I’m needing to cut some shapes from cardboard. Laser would be great. Too thick for my paper /vinyl cutter.
Ideas for the interim?
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How thick is the cardboard and how complex the shapes? (Any curves?)
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Xacto or utilility knife
Bandsaw?
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Boxes, and yes, arcs
Too much of it to do, need to make inserts for my product boxes
Need to cut complex interior shapes to hold products
Exacto for corrugated cardboard, but if it doesn’t have waffles, you might also be able to use something called a swivel knife - those work a heck of a lot better on arcs.
Blades are pretty tiny though, so if it’s thick, you’re stuck with the Exacto.
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All good answers so far but need a lot of them, simi production.
Dies? If it’s a standard shape like square/circle/octagon you could use a BigShot.
The dies aren’t cheap tho.
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Big shot?
This bad boy…
Unfortunately, the dies are not included and will run the price up.
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This just leaves me wanting my gf… 
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Me too. 
There’s actually a digital cutter that will easily handle thin cardboard, (we call it chipboard), but that would run you probably in the neighborhood of $400 or so…
probably more than you want to spend on inserts.
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You could get a template cut out of something hard like stencil material. It may make the cuts in the softer material a little easier.
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This just might be the interim solution.
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My cheap-o “multi tool” from Home Depot came with kind of a saw blade. It’s a half a circle blade. It doesn’t saw, mind you, but kind of shakes quickly. It’s like rubbing a small sawblade on something. Anyway, I’ve used it kind of like… an electric pizza cutter would be the best description. I’ve used it on 1/8" wood like that and managed to cut along my lines really well with it. Required only the slightest of sanding to finish it off.
- Tom
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No local Makerspaces?
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I had a custom die made by http://www.customshapepros.com/ which I use on my big shot pro. It wasn’t cheap (don’t remember exactly but I think it was about $150 for a 4.5"x6" die. It works great! It’s what they call a steel rule die, and I believe there are videos out there on how to make one yourself, but it would not be for the faint of heart. For a repetitive cut a die is a lot more efficient than a laser anyway. Just not as much fun!
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If you’re doing a lot of them it might be worth it. Good buddy of mine used to design them for resale.
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