Silhouette Cameo 4 Fine Tip Foil Quill Adapter

Hi Everyone!

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It’s been a few weeks since my last post, but during that time I got a Cameo 4 and I’ve been playing around with it a little bit.

As you probably already know, the We R Memory Keepers Foil Quill is one of my favorite tools to use with my cutting machines. I see a lot of people having trouble using the Fine Tip Foil Quill in particular with the Cameo 4 and Portrait machines. I got my fine tip to work pretty well with my Portrait 3, and I tried it out with the same settings on my Cameo 4. Those settings didn’t work with my Cameo 4 and I actually broke the tip off my foil quill. Oops!!

I ended up buying a new Fine Tip foil quill and I finally figured out a better way to keep it from ripping my foil and breaking the tip. It’s so simple and, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner!

All you need is some cardstock. I’m using a 100lb cardstock, so it’s a little thicker. But you can use whatever you have on hand.

I created an 18mm (0.71in) circle in Silhouette Studio with a 12.5mm (0.49in) circle inside. So now I have basic ring. I duplicated it a few times, depending on the thickness of your cardstock, you may need more than one, you can stack them on top of each other.

I cut the rings with my Cameo machine using the Heavy Coverstock setting and the Autoblade.

I placed the ring on top of the D adapter. I know the Foil quill says the A adapter is for Silhouette machines, but that’s for the Cameo 3 and previous models. For the Portrait 3 and Cameo 4 you need the D adapter, which is really supposed to be for a Sissix machine.

Then I screw my Fine Tip foil quill into the adapter. The cardstock ring keeps it just slightly above the top edge of the adapter, and it also helps keep the tip from wiggling around in the adapter. I already tried not screwing the tip all the way into the adapter and it wobbles around to much when you are trying to draw with it.

If you are using a thinner cardstock, you might need to use 2 or 3 rings stacked on top of each other.

Next, I’m going to test it without being plugged in or with any foil. I’m checking to make sure the tip actually reaches the cardstock I’m going to be foiling. My foil quill is loaded into slot 1 on the carriage.

I have a scrap piece of cardstock on my mat and I’m going to test with the Coverstock, Heavy material setting, force of 5, speed of 2, action is sketch, tool is pen.

I run it though my machine without the quill plugged in and no foil. I can see that the tip leaves a slight indent in the cardstock. You want to make sure the tip isn’t digging in too deep, or it will rip your foil. This looks like a good depth, so next I’m going to test it with some foil.

I plug in my foil quill and cover my piece of cardstock with foil. I’m using the We R Memory Keepers brand of foil.

I run it through my machine with the same settings Heavy Coverstock, Force 5, speed 2.

It makes it through without tearing the foil.

It looks great after removing the foil!

Depending on the materials you use, your settings may be different from mine. If you want to try using the Fine Tip Foil Quill on thicker materials, you can try adding some more rings to help raise the tip higher up and away from the mat.

Tips for Using the WRMK Fine Tip Foil Quill with the Silhouette Portrait 3

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Hi Everyone!

This week I was fulfilling an Etsy order for my snowflake gift tags, I typically make these on my Cricut Maker, but I wanted to try making them on my Silhouette Portrait 3 to see how they turn out.

I make these gift tags using my snowflake single line SVGs, heavy 100lb cardstock, the fine tip WRMK Foil Quill, and WRMK foil in gold for the white cardstock and silver for the black cardstock.

For the Portrait 3 and Cameo 4, the adapter A for the Silhouette machines doesn’t work. So I use the adapter D that came with my foil quill set.

In the Send screen set my Portrait 3 to sketch, Coverstock, Heavy (105-122lb), Force 2, Speed 2.

Initially I started out using an off brand mat with my Portrait 3, they’re a little thicker and stiffer than the Standard Portrait 3 mat.

I load my mat and press Send from the Silhouette software.

Almost immediately my foil starts ripping!!!!

I switch to my Silhouette brand Standard grip mat, it’s thinner and floppier that my off brand mat. I also switch my material to Chipboard, Force 2, Speed 2.

Reload my mat and press Send. This time the foil didn’t rip and the results are beautiful!

So here are my top 6 tips for using the WRMK Fine Tip Foil Quill:

1. Use the D adapter that comes with the Foil Quill set

2. Use the Silhouette brand Standard grip mat

3. Place something like a book or a small box in front of your machine to help keep the mat level while it’s foiling. You want something that is roughly the same thickness as the front of the machine.

4. Select a material that is thicker than the material you are foiling. For example, I was using heavy cardstock (overstock) so I selected chipboard.

5. Select a lower force and speed. The default settings for Chipboard were Force 7, Speed 5. I got the best results with Force 2, Speed 2. Your settings will differ depending on the materials you’re using.

6. Don’t try to foil everything at once. I can typically get 8 gift tags out of one piece of cardstock, but I cut the cardstock down into smaller pieces and foil the smaller pieces instead of one giant piece at once. That way, if something happens while foiling, I’m not wasting an entire piece of cardstock and a big piece of foil.