Silver Bullet Cutters Forum

Hello,
I make dollhouse miniatures (fabulouslyflawedminiatures.blogspot.com). I am happy to say that I have my cart loaded with a Silver Bullet 15 inch machine and accessories.
Before I make the purchase I have a few questions that I am hoping you can answer:
I used Bass wood 1/16 thickness. I want to use that machine to make nice cuts of squares, rectangles and circles. (I'm sure I will use it for other things, but these are the main shapes). I am wondering how the machine does with this thickness of basswood. I don't use balsa wood for my miniatures. Also, I have a Mac OS X, Version 10.8.5 and use Illustrator CS6 for designing my shapes. Is it possible for the machine to read SVG files?
I have read wonderful things about this machine, but finding little information about cutting 1/16 bass wood. I'm hoping that this machine can handle that thickness…it would allow me to take my business to the next level. I am so excited about the possibilities, but want to make sure that this is the purchase.
Your help is greatly appreciated
Anita
fabulouslyflawedminiatures.blogspot.com

Hello Anita... fabulouslyflawedmini I've never attempted to cut Balsawood with the Silver Bullet....however I have cut very thing wood paper......I'm going to say I believe it "probably" would using a long shaft 60 degree blade....but I would wait to hear from one of the creators of the machine...either Dawn or Sherri.....or someone else who has attempted Balsawood......

I use a Windows computer but I can tell you the industry stand format for cutting files IS the .SVG format......the software which comes packaged with the cutter is Sure Cuts A lot and it DOES import SVG format.....so that is not an issue at all.....

I've cut Balsawood, but not Bass wood.
I do use a Mac

Honestly, for Basswood, I do NOT think the SB or ANY cutter out there can do it.

Bass wood is extremely dense. Just because it may be within thickness specs of the SB, doesn't mean it is appropriate.

Balsa wood is within specs. I do not believe Bass Wood is. If I were you, don't purchase unless you have sent the media to either Sherri or Dawn to test cut, examine, feel, and see if this is possible. Because the original poster went out of her way to state that she does NOT use Balsa wood, I do not think this is a mistake of any kind. She meant the real thing, bass wood. Bass wood is a dense product, and not lightweight like balsa wood is. Two very different types of wood.

pigtailpat - I checked out the OP's blog site she listed above. It looks like she went with an Explore machine and says that it mostly cut the basswood that she put through it. Does say she had to cut with an Exacto knife and is waiting for their deep cut blade to try that and see if it works better. So I just wanted to point out that if she is able to cut through with the Cricut Explore machine then the SB should be much better equipped to handle and cut it then that machine. You can see her post here: http://fabulouslyflawedminiatures.blogs ... chine.html - It will be interesting to see how long that machine can hold up to it however.

Thank you all for responding to my post. I did decide to go with the Explore Air. The machine did cut through the Basswood 1/16 ok with a standard blade. I had to lightly run my Xacto knife through the cut and the shape easily released. I have ordered the deep cut housing and blade to see if I can get it to cut through the thickness without the Xacto knife. I really wanted the SB machine, but after thinking about it for a bit, I knew I would not use it to its max and spending over 1k just did not make sense at this time. After seeing what the Explore Air does, I am pretty certain the SB can cut right through the 1/16 Basswood. Thank you again and keep being creative!
Anita

Thanks for getting back to us. The request for basswood was very unique, and just by going what the internet says about basswood, I figured it was a pretty dense media (to me - it seemed like a more "woody" wood if you know what I mean - from the internet description of this wood). This is why these special media requests should be handled in a special way (i.e. sending a sample of the media to either sherri or dawn). I do agree with melanie (meflick) that the motor on the cricut explore might burn out with repeated, extensive cutting of this media. Hopefully it holds up. But, if it doesn't you know where to go then!!

Have fun with your explore!