✨ Your Cricut BFF Guide to QuickSwap Tools: What They Are and How to Use Them

Emma
Oct 31
3 min read

Hey crafty friend! 👋 If you’ve ever looked at all those shiny Cricut Maker tools and wondered, “Wait… what’s the deal with these QuickSwap things?” - this post is for you!

Let’s break it down together - no jargon, no confusion, just your Cricut-obsessed bestie giving you the inside scoop. 💖

🛠️ What Are Cricut QuickSwap Tools?

QuickSwap tools are a special family of tools made just for the Cricut Maker. They’re designed with interchangeable tips that all fit into one QuickSwap housing, which means you can easily swap between tools without buying a full new blade setup every time.

Think of it as one magical handle that can do all the things! ✨

⚙️ How the QuickSwap System Works

Each QuickSwap tool comes in two parts:

The Housing - this is the silver “body” of the tool that clicks into your Maker’s tool holder.
The Tip - this is the business end that actually does the cutting, engraving, scoring, or debossing.

The clever part? You can change the tips in seconds - no tools or fuss required!

Just press the small silver button on top of the housing, and the tip will pop right off. To attach a new one, line it up, press the button again, and click the new tip into place.

Boom. You’re ready to go. 🙌

💡 Important: The QuickSwap Housing Is Not Included

When you buy your Cricut Maker, it comes with a fine-point blade and a sometimes a rotary blade, but neither of these are QuickSwap tools.

So, when you buy your first QuickSwap tool, make sure you get one that includes the housing. After that, you can save money by just purchasing the tips on their own, since they’ll all fit into that same housing.

Your future self (and your craft budget!) will thank you.

✨ The Full Line-Up of Cricut QuickSwap Tools

Right now, Cricut offers six QuickSwap tips - and each one unlocks a new type of creative project.

Let’s meet them:

1. Single Scoring Wheel (01)

Creates crisp, clean fold lines in cardstock and paper. Perfect for cards, envelopes, and boxes.

2. Double Scoring Wheel (02)

Designed for thicker materials like poster board and chipboard - it scores twice for smoother folds. This is my personal favourite for Scoring.

3. Perforation Blade (11)

Cuts a line of tiny perforations so you can easily tear or fold your material. Think: coupons, raffle tickets, or surprise-reveal cards!

4. Wavy Blade (31)

Adds a fun, decorative edge to fabric, paper, vinyl, or iron-on. Perfect for labels, gift tags, and playful projects. Great for giving a non-fray edge to fabric cuts.

5. Debossing Tip (21)

Presses detailed designs into your material for a raised, professional finish. Ideal for handmade cards, leather tags, and luxe stationery.

6. Engraving Tip (41)

Etches directly onto metal, acrylic, and leather. You can make personalised jewelry, keychains, nameplates - basically, all the fancy things.

Advent calendar made with a cricut machine and perforation tool

🧠 How Your Cricut Maker Knows Which Tool You’re Using

Each QuickSwap tip has a smooth section - that’s where the registration marks are. Your Cricut Maker reads these marks to confirm you’ve loaded the correct tool for your chosen operation.

So if you accidentally pop in the wrong one, don’t worry - your machine will politely tell you before you start. (It’s basically your craft BFF keeping you on track 😉).

🎨 Which QuickSwap Tools Should You Get First?

That totally depends on your crafting style:

✂️ Paper crafters: Go for the scoring wheels or perforation blade - they’ll make your cards, folds, and tear-off projects a dream.
💍 DIY gift lovers: The engraving tip adds that personal, professional touch.
💌 Luxury stationery fans: The debossing tip is perfect for adding that high-end, embossed detail.
🎁 Sewers: The wavy blade is a fun, easy way to add flair to just about anything!

And as Cricut releases new tools, they’ll likely join the QuickSwap family - meaning you can just keep adding new tips to your collection without needing extra housings.