About Blade & Mat

Blade & Mat is a small independent reference site about craft cutting machines. It is organized by topic, from choosing a machine to running a small shop, and each page tries to answer one question fully, with the direct answer first.

What you will find here

• Fix pages: one symptom each, with the usual causes in checking order.
• How-to notes for setup, cut settings, weeding and pressing.
• Tools that look up cut settings and heat press times for you.
• Narrow gear guides, each about one kind of cutter, press or supply.

Where the numbers come from

Heat press times and temperatures come from the makers' published application instructions, such as Siser's product pages and the Cricut Heat Guide, and each one names its source. Cut settings start from the maker's preset in Design Space or Silhouette Studio, and we only give a figure when we could confirm it in the maker's own guide. Where we could not, we say to start with the preset and run a test cut. The label on your material always wins where it differs.

How gear is chosen

We do not run a test bench and we do not claim hands-on testing. Gear guides compare products by what their Amazon listings state. How we pick gear explains the method and its limits.

How the site is paid for

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the site may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That is the only income. Nobody pays to be included, and a product is never listed because of its commission. See the affiliate disclosure.

Corrections

If something here is wrong or unclear, write to hello@bladeandmat.com. Corrections are made on the page, and its date changes when the content does.