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Cutting corrugated Cardboard with the Cricut Maker Knife Blade

11.23.2019 by Emily // 16 Comments

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I like to build things from corrugated cardboard boxes.

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.

Learn how to cut corrugated cardboard with the Cricut Maker Knife Blade, and use the pressure settings in Design Space with easy step-by-step instructions.

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!

Comparing Cricut's fine point blade, deep cut blade, and knife blade on cutting corrugated cardboard.

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. 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.

Results of Comparing Cricut's fine point blade, deep cut blade, and knife blade on cutting corrugated cardboard. Only the Knife Blade cut through.
The results: the Fine-Point Blade couldn’t cut all of the way through, the Deep-Cut Blade leaves jagged edges, and the Knife Blade cuts cleanly through.

First, find a cardboard that is the correct thickness. It should 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.

If it’s a very large box, it will be too thick to cut. A very sturdy box might not work either. If it has double layers of corrugation, as shown below, the Cricut Maker won’t cut it.

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. Most likely, you have a supply of cardboard boxes. (From Amazon Prime or grocery delivery, perhaps?) 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.

2) Cut your cardboard down to a size that fits your mat. Cricut recommends the material size be less than 11 inches wide.

Corrugated cardboard

3) Make a simple shape using Design Space for your test cut, such as a square or triangle. 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 green mat will also work for a light material like cardboard, especially if you tape it down!)

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. It should look just like the image below.

How to set up the Cricut Maker with Knife Blade to cut corrugated cardboard projects

7) In Design Space, press the green “Make It” button. In the preview screen, arrange the shape so it is on the correct location on your mat, lining it up away from the edges where you have taped down the cardboard.

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.

Below is a handy chart of the materials listed in Design Space that you can cut with the Cricut Knife Blade. Download and print the Materials cut by the Cricut Knife Blade PDF for reference. (UPDATE: This material list is no longer accurate; the materials have been changed since the Maker 3 has been released.)

Materials that the Cricut Knife Blade cuts<

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 stop it), unload the mat, remove the tape and check if the cardboard was cut correctly.

Warning: You might want to stop the cut after a few passes instead of the full amount, just to check it. You don’t want to cut into your mat. This is the test cut, so start out carefully.

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. Try the “Chipboard” setting. This uses more pressure and 24 multi-cut passes, so stop the cut after 10 passes and check it. Continue to check it every few passes.

If that setting wasn’t successful, keep adding a pass or two until you get a clean cut through the material.

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 Pressure Settings

Did you know that the Cricut Fine-Point Blade can cut multiple times? However, nine times is the maximum number of times it can repeat the cut. The maximum cut pressure you can set for the Cricut Fine-Point Blade is 350.

Fine-point blade settings in Cricut Design Space

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 would probably work 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.


Save this tutorial for later by pinning on Pinterest!

Learn to cut cardboard with your Cricut Maker

I have several cardboard projects I’m designing, such as the hexagon pencil holders below, a doll house and furniture, gift boxes, and more! Sign up using the form below to be notified when the SVGs and tutorials are posted.

Hexagon pencil holder DIY cardboard project

Categories // Cardboard, Tutorial Tags // knife blade, pressure settings, tutorial

Comments

  1. Suzanne M Kutz says

    April 19, 2020 at 1:44 pm

    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. 🙂

    Reply
    • Emily says

      April 19, 2020 at 8:01 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Lucy says

        April 19, 2021 at 6:12 am

        Lucy
        I have the same problem, the material is not too thunk, the white diles are all the way to the left.

        Reply
        • Emily says

          April 22, 2021 at 2:59 pm

          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?

          Reply
  2. Jon Simpson says

    December 24, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    Thank you for your article it was very helpful! can you please tell me how long the blades last?

    Reply
    • Emily says

      December 24, 2020 at 9:05 pm

      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!

      Reply
  3. Richard says

    June 25, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    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

    Reply
  4. guadalupe de zavalia says

    September 18, 2021 at 9:21 am

    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

    Reply
    • Emily says

      September 22, 2021 at 5:31 pm

      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!

      Reply
  5. guadalupe de zavalia says

    September 18, 2021 at 9:23 am

    I have the cricut maker 3 I thought I might have more materials than other machines but I don’t have any PLY

    Reply
  6. Kathleen Wise says

    April 5, 2022 at 2:20 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Emily says

      April 5, 2022 at 2:43 pm

      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. 😊

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. DIY Sharpie Marker Holder for your desk » Minor DIY says:
    May 14, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    […] do a test cut with the material you are going to use. Review the tutorial here if you want tips on cutting corrugated cardboard with your Cricut Maker and Knife […]

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  2. DIY Cake Base and Pastry Board SVG - Sunflower Summer Co says:
    September 29, 2021 at 10:21 pm

    […] I do not own a Cricut so I was unable to test it out but here are some great instructions for cutting cardboard with a Cricut. […]

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  3. DIY Pastry Board and Cake Base SVG - Sunflower Summer Co says:
    November 9, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    […] I do not own a Cricut so I was unable to test it out but here are some great instructions for cutting cardboard with a Cricut. […]

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  4. DIY Holiday Explosion Box Gift » minorDIY says:
    November 12, 2021 at 9:27 pm

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