Dammit - I don't have your email address... what is it again?

Dear Shawn - HA! Nope, not a darn thing!

Na - The only thing I could see you possibly having a problem with is the plastic splitting or cracking while you are cutting it, so if you can find some place to test it, then you totally should! I know some people cut balsa wood on theirs, but they put a temporary stablizer under it to give it the extra reinforcement so it doesn't crack.

I can't find a link to the info right now, but it's something to think about when you are trying it. (One without, and if it doesn' work, one with?)

If Shawn has any problems getting the file to work, I will be more than happy to try it on mine. Again, it's a Cricut, but it's the same concept, so it should give you a fair idea of what to expect.

Replacing the blades and the mats depends on what I'm cutting. If I'm cutting something like, say, felt... the blade is going to wear out way faster than if I'm cutting something like paper or vinyl.

For the cricut, there are a few places online that have a reference list of what settings you need to "kiss" cut on the cricut. In other words, cut your material and not the mat. It really helps the integrity of the mats last longer. The main issue is the "sticky" on them. There are also posts that show how to clean off the old stick and apply a spray adhesive once it basically loses it's adhesion.

In general, however, I would say I replace them once every couple of months, but I'm usually only cutting one or two things at a time when I use it. When I do the shadow puppets, I try to do five copies of sets with four in them (so 20 total).

The cricut has two different blade types, the regular and the deep cut. Don't know about the silo. Since you are going to be doing so much intricate work, let me try to save you a bit of a headache. If you have the option, use the deep cut blade. Then, when you are programming your desing, cut all of the smaller intricate areas on your machine FIRST, then do the larger outlines. It will give the plastic/paper/etc more stability and will reduce any tearing/splintering.

The only downside to that is if you have too many passes on your machine, sometimes the material will come up as the rollers run back and forth across it. Better to try to tweak that (pausing the machine and "weeding" it), than to do the larger areas and have them shift while you are trying to cut the smaller ones.

Hope this helps!

It sure seems to me from what Lola has said and other things I read on the net, that using a cutting machine is very much an art form.

I would say it's not so much an art form as it is a science. You may also consider finding a company with a laser cutter, Na, and having them cut it out if the silo doesn't work out the way you want.

Thanks Lola for the added info - I agree with Shawn, it does sound really quite more complicated! If I do get one though I'll be sitting down with the manual and doing lots of testing before making anything 'real'.

I have thought about finding someone with a machine and have tried looking, but nothing so far. The main issue is that I'm worried they'll charge heaps, but also it's that there's no redundancy built in: if I can only find 1 person with a machine and they decide to move or whatever, then I'm stuck.

Oddly enough the main reason I asked about the Silhouette is because I *do* know someone who bought one, is local to me, but I haven't been able to get in touch with them for months...

I have a Cricut, use it a lot (not for puppets). I do use it for making puppet props, labels, banners... You name it and you can use the Cricut to create it. Love this machine.

Thanks - does it also allow you to use your own images, or has software to import images? I really can't tell from the promo info on their website.