If you’re serious about crafting and want a device that can keep up with you, the Cricut Maker 3 is a more powerful option. It’s suitable for a much wider range of tools and materials than the Joy, with heads that can work with fabric, leather, wood, and even aluminum panels. It can also accommodate much wider material, with a 12-inch feed slot compared to the Joy’s 5.5-inch feed slot. The Maker 3 looks a bit like a wide-format printer, with a width of 22 inches and a more modest height of 5.5 inches and depth of 6.5 inches. The slightly rounded body of the cutter is mostly glossy white plastic with a silver metal lid. When you lift the lid, the front of the Maker 3 flips forward to reveal the feeder. On the left side of the lid is a small two-compartment accessory compartment that is accessible both when the lid is open and closed, and provides a useful storage area for pens or machine tips. Another tool compartment can be found by lifting the door built into the feed compartment. A shallow slot above the main compartment provides space for a phone or tablet. Under the lid, to the right of the main compartment, is a small control panel with Power, Pause, Start and Load/Unload buttons. Inside the main compartment is the craft head, which is mounted on a metal rod with a belt drive system. The head has two tool slots with clamping levers. The left slot can hold pens for drawing with the machine, while the right slot contains a gear system for driving mechanical tool heads. A second metal bar is located in front of the machine head bar and is equipped with gears that feed various materials into the Maker 3. On the back of the Maker 3 is the only significant design change from the previous Maker: a wide slot. The rear slot allows material that has already been cut or pulled to be ejected from the back of the machine. The last model could only handle materials up to 12 inches long or wide; the Maker 3 can handle Smart Materials up to 12 feet long per cut. Other materials still need to be placed on the Cricut mats so they can be fed into the Maker 3. So they can’t be any larger than the 12 x 24 inches of the larger mats. The Cricut Maker 3 includes only one fine point blade to start cutting with, but Cricut sells dozens of add-ons. Among the many pens available are metallic and fabric-compatible options. There are also various tools for cutting, embossing, engraving, scoring, and even transferring foil to materials.
