I just got my Cricut Expression out of mothballs- I don't think I've used it since we moved in November, 2016. It ONLY works with my computer because I have a software hack that makes it do so, and I've been careful not to upgrade the firmware past 2.34.

The computer I originally set up to use with this has long since died, so I had to start over creating the hack on my current computer. It took about 2 hours, in part because I was nervous about the Expression's firmware accidentally getting upgraded to the level that would no longer work with my software.

It works, though I've hardly done anything with it yet. Basically, it uses Sure-Cuts-A-Lot 2, with a hack that keeps the Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL) software from updating itself (and turning it into a version that won't drive the Cricut). This only works with the original Cricut and with the first Expression, as long as the firmware isn't updated past 2.34 (The Cricut tells you that when you first turn that on.)

A number of folks online said they couldn't get drivers for Windows 10, but I managed to find some that worked.

Also, the Sure-Cuts-A-Lot software is almost as big a pain to use as the original Cricut Design Studio. But I can create a graphic in Corel Draw and import it into the SCAL program. Does that sound complicated? It is. But it turns my Cricut into a usable device (for me) instead of a doorstop.

That said, I also found some cute cartridges cheap on closeout a few years back and would like to use them on one of Shelia's projects. So I guess I need to find my original Design Studio software and get it running. We'll see.

Turns out that I can't use Design Studio because Cricut won't support it or ANY software driving my Expression. So I'm back to either using the cartridges and wasting a lot of material in the process, or using my hacked copy of Sure Cuts-a-Lot. I have a legal copy, too, but it doesn't work on Cricuts. The Cricut support people told me they'd send me a discount coupon for a new Cricut if I sent them the serial number to the old one. Then they said I had to send a photograph of the serial number and the number of my "request number." Then they said I had to send them a photograph of the serial number and of the "request number" written on a separate piece of paper in the same photograph. Still haven't heard from them.

To me it is unconscionable to create an expensive hardware product that only works with YOUR software, then discontinue the software when there are tens of thousands of the machines out there in working condition.

I don't care if Cricut's new machines work with other people's software or files - I will never buy another product from these people. I will, however, use this one until there's nothing left of it.

That said, if any of you have a Cricut Expression (1) with firmware version 2.34 or below or an older Cricut that you can't get to work with your PC, contact me offline and I may be able to help you get it going.


Flame off. . . . . .

I don’t fully understand all the tech talk...but I do understand the frustration...by the way...”FLAME ON!”...
Howard...

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In the interest of getting the thing off the dining room table, I cleared off a card table in the basement and moved the Cricut down there. Then I started trying to find an old PC that would drive it. (I was in "the industry" for 40 years so I've accumulated a lot of PCs.)
The old PC I used to use for the thing is toast. So I tried an old laptop that I THOUGHT I had once used with the Cricut.

Turns out that the old laptop that has a working version of Design Studio on it - Good.
But the software doesn't recognize my favorite cartridges - Bad
The version of Sure Cuts-a-Lot on that device (one I actually bought and paid for) no longer works - Bad
I ordered a "new in the box" copy of "Sure Cuts-a-Lot" 2.0 that should work with the thing.

Basically, I have about six projects I want to use if for:

Creating the headers for the "blackboard" timetable for my 1:1: railroad station mockup.
Lettering multiple garden railroad cars for my personal railroad.
Lettering one of my G-scale locomotives' tenders for Polar Express.
Multiple craft projects that Shelia would like to try.

For those who haven't been in the loop the 1:1 railroad station mockup is a project I'm working on in one end of our detached garage that the previous owner left looking like a bomb went off. I want to have a place to take photos of projects I'm working on, maybe videos of banjo lessons, and other entirely miscellaneous things.

Here is a "mockup" I made of what I envisioned last spring.



Here's the project so far (still missing the schedule board and the ticket booth)



Details of how much work it took and how I painted the windowframes start with this article: https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/ ... part_1.htm

To be fair, I did get a bunch of snowflakes cut out for one of Shelia's crafts. The big ones are from the December 25 cartridge, which, unfortunately, is not supported by my Cricut Design Studio software, so I just have to dial in a size, punch a snowflake button and hope it works. The little ones are from an svg file I downloaded from the Internet, tweaked in Corel Draw, and cut with Sure cuts-a-Lot 2.

Paul...

At your new station...are you going to be able to send and receive Western Union Telegrams?...will a uniformed delivery boy on a bicycle deliver them?...

Howard...

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Hadn't thought of a telegraph office. Probably won't have room. Now a tickertape machine streaming horse race information, a la The Sting . . . . .

Okay, I admit it. I'm addicted to making old tools and toys work for me. Which may be why I have a workshop full of trains and musical instruments that need repair. Also, kidding the old Cricut Expression along isn't necessarily a bad idea. If it goes bad there are literally dozens of other ones available on the used market at any given time. The SOFTWARE is the problem, not the hardware.

After determining that my December 25 cartridge ISN'T supported by Design Studio, I spent time making a list of the cartridges that are, in case I come across any more. Turns out that the cartridges I bought cheap at a WalMart closeout several years ago all are - Plantin Schoolbook, Designer's Calendar, Destinations, Stretch Your Imagination, and Storybook.

Though I have a wealth of "Old Western" fonts I could use for the railroad name on my timetable, I'm thinking of trying Storybook. Cricut's designers probably planned it to be a sort of "Once Upon a Time" font that would be surrounded by unicorns or such. But it's actually pretty close to a lot of the ornate wooden typefaces of the late 1800s.

I have bought enough white vinyl to print it out, and I have 1/4" white pinstriping tape coming in the mail. I've also painted the board that will be my timetable with Krylon Blackboard paint. So, we'll see. Here's the Storybook typeface if you are interested.

Here's the Cricut Design Studio screen with my title line for "New Boston and Donnels Creek" ready to cut.

Here's a digital mockup of the timetable. I have painted a 48"x46" board with black chalkboard paint. The top three lines will be done with a craftcutter, and the rest will be done with chalk.

Whatcha think?