Ok, so after a ridiculous number of hours of testing and testing, reading forums, and testing more, I am FINALLY close to a reasonably good cut on my CC. However, the last hurdle I cannot overcome and I need some help!

When I cut my gum paste, correct thickness, temp, dryness, and all, the edges are jagged, sort of ruffled looking, as if the blade is dragging a little. The cut is clean but the top of the cutout itself has the ruffling effect. Some have suggested using the reverse side because it is shiny and pretty and perfect, but that side is picking up the impressions of previous cuts which just looks odd. My blade seems to be cutting awfully deep into the mat, but I have it rolled out as thin as instructed and if I go down to the lowest pressure it does not cut through.

Can't get it to let me add a photo so here's a link to it: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4fl7E6OB9uIFd3MoVTViZKpm2r-_iCwdAVJeAsbbxX0?feat=directlink

Thank you for any suggestions and help!!

I have a cricut and have used it one time to do a Boy Scout cake. I had a problem somethink like this. I adjusted some of the settings and I also put a VERY thin layer of crisco on the top of the piece to be cut. After putting the fondant on the mat I would take a paper towel with a little Crisoc on it and smooth out the top of the fondant to be cut. This seemed to allow the cutter to slide better over the top of the fondant.

Have you checked the pressure on your machine? I use a med pressure and it does not cut deep in the mat. I use gum paste as well and everything works fine. Do you use a pasta roller to get it thin? This helps too

After checking the pressure like Ahof suggested...You can also try lowering the speed & do a multi-cut...I do up to three (depending on the image)...but mostly 2 cut works great. those two adjustments have my cuts a lot better.

also how thin are you rolling your fondant or gumpaste. In the pic the pattern looks thick. It should be about an 1/8 of inch thick

hello! i agree with rubbing a little bit of crisco on top of your gumpaste piece before you cut. the blade is dragging bc the gp is a little bit to dry- maybe knead some crisco into your gp before rolling it out, or don't spend too much time rolling as this allows it to dry out. hth!

See here's where I am confused. I rolled it out as thin as I could before it started tearing, but I could not make it cut on the lowest pressure. When I went to the next pressure up #2, it cuts the mat pretty severely.

And then some people say cut it before it dries and others say let it dry out for as much as an hour first.

Confused!

Have you tried rolling out you gum paste ,wrapping it and placing it in a ziplock bag for about 6 hours(I do it the night before). I like this method the best(I too tried about a million different ways).

I find freezing rather than letting it dry out prevents this.....works for me! hth

Has anyone else just thrown in the towel and returned it? It seems like such a great thing to have but for this amount of work I would rather just use cutouts I think. They are much less finicky and I can use my MMF and not have to make it 10 years in advance so it can dry/cool/freeze/whatever!

hbsea: when you say it cuts your mat severely, what do you mean? You do see the outline of the cuts that you've made on the mat. That's normal.

It looks like it's rolled way too thick. Check out these video on youtube by deseret designs http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=silhouette%20%20electronic%20cutter&search=Search&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&spell=1

For me I don't find it to be a hassle....I roll it, throw it in the freezer while I roll some more ( I have 2 mats) take it out, cut it, remove the excess then throw it back in the freezer for a few more minutes so it is easy to work with...especially for intricate designs I could never do with a cutter, and would not be as neat if I did it by hand.

What product are you using? I don't have any problem with Linda's gumpaste or Wilton fondant with tylose added. I do however prepare it the way she recommends. It's not something that can be rolled and cut while soft.

Thank you all for your fabulous suggestions!

I have found THE best solution just now...

Step 1 - roll out fondant on mat with no drying or freezing time at all
Step 2 - put in Expression and get a perfect cut the first try
Step 3 - pack the Cake back in its box and return it

I don't understand it but my non-deep cut blade worked better. The cut was clean and perfect and the mat was not even cut. I'm going to go with it!

Good luck with Step 3. I tried to return an unused Expression to M, and their policy would not allow me to as I had broken the seal. All I did was read the instruction book!

Well that stinks. I would have tracked down theperson who told me yes. Was that at joanns? Or Michael's? Our joanns had a returned open box one on the shelf when I bought mine so I know they took one back, and my reciept says nothing about it.

Success! Joanns took my Cricut Cake back without hesitation and my Expression is still cutting gum paste like a superstar. Gosh I could have saved myself a TON of aggravation if I had known this a week ago!