How to Cut Wood with Cricut: DIY Balsa Wood Sign

Yes, you can use a Cricut Maker to cut balsa wood signs! Here are the simple steps to use your Cricut to cut wood.

If you want some variety in the materials that you use with your Cricut machine, lightweight wood such as balsa wood or basswood are perfect materials to make unique designs.

Wood sheets are ideal for making projects such as:

Signs for wreaths
Bookmarks
Raised labels
Present toppers
Ornaments (See my tutorial for how to make balsa wood ornaments with Cricut)

Cutting balsa wood with Cricut Maker can be easy, but you need the right tools to begin with. First, you will need to choose the right type of wood and the correct thickness for the machine.

Be sure to see all of my Cricut crafts!

Balsa Wood vs Basswood: What Type to Use with Cricut

When buying wood for a Cricut project, you will see both balsa wood and basswood as options. What is the difference?

The woods come in different thicknesses. However, both have a similar appearance. Balsa wood tends to be more expensive than basswood.

Balsa Wood

Balsa wood sheets are very thin and lightweight wood. They are used to make toy airplanes and models.

A Cricut maker can cut balsa wood with these thicknesses:

1/32″
1/16″
3/32″

Basswood

Basswood is a light-colored wood that is often sold in blocks. It has a smooth, even grain that can be painted or stained easily without sealing first.

For basswood, the thicknesses that can be cut with Cricut include:

1/32″
1/16″

If you buy Cricut brand of wood, it will be basswood. It is smoothed out to not have any rough edges. The thickness of the Cricut basswood is 1/16 inch.

Helpful Tips

Regardless of what type of wood or what brand you buy, you should use the following tips that Cricut Maker recommends:

Make sure the piece is not bowing or warping. It needs to be as flat as possible.
Look for an even surface without many imperfections. Wood with knots can cause problems when cutting. If there is a knot in the wood piece, position it so that the knot is not part of the cut piece.
Do not use composite pieces, which are pieces with many parts glued together. The glue can be harder than the wood and cause damage to the blade.

Where to Buy Wood Sheets for Cricut Maker

Cricut does sell materials on their website. You can buy their Basswood sheets directly from the company.

Balsa wood can be bought wherever you buy craft supplies. Amazon has a great selection of Cricut wood sheets that can be shipped to your door.

Wood to use with Cricut can be bought in popular craft stores, including:

How to Cut Balsa Wood with Cricut Maker

I’ll show you how to cut balsa wood with a Cricut using an SVG file. This tutorial shows how to make a simple wooden “Home” sign using a deep cut blade made for cutting wood.

Supplies

Free Home SVG file
1/32” thick balsa wood
Deep cut blade for Cricut

Instructions

Step 1

Upload the file into Cricut Design Space. Resize the design, if needed, then weld the letters together.

Step 2

Set the Cricut dial to Custom.

Hit the Make it Button and select “browse all materials.” Select “Material Setting” at the bottom of the menu.

Scroll down to the bottom of the menu and select “Add New Material.”

Create a new material called Balsa Wood.

Set the cut pressure to 350 and select 8x from the multi-cut drop-down menu. Change the blade type to deep-point blade from the blade type drop down menu.

Step 4

Place the deep cut blade in the right side of the blade holder in the Cricut.

Step 5

Place the balsa wood on the cutting mat and tape down the edges to hold it in place.

If your Cricut mat has lost its stickiness, here is the simple way to clean your Cricut mat and make it sticky again.

Step 6

Cut the design and check to see if the wood is fully cut without removing it from the cutting mat.

If it isn’t cut through, hit the flashing Cricut logo button the machine to cut the design again. Make sure not to remove the cutting mat from the machine in between cuts or the placement of the design could be different the next time you load the wood into the machine.

Continue recutting the design until it is fully cut.

Step 7

Remove the cutting mat from the machine and carefully remove the mat from the wood. If there are spots that aren’t fully cut through, use the point of your weeding tool to break the design from the wood. Work carefully to avoid breaking the design itself.

If the edges are rough, use a thin piece of sand paper or an emery board to gently remove the rough edges.