Etsy's Handmade Blog
How-Tuesday: Kirigami with the Craft ROBO
Story by brepettis, objecked, weirdwolf
Published on January 6, 2009 in How-To

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The Craft ROBO is a machine that lets you cut and score paper with precision and repetition. This is really handy if you're into scrapbooking or want to make shipping boxes, envelopes or promos for your Etsy shop. Perhaps you want to take it to the next level to create unique paper sculptures, pop-up books or custom vinyl stickers.

Using the machine is like hooking up a printer to your computer, but instead of printing ink, the Craft ROBO has a tiny little sharp knife that it can control and move around to cut through or just slightly graze paper.

Jeff Rutzky has been creating incredible kirigami (origami with cuts) with the Craft ROBO. He joined us at Etsy Labs to give us a tutorial on this wonderful bread-box sized machine.

To make the kirigami box in the video, you'll need to have Adobe Illustrator (AI) on your computer and you'll have to install the AI plugin. You can also use the software that comes with the Craft ROBO, but this project involves a few different type of cuts which is best done on AI.

Download the pattern. (Be forewarned! This is a mighty large zip file of documents!) Load it into AI and turn off the layers with cutting lines and print out the graphics and registration marks. Load your printed sheet onto the plastic carrier which protects the machine from its own blade. Then go into the cut/plot interface and set it to stop between each layer. That way you can change the blade out to go from scoring to cutting.

You can also do this project with an Exacto knife and a boning tool for scoring, but the beauty of the Craft ROBO is that, well, the machine does the work for you perfectly!

Watch more how-to videos and check out these how-to projects too!

Tags boxes, craft ROBO, HOW-TO, How-Tuesday, Jeff Rutzky, kirigami, machines, origami, paper goods, projects, promos, selling, supplies, tools, tutorials, video
All articles in How-To
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52 comments     Login to add your own!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 4:29 p.m. sugarspicepaperie

So glad to see this! I have been stressing over trying to decide which cutter to buy! Thanks Etsy!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 4:39 p.m. KnitStorm

this could be saucesome...

Jan. 6, 2009 at 4:52 p.m. theRasilisk

That machine is rad. I feel compelled to get one, regardless of what i would do with it...

Jan. 6, 2009 at 4:52 p.m. ccaspia

ohh!!!
i love paper too ^^

Jan. 6, 2009 at 4:58 p.m. notepourri

Thanks so much for adding this. I have one but have yet to use it fully.

Jan. 6, 2009 at 5:09 p.m. handmade

wow! this is awesome. im so glad to know this exists!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 5:14 p.m. LushPunk

Man I want one of those cutters! Jeff's kirigami is amazing :D

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:02 p.m. Lolleys

My life could be so different with a craft ROBO!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:03 p.m. themakelounge

Jonesing for this....

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:03 p.m. BibBon

Me want that!

That is dang cool!

Great job guys!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:04 p.m. inhope

this blows my mind with all of the possibilities....how much is this thing? 1 million $ worth of awesome I bet

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:04 p.m. GoodNightLolaSue

ilove it! very cool to see it in action!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:07 p.m. KnitzAndFeltz

WOW! That is soooooo cool!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 6:19 p.m. OnTheNeedle

"You can also do this project with an Exacto knife and a boning tool for scoring, but the beauty of the Craft ROBO is that, well, the machine does the work for you perfectly!"

So it's less handmade?!
lol, I get it, and I like it, it's awesome, but I had to giggle!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:05 p.m. nfall2rt

wow, i'm so impressed! I make lots of paper stuff and I was imagining myself taking my hand out of the cutting part...I might be able to get used to that!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:05 p.m. juicychristians

very cool! putting on my craft gadget wish list!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:05 p.m. TheSeed

I think this is the answer to my prayers...Does anyone know if it can be programmed to cut out your own custom pattern or will it only cut certain available downloads (and I'm sure there are tons to choose from, but I've been personally dreaming of a machine that will cut things I draw.) Oh please oh please oh please someone say it will!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:23 p.m. bbesigns

This looks wonderful How expensive is it??

Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:45 p.m. dianesk9creations

here's one is the site I was looking at: http://www.getmycricut.com/

Jan. 6, 2009 at 8:25 p.m. tascha

This is so cool!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 8:29 p.m. studiocvh

wow, i needs me a craftso robo

Jan. 6, 2009 at 8:37 p.m. hine

Wow..., what a smart machine! I should start to save money to get one for me! Thanks so much for the information and the great tutorial!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 8:52 p.m. TheBeehive

I love love love my machine, mmmm, it's dreamy!

Beautiful work, thanks for sharing!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 9:14 p.m. PeppermintDaydreams

the craft ROBO makes me want to do the ROBO boogie!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 9:21 p.m. EJPcreations

Me love me love!!!

Jan. 6, 2009 at 9:31 p.m. BluCille

Neat. The God Bless cards are cool.

Jan. 6, 2009 at 10:02 p.m. zelas

I have one, its great :)

Jan. 6, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. smilingbluedog

Is this the same as a cricut?? (wondering if there's
some differences, and wishing I had one!)
Awesome & fresh paper creations!!
As for handmade?? HHmmmm?
It may be a machine (replacing an exacto) but then there are embroidery machines, sewing machines, and many others,
doing more and more. Whatever...
It's a tool, and what you do with the tools you have, is what makes your work amazing.

Jan. 7, 2009 at 1:14 a.m. LeLapinTriste

this was delightfully inspiring! Thanks for sharing!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 1:31 a.m. designbycathleen

I love this, now I really want this machine.... :-)

Jan. 7, 2009 at 1:44 a.m. nicolecarey

i'd break the machine if i had it i bet

Jan. 7, 2009 at 3:16 a.m. beta

I had my Craft Robo for the past 3 years and use for so much. It's great for cutting decals.

Jan. 7, 2009 at 4:17 a.m. geritom71

That's amazing - and, as always, doesn't seem to be available in Australia!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 5:44 a.m. saraaires

WOWOWWW! I never thought that there could be a "domestic" version of such a machine! Idon't think it is available in Portugal... is this the correct name? Craft Robo? I'm off to searching... Thanks!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 6:47 a.m. TheCottageCheese

I wanted this machine as soon as I read the name of it. Anything with the word "robo" in the title has to be wicked cool.

Jan. 7, 2009 at 7:23 a.m. eyeshoot

What a great bit of kit! I'll add it to my long wishlist!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 7:49 a.m. NinjaJenn

Do want, do want, do want!!!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 8:03 a.m. salonskacollections

This is AMAZING!!! Thanks so much for the article. I'm checking to see if I can afford one right now.

Jan. 7, 2009 at 10:26 a.m. GumballGrenade

What a neat little machine. Thanks for the introduction and lovely tutorial!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 11:54 a.m. jadewicks

OMG - I've been looking for something like this and it's great to know it DOES exist and it's not for industrialists. Excited! :)

Jan. 7, 2009 at 1:05 p.m. AnnSchwartz

Fabulous demonstration--very clear and inspiring. Great music too. This looks like a must for every paper crafter.

So cool! Thanks, Jeff

Jan. 7, 2009 at 3:06 p.m. LaireMarie

such wonderful items, and to think from paper?

Jan. 7, 2009 at 3:10 p.m. redyellowandblueink

cool!

Jan. 7, 2009 at 6:24 p.m. Studio618

Technology! And I was picturing someone with the Xacto knife, with bleeding fingers.

How neat!

Jan. 8, 2009 at 8:17 a.m. scrapnoutlawcat

The Cricut Expression and Xyron Wishblade are similar machines. The Wishblade is more for using your own designs via the computer where as the Cricut uses their own special die cuts that you buy already packaged in a special cartridge. I did hear though that Cricut now has a software product for designing purposes but it's limited. Both products are fabulous. My Cricut is on order as I speak and a Wishblade is of all things on my Wish List!

Jan. 8, 2009 at 12:19 p.m. ljoembroidery

I L O V E the Craft Robo. I've been using in for a few years now for cards, invitations, projects... it's so much fun. Way more versital than any of the other products out there.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 6:37 a.m. hanginmoon

love it, but I prefer do it the manual way by hand

Jan. 12, 2009 at 6:02 a.m. RedFenyx

Really interesting! Thanks for the explanation! ^^

Jan. 16, 2009 at 1:40 p.m. EmbersOfLove

There's Craft Robo, WishBlade, Silhouette, Pazzles and Klic-n-Kut. Cricut does not need to be plugged to a computer. All of these have lots of accessories, and of course these don't come cheap. So what are the downsides and the advantages of each one? Does anyone know?

Jan. 26, 2009 at 2:38 p.m. mollylee

OMIGOD, thanks for the article! I LOVE my robo and use it for all my cards! (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=...) it allows me to do a lot more complicated things, cutwise, than I can otherwise do.

I have started a wiki about the robo: http://craftrobocutter.wetpaint.com/

Jan. 26, 2009 at 2:47 p.m. mollylee

Just to answer a few questions: it's about $300, but you can search and find it for a little bit less, if you look. It comes with its own propriatary software, but I use it with the Illustrator plug-in (as does Jeff in the demo, it's very amazing software).

The main difference between it and something like the Cricut is that you can use it to cut ANY design you want, as long as you draw it out in the software. With the Cricut, you have to buy a cartridge everytime -- extremely limiting!

It's the same thing as a Wishblade.

If anyone out there wants to get together about their Robos, let me know! I'm dying to make contact -- the one bad thing about the robo is that the documentation kind of sucks, so I've had to do a lot of trial and error (this is partly why I started the wiki, to gather up all this knowledge in one place: http://craftrobocutter.wetpaint.com/)

I can't tell you how much I LOVE my robo!

Jan. 31, 2009 at 6:55 a.m. TrevaPoston

I thought of the times when my ex-husband told me of the new robots developed at the Navy Base here in Pensacola to cut metals for parts for airplanes in the Navy Depot. This is a mini version of that machine. Progress is great! Especially when it can be applied for artsy stuff too!
Thank you for the demo and flashback.

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