What should I do?

[tyniknate]

I've known for quite a while that my cricut was only going to last for a little while longer. Last night it started making weird griding noises. It's only a matter of time before its DOA.

Here's my dilemma....it's the same one you all are facing.

Love my new SCAL program and don't want to lose the ability to use it. Also have a ton of cricut carts that I want to be able to use. What do I buy?

What cutter do you have and why do you love them/hate them?

 

[morgansmom2000]

I bought an E2 last fall, knowing that my original E was on its last legs. I am way too invested in cartridges to not have a Cricut machine. That being said, I will more than likely buy a Cameo when the original E dies, because I love SCAL and the freedom it offers. I am hoping that I'll find a good deal around Black Friday or thereabouts so I can order a Cameo.

I highly recommend checking out Jin's blog. She has reviews of many machines, tutorials for how to use the Silhouette software, freebies, etc. She uses a Cameo with Make the Cut and the Silhouette software, I believe, but they are very similar to SCAL.

In the meantime, I would recommend checking out Joann's for a clearance machine. That way, you won't be without one completely! (I know they stopped making the cake machine, you can probably find one pretty cheap, and it cuts paper just like a regular machine, it just wouldn't be 'food' safe once you cut paper with it).

 

[tyniknate]

I was hoping to find a E2 on black friday. I know wal-mart had them as one of their early deals and they weren't flying off the shelves here. I just don't remember what the price was. Will have to wait a couple weeks and see.

The silhouette will work with SCAL? Will go check out that blog and see what reviews she has.

Glad to hear you all made it without too much drama last night. Didn't seem like much of an event here after all the hype. I certainly feel for the ones who have been hit by the worst of it though.

 

[morgansmom2000]

Yes, the silhouette works with SCAL. I'm hoping to get one soon

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

Jen, I may know where to get one at a decent price

 

[morgansmom2000]

Jen, I may know where to get one at a decent price

 

[tyniknate]

So, I think I'm going to go with looking for a Silhouette for now and hope that the reset works on the cricut for a little while. Seemed to be a tiny bit better last night. Thanks for the instructions on how to de-bug it. Now to start searching for the right price at the right time.
Think these will be on sale online for black friday?

 

[morgansmom2000]

Danielle, sign up for OhMyCrafts emails. They send coupon codes all the time. If there are any specials, they'll be quite competitive...Or, contact Rachal

 

[tyniknate]

What cricut version firmware are compatable with SCAL 2.0? Will versions 2.0 & 2.35 work? Thinking about buying a used cricut to hold me over and getting a silhouette for christmas. Has anyone bought used and had any luck?

 

[morgansmom2000]

CraftEdge says this:

"When you turn on your Cricut™ machine, the display will show which firmware version is currently loaded on your Cricut machine. Sure Cuts A Lot requries version 1.1 or 1.3-1.35 for Cricut Personal machines; version 2.1 or 2.3-2.35 for Cricut Expression/Cake machines; version 1.51-1.54 for Cricut Create/Cake Mini machines."

 

[disney-akj]

My cricut when I turn it on recently will start chugging slowly like a train almost. I had to turn it off and turn it back on, then it is usually ok. Today I had to try this about 10 times before I could finally cut. Did I miss the de-bug instructions. I need help too now

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

Michelle, I'll find them for you. Think they are in the wall art swap thread.

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

Have you tried resetting your machine? Sometimes its just a pain in the butt. But I had 2 machines that made that noise and then died. Resetting did a temp fix.
1) First, turn your machine on with no cartridge loaded. Then you are going to roll all your gray dials (the two on the left and the one on the right) down to there lowest setting.

2) Then you will want to grasp the green/gold cylinder blade assembly and use it to pull the entire gray carriage car unit (the one with the Cricut bug on it) along its track to the other side of the machine. Back in the cave where the gray carriage car usually sits there is a red button. Press that button and hold it down for about three seconds. Let go and then move the gray carriage car back into place.

3) This next step will sound a bit odd, but many times it can fix your little "bug". You're going to roll all your dials all the way up and all the way down three times-three times for each dial.

4) Then you are going to hit the "Cut" button and turn the machine off. Let the machine sit for a few minutes (15-20), load a cartridge, turn it on, and try a practice cut.

 

[disney-akj]

Thank you!!!

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

Thank you!!!

You're welcome. Hopefully it works.