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How to Engrave Metal with the Cricut Maker

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How to engrave metal with the Cricut Maker. This easy process is a great way to make custom items for your home and garden!

I’ve been pretty excited to experiment with the engraving tool on my Cricut Maker. I engraved acrylic keychains first, but decided to move onto aluminum sheets for marking areas of my garden. These will help identify plants that I’m growing, although at this point I’m usually able to identify what I have. It’s fun though and these look FANTASTIC!


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I saw a friend share this quote and I haven’t puzzled out where it’s from yet, but I LOVE it. So feel free to drop the quote ‘author’ in the comments!

How to Engrave Metal with Your Cricut Maker

For this project, I’m engraving 5×7 aluminum sheets to use for my garden. When I start making something for my Cricut, I usually make a 5×7 light gray rectangle, then design the image to be within it. That way, my design will be the correct size. When I’m ready to engrave, I just delete the rectangle. Sometimes I use Canva to make my SVGs though and then upload them to Cricut Design Space.

I add a gray box in the size of my blank before designing something in Cricut Design Space: In this screenshot, I've got a 5x7 gray box with text on top.

Don’t forget that you need to leave some extra space around your design for this particular project. The metal plate needs to be taped down to hold it in place; this helps prevent slipping during the engraving process.

Supplies

Use the Discount Code DIYDANIELLE on cricut.com for 10% off any cutting machine or heatpress (no minimum). Excludes: materials/accessories/mystery boxes/etc. Applies to US/CA only, code expires 12/31/23.

Tutorial: Using Cricut Aluminum Sheets

  1. Remove protective film from your aluminum sheets. Place your blanks on a Strong Grip Cricut Mat. Tape material down on all sides.

2. Design and resize your project in Design Space. Make sure it matches your placement of your metal on your mat.

3. Place your Cricut Engraving Tool in your Cricut Maker.

Left: My design in Design Space says "by the time they realize your worth, you'll be worth more."

Right: Putting my engraving tool into the Cricut Maker.

4. Select the correct settings on Design Space and hit the blinking Cricut button on your machine.

5. Push the white pieces on your metal bar all the way to the right.

Settings for Aluminum Sheets on Cricut Design Space. Moving Roller Balls to the right in the machine.

6. Let your machine engrave the aluminum. Support the mat if needed.

7. Eject the mat and use a lint roller to remove metal debris from the sheet.

Left: Cricut Aluminum Sheets held onto a StrongGrip Mat with orange duct tape.

Right: Removing metal bits from the engraving process using a lint roller.

8. Wipe your machine area with a soft cloth to remove any debris.

Left: Using a soft cloth to clean the Cricut Maker after engraving

Right: Photo of engraved design.

9. For metal, you can smooth any rough edges using a polishing cloth or 360-600 grit sandpaper.

Here’s a video of the process.

Please share and pin this post! If you make this project, share it in our Stuff Mama Makes Facebook Group. We have regular giveaways for gift cards to craft stores. You can also tag me on Instagram @doityourselfdanielle; I love seeing everything you make!

How to Engrave Metal with the Cricut Maker. These aluminum sheets are easy to customize using the Cricut Engraving Blade. Sign says: "By the time they realize your worth, you'll be worth more."
How to Engrave Metal with the Cricut Maker

How to Engrave Metal with the Cricut Maker

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Learn how to engrave Cricut aluminum sheets using the Cricut Maker and the engraving tip.

Materials

  • 4×4 Aluminum Sheets: https://shrsl.com/2yvyv
  • 8×8 Aluminum Sheets: https://shrsl.com/2yvyx
  • 5×7 Aluminum Sheets: https://shrsl.com/2yvyy
  • Lint Roller
  • Duct Tape

Tools

  • Cricut Maker
  • Cricut Strong Grip Mat: https://shrsl.com/2yvyn
  • Cricut Engraving Blade: https://shrsl.com/2yvyp

Instructions

1. Remove protective film. Place your blanks on a Strong Grip Cricut Mat. Tape material down on all sides.

2. Design and resize your project in Design Space. Make sure it matches your placement of your metal on your mat.

3. Place your Cricut Engraving Tool in your Cricut Maker.

4. Select the correct settings on Design Space and hit the blinking Cricut button on your machine.

5. Push the white pieces on your metal bar all the way to the right.

6. Let your machine engrave the aluminum. Support the mat if needed.

7. Eject the mat and use a lint roller to remove metal debris from the sheet

8. Wipe your machine area with a soft cloth to remove any debris.

9. For metal, you can smooth any rough edges using a polishing cloth or 360-600 grit sandpaper.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Web Story: Easiest Way to Engrave Metal at Home

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