Cricut Maker Engraving Tool Materials: What Can You Engrave with Your Cricut? #cricut #engraving #cricutmaker

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You can engrave so many different materials and things with the Cricut Maker engraving tool! Find out what you can engrave with your Cricut Maker and see how it looks!

I LOVE to test things, and my new Cricut Maker Engraving Tool is no exception. I wanted to know what materials we can engrave! The Cricut Maker engraving tool is supposed to work with soft metals, acrylics, plastics, and leathers, so we found as many different types of these materials to test as possible! Now it’s important to note that the engraving tool does not engrave very deeply, nor does it fill in any voids. So not only is it important to pick good materials, but also good designs that will show up when you engrave them. Text is good, as is detailed images (so long as they are large enough to see the detail).

Watch the playback of our live playtest video of 20 different materials one might engrave with the Cricut Maker engraving tool:

Ready to engrave with your Cricut Maker?

Be sure you have both the Cricut Maker and the Engraving Tip and Quick Swap Housing (you can get them together or separate), along with a purple StrongGrip mat and some painter’s tape or masking tape!

Engraving Tip Only: cricut.pxf.io/15qoWB

Engraving Tip + Housing: http://shrsl.com/1s4va

Here’s a list of everything I’ve tried to engrave with my Cricut Maker engraving tool so far. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy.

If you want to use the free engraving templates (Design #155) I used in this tutorial, you can download it from my free resource library. It is available as an SVG for your cutting machine, as well as a PDF (for hand cutting) and DXF.

Get the free SVG cut file for this project

Cricut Maker Engraving Materials: Soft Metals

Anodized Aluminum Dog Tags 

Anodized Aluminum Charms

Aluminum Bracelets

Copper Bracelets

Brass Earrings and Pendants

Aluminum & Brass Plaques

Anodized Aluminum Sheets

  • Where I bought it: Metal Etching Sheets
  • Material setting: Anodized Aluminum
  • How it turned out: Great!

Stainless Steel Jar Lid

  • Where I bought it: Ball Mason Jars
  • Material setting: Stainless Steel
  • How it turned out: Great!

Pewter Pendant

Alkeme Pendant

Galvanized Steel Sign

  • Where I bought it: Michaels
  • Material setting: Stainless steel
  • How it turned out: Not great (it’s very faint) — avoid using galvanized steel

 

Cricut Maker Engraving Materials: Acrylics (Plexiglass) and Plastics

NOTE: While acrylic is not on the compatible material list at Cricut, their product page for the engraving tip in their store does list that it works with acrylic … so we thought we would try it! That said, it appears Cricut is unsure of their position on acrylics, so please understand that they may not officially support it.

Acrylic Plaques (1 mm thick)

Acrylic Discs (3 mm thick)

  • Where I bought it: 4″ inch round acrylic discs
  • Material setting: Acrylic (2 mm) — there is no 3 mm setting, but the 2 mm setting works fine
  • How it turned out: Great! Note that the official limit is 2.4 mm but we were still able to fit this in our Maker. That said, not all “3 mm” acrylic is actually 3 mm—it may be a little thicker. So your mileage may vary. For best results, use 2 mm (1/16th of an inch) or less.

Acrylic disc engraved with a mandala using the Cricut Maker Engraving Tool

Acrylic Plate (0.7mm thick)

  • Where I bought it: Found it in a picture frame from Michaels (it was the “glass” in the frame)
  • Material setting: Acetate
  • How it turned out: Great!

Acetate Sheet

Cricut Maker Engraving Tool in Action

 

Cricut Maker Engraving Materials: Leather

Real Leather

Faux Leather

Leather Bracelets with Snaps

  • Where I bought it: Leather Bracelets
  • Material setting: Tooling Leather 2.4mm
  • How it turned out: Did NOT work because the snaps were too thick and they would not fit under the engraving tool. But we cut off the snaps to see if it would engrave and it did!

Leather Keychains

  • Where I bought it: Michaels
  • Material setting: Tooling Leather 2.4mm
  • How it turned out: Great BUT you have to remove the rivets with pliers before you put it in your Maker.

 

Cricut Maker Engraving Materials: Wood

Balsa wood

  • Where I bought it: Michaels
  • Material setting: Balsa Wood
  • How it turned out: Not very good. While it engraved, you couldn’t really see the design — it was so faint.            

General Advice on Engraving with the Cricut Maker Engraving Tool

Be sure to remove any clear protective films on metals or acrylics before engraving.

When in doubt, always test first!

Secure your engraving blank to your cutting mat with painter’s tape or masking tape.

Wipe off your engraved blank to remove any debris or little bits leftover from the engraving process.

Get my free SVG designs for your Engraving Projects!


If you engrave a project with your Cricut, please share a photo in my helpful Cricut Facebook group or tag me on social media with #jennifermaker.

Love,

JenniferMaker.com

Want to remember this? Save the Cricut Engraving Materials Guide to your favorite Pinterest board!

Cricut Maker Engraving Tool Materials: What Can You Engrave with Your Cricut? #cricut #engraving #cricutmaker

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4 Comments

  1. I just wanted to take a second to say thank you for posting this! I just got my maker that I bought primarily to do t-shirts/decals, but I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and I started looking into engraving and this is just wonderful! Straightforward, well written, awesome, thanks!

  2. As always. Very informative posting. I just was wondering, if the galvanized steel signs from the dollar tree can be engraved?

    1. We are happy you enjoy our posts, Jade! As far as we know, the galvanized signs from Dollar Tree cannot be engraved. But, since they are only a dollar, you could always buy one and see if you like the result! 🙂

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