# GRAPHTEC Silhouette SD Craft Cutter



## nivek535 (Aug 28, 2011)

Hello!
So I'm buying a GRAPHTEC Silhouette SD Craft Cutter for my hat designs... I'll be using it to cut Vinyl material... but I'm not sure how precise this machine will be. (Tech Support told me nothing smaller than 1/2" font) To not waste any vinyl, does anyone have small designs that have been done before with this cutter? How small were they?
Also, is it alright to test cut with a piece of paper just to see how precise it can be?
Thanks !


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## Surat (Nov 3, 2010)

It's kinda precise. Below, the letters are about 1mm thick (both serif and script typeface) the only problem I encountered was weeding (quite hard since i was using china vinyl -- not that good quality) but I've managed though 

Why not wait for the new Silhouette Cameo?


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## nivek535 (Aug 28, 2011)

first of, thank you for your quick reply !
1mm thick? what do you mean by that?
LOL @ your vinyl thing haha XD!!
WHOA @ the Silhouette CAMEO!!!!!!
what are the differences between the CAMEO and Silhouette SD? :O!
As I'm only making designs for hats, I just need to focus on precision for small details !
once again thanks!!


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## Surat (Nov 3, 2010)

Nope, I mean the cut-outs (letters) were 1mm  not the vinyl thickness ( sorry if that was misleading  )

Well since you'll be doing fine details, I guess you could go for the SD coz the Cameo is just a little bigger than the silhouette, quite unfortunate though that I think they won't be selling the SD anymore.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

These are hobby cutters and you should not expect them to work like a pro cutter....


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## nivek535 (Aug 28, 2011)

whoa that is TINY.......!!!
i guess this cutter will be good enough for me !!
and i see about the cameo~ so the bigger the plotter USUALLY means lower precision? :O!
Thanks again !!


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## nivek535 (Aug 28, 2011)

royster13 said:


> These are hobby cutters and you should not expect them to work like a pro cutter....


o.o could you explain this?
"pro" cutter?
so will i have trouble cutting small details for my hat D:?


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Yes that is my opinion......These little cutters do not have as good of motors as better units so the cutting lines and precision is not as good...


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## nivek535 (Aug 28, 2011)

oh noo~ thats bad news.
alright, thx!


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## recrisp (Oct 25, 2007)

I don't know if you have already purchased this or not, but in case this helps, here is a video that may be of some help.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSljXJ_jXw[/media]
The font used is a very detailed one, and it appears that it'd cut fine for your needs.
(Be sure to read the replies below, that may help also)

I do agree though, that is a craft/hobby machine, not one for production, but it's probably good enough for your needs, and if things go good, you can always upgrade to a more robust machine.

(I have the Craft Robo Pro, it's kind'a considered a "craft" machine too, but it is exactly like it's bigger brother, with the exception of size, which it has 15", that was all I needed)

Randy


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## nivek535 (Aug 28, 2011)

ohh i see thank you for the reply! it was really helpful !!!
good news: i ordered it!! its coming in 3-4 days !


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## phatpig (Jun 23, 2010)

hello all...i'm considering purchasing the silhouette cameo to primarily purchase rhinestone templates but may also use to cut vinyl...is this a good machine to start out with?


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## L144S (Aug 5, 2011)

the silhouette is not good for rhinestone template meterial Sticky flock to be precise. It will cut, but you will have to get the aftermarket holder and a 60 degree blade. and additional $40. my experiance with the cutter is that even with 6 passes on the recomended settings, it still did not always cut holes all the way through. you will be better off spending a little more and getting a better cutter.


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## NOPALITO24 (Jul 22, 2009)

the Silhouette SD is desiged to cut Rhinestone media, I believe your are not taking the correct steps to cut the media, first you you should be working w/ sandblast media w/ the correct thickness, the correct color cap of your blade, How To Apply Rhinestones with Craft ROBO, Silhouette, Craft ROBO Pro, CE5000
Graphtec on their online store sells the stencil, fyi...:
RHINESTONE TEMPLATE KIT


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## L144S (Aug 5, 2011)

NOPALITO24 said:


> the Silhouette SD is desiged to cut Rhinestone media, I believe your are not taking the correct steps to cut the media, first you you should be working w/ sandblast media w/ the correct thickness, the correct color cap of your blade, How To Apply Rhinestones with Craft ROBO, Silhouette, Craft ROBO Pro, CE5000
> Graphtec on their online store sells the stencil, fyi...:
> RHINESTONE TEMPLATE KIT


 
I think you missed my point. I am not using the wrong meterial, I had the wrong cutter for the meterial I want to use. the SD may be designed to cut sandblast but it does not do a good job on Sticky flock. it does not make it a bad cutter it just out there as a chice for those looking to get a cutter for sticky flock.


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## Max mozley (Nov 12, 2010)

Hello!
i am interesed in buying Cameo too,but there are a few things that I would like to know:
-Can I cut vectors directly from Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator? ( or do I have to export them to Sillouette cutting program)
- Does the New Silhouette Studio software support .CDR or .EPS file formats ( meaning that I can import these file formats directly into New Silhouette Studio software and send to cutting without tracing or changing anything )
-Do CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator have option of saving our work (or converting .CDR or .EPS vector image downloaded from web) to a dxf file format,so we could than cut it directly from New Silhouette Studio software? 
-Does the proces of converting .CDR or .EPS file dxf file affects on image quality anyhow?
-Can Cameo cut Flock an Flex vinyls?
Thanks in advance


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## NOPALITO24 (Jul 22, 2009)

The previous model of Silhouette came w/ a free copy of cutting master robo which allowed output directly from Corel or Adobe, this new Cameo does not. The only way to cut out of/or Illustrator, or Corel files is to use the Silhouete Studio Designer Edition which costs about 50.00(Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition, this software allows you to open .svg which you can export from Adobel or Corel.
The Silh. software wil not allow you to export .svg files.
Yes, the cameo is designed to cut these medias as well as rubber stencil for rhinestones, cardstoc, etc..


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## Princy (Mar 2, 2012)

Okay, I just go the Silhouette cameo and i'm totally new to all of this stuff. I just got some sticky flock yesterday since i read on the forum it was better, my first couple of cuts did not cut through, i was reading all the post so i set my blade to 6 and i started at a 3 and that seems to have worked. You really can't tell if it cut through until you pull it apart. as soon as i can i will up grade to a better cutter since my main objective is to make my own rhinestone templates.
I thank you all for all the information that you share with us newbies


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## Princy (Mar 2, 2012)

I forgot to add that the 1st cut I used the mat, because some people said to remove the white backing paper, well the 2nd cut was done with the backing paper left on it also cut just fine


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