let it continue to cut one or two more passes before you stop it.
If it cut the full number of passes, try choosing the “more pressure” option.
Test it again!
If it still didn’t cut through the cardboard, choose another material setting.
When you have a successful cut, write down that setting or number of cuts for future reference.
➡️ Did it cut through the cardboard and also left a deep cut on your mat?
There was too much pressure or too many passes.
Try a different setting. The “Tooling Leather – 1.6 mm” setting might be a better one. It has both less pressure and fewer passes.
If it cut well, but left a small mark on the mat, you might just try the “less pressure” option or press the “Pause” button on the machine before it finishes all of the multi-cuts (after six passes instead of the full eight, for example.)
Tips for using the Cricut custom Pressure Settings
Did you know that the Cricut Fine-Point Blade can repeat a cut multiple times?
However, nine is the maximum number of times. The maximum cut pressure you can set for the Cricut Fine-Point Blade is 350.
This wasn’t enough to cut through my cardboard, but it might be enough for yours. Go ahead and try it!
The fine-point blade works well for cutting cereal boxes.
Note: You can NOT create any custom material settings with the Knife Blade. You just need to choose a material already listed and perform tests to see if it will work. You can stop the cut early, or cut another time after it’s finished if you don’t unload the mat.
why would You want to cut corrugated cardboard with your cricut maker?
You can fabricate parts!!
When I was sewing my new Halloween costume, I made a duct-tape dress form. (It’s a dressmaker’s form, but created by wrapping myself with duct tape, cutting the duct tape off me, then stuffing paper inside the duct tape form. I followed this tutorial.)
I had an old studio light stand to put the form on, but I needed a solid base so the form didn’t just slide down the pole.
I knew I needed to create something like a series of washers to take the pressure off, so I took a few measurements, made a few shapes in Design Space, and cut them out.
It worked perfectly!
Best part… I felt like a total badass. I CAN MAKE that!
Save this tutorial for later by pinning on Pinterest!
Crafteverly says
Great tutorial! You are a total badass! (Compliment)
Emily says
Thanks! It always feels so good to be like ‘yeah, I figured that out!’
Cathy says
Love this tutorial and all the comments
Emily says
I’m so glad it was helpful!
Tamara says
I have a dumb question: How do you check if it cut all the way through without unloading the mat?
Emily says
Not dumb at all!! I realized I didn’t write the info quite correctly. It’s a little different in this situation because the knife blade is making repeated cuts on top of each other.
So, you actually need two shapes. Then arrange one on top of the mat, and the other on the bottom. This way, you can press the Pause button while it’s between shapes so you can check the bottom one. I’ve updated the tutorial too.
Kitty says
Thanks for sharing! I love hearing about alternatives for pricey materials. I save my cereal boxes and cut them quite often with my cricut. I have not cut cardboard quite this thick yet, so I’ll have to give it a try! I need a caliper as well. I cant tell you how many times I could have used that.
Emily says
I just updated the post to include a link to one! They are very reasonably priced.
karenb says
Thanks for the info!! Found it very informative & helpful!!!
Kathleen Wise says
Thank for the info on the corrugated cardboard. This was the first time I have cut corrugated cardboard and your instructions were perfect. On the selection of materials on my Cricut Maker I did find a corrugated cardboard material selection but it said to use the fine point blade. I had also found instructions on Cricut for cutting corrugated cardboard and they said to use the deep point blade. Then I found your site. Thank you!! You saved me from the trial and error process and much frustration. I had a close to perfect cut the first time using Matboard 1.5mm with the knife blade. There were slight cuts on my mat so next time I will use less pressure.
Emily says
Yes, Cricut lists ‘corrugated cardboard’ as a material but I’m sure they meant a Cricut material and it’s not even available anymore!
As you saw from the photo, fine-point or deep-point blades just chew it all up.
I’m happy to have saved you some hassle! I like making projects using materials not on the Cricut list. 😊
guadalupe de zavalia says
I have the cricut maker 3 I thought I might have more materials than other machines but I don’t have any PLY
guadalupe de zavalia says
Hiii ! thank you I’ve been looking everywhere for a tip like this, I cannot seem to find the same Mat board 4 ply material but I used the next chipboard that applies 500 preassure and 12x passes, I cutted the cardboard perfect but it went to the mat a bit
Emily says
The “Matboard 4 Ply” material has been removed from Cricut’s materials. I think “Matboard 1.5mm” has replaced it. It will use a pressure of 360 and repeat the cut 6x. (I’ll update the post; thank you!)
If you use the “Chipboard” setting again, you can try to stop your cut after 10x passes and see if the mat is cut. It’s not so convenient to watch your machine for a long time though!
Richard says
Hi, my name is Richard and we have a Cricut Maker. I do a lot of E-flute corrugated cardboard structures for engineering projects. For me the E-flute offers better rigidity and repeatable cutting. I typically use the 6-7 oz. tooling leather (2.4mm) setting and stop at 6 0r 7 passes instead of the 16 passes they show. the smallest circle I cut is 3/8″ , this has never damaged the knife blade. Depending on the source of the cardboard, small adjustments 0f number 0f passes on test samples would be wise. I use the blue painters tape and am still using the light grip (blue) mat that came with the machine and that was over a year and a half ago. I have built many structures including a parabolic trough solar collector all out of E-flute corrugated cardboard without glue, screws and nuts. The structure is all corrugated cardboard.
hope this helps
Jon Simpson says
Thank you for your article it was very helpful! can you please tell me how long the blades last?
Emily says
I haven’t had to get a new knife blade yet; it gets pretty heavy use. A couple of months ago, it seemed to be tearing the cardboard more often, so I decided to try the “push the blade in and out of an aluminum foil ball” trick. It worked perfectly, much to my surprise!
Suzanne M Kutz says
I was unable to load the cardboard into my Cricut, it jammed in the machine. Producing the red flashing light. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. 🙂
Emily says
Do you have the little white wheels moved all the way to the side? Is the cardboard too thick? I got out my digital caliper and my cardboard is 2.7 mm. It may not work if it is extra thick. Do you have the front edge taped down? Sometimes it can come up a bit when it loads and that could stop it.
Lucy says
Lucy
I have the same problem, the material is not too thunk, the white diles are all the way to the left.
Emily says
Hmmm… I think the most likely problem is the material. I can’t see how it is loading in, but if it’s not too thick it should load properly. Does the machine have issues loading anything else like aluminum or leather for engraving?