If you're debating getting the Silhouette CAMEO 5 Electrostatic mat and looking for an honest review and first impressions - it's all here.
I've got the good, bad, and ugly for you when it comes to the new Silhouette Electrostatic mat including a video of it in action so read on.
What is the Silhouette CAMEO 5 ElectroStatic Mat?
The Silhouette CAMEO 5 Electrostatic Mat is a $99 add on accessory, available in the same colors as the four CAMEO 5 machines. It's for cutting thin papers and materials that would easily curl or tear when cutting on a sticky cutting mat.
As the name suggests, the ES mat uses an electrostatic charge rather than adhesive to hold the material in place during cutting. But...how well does it really work and is it worth almost a third of the price of the machine?
First Impressions of CAMEO 5 ES Mat
I bought my Electrostatic mat directly from Silhouette America in October 2023 and it was sitting in my office for awhile before I finally opened it up and tested it out.
First impressions when I opened the box: not good.
Along with the ES base comes a thick piece of vinyl, almost like a shower curtain liner, that acts as a protective sheet. It needs to lay flat on the base with no bubbles or wrinkles to get the best electrostatic charge and grip on the material that's laid on top of it.
You can see how the cover sheet that came with my ES mat came out of the box...not exactly flat or wrinkle free. I asked several other ES base users if they experienced this same thing or maybe mine was just a fluke. Unfortunately, not a one time issue here.
But it's not all bad news.
Some of the wrinkles and curls did come out of the cover with the help of the static charge, but there was one side that was so badly bent it would either curl up or bend down regardless of which way it was positioned on the Electrostatic Base.
So just know...it's a good idea to open and set up the Electrostatic mat before you want to actually use it to give it time to flatten out. With that said...I think better packaging is needed and that would go a long way in a better first impression.
Silhouette CAMEO 5 Electrostatic Mat Set Up Instructions
The ES base also comes with very limited instructions. The box includes a double-sided instruction sheet, but when you remove all of the foreign languages it's one single sentence about placed the protective sheet on the mat and four short steps on how to (eventually) replace the roller guard tape with the spare pieces from the box.
The "Setup" QR code on the box leads to the information on registering and setting up the CAMEO 5 so not much help there...
After a lot of hunting around I did find an online PDF manual with how to connect the ES mat to the machine and how to load it correctly.
CAMEO 5 ElectroStatic Mat: Ease of Use
The ES base is powered by the machine when it's connected to the CAMEO 5 and both are powered on. The clear cover sheet is placed down first, bubble free-ish, and then your sheet of material on top of that.
I will say I'm impressed with how well the ES mat held 20lb copy paper in place and with very little time to build up the charge.
Speaking of not moving...the rollers did not seem to want to pull the ES mat in. I tried several failed attempts until I finally thought to move the right pinch roller just a smidge and that did the trick.
There's almost no room for error with the placement of the right roller if you want it to pull the ES mat in successfully. The right pinch roller HAS to be aligned and positioned EXACTLY with the margin of the ES mat otherwise it will not pull the mat in at all.
Does the CAMEO 5 Electrostatic Mat Work?
Now for the cutting...this is thankfully the most important and impressive part. The materials stayed in place even at high speed, with sharp edges, and intricate details.
A thin material like copy paper would most certainly curl and possibly even tear if cut on an adhesive cutting mat. But there was no curling with the ES mat even on this thing material.
But what about a thicker material like 80lb cardstock? I was skeptical, but surprised to find that the ES mat did a great job holding thick cardstock in place during cutting.
Even very intricate and detailed designs like this bicycle that's just 3" x 5" cut pretty well. You can see some of the spokes did break, but we're talking paper that's just millimeters thick that would never survive an adhesive mat.
Overall First Impressions and ElectroStatic Mat Review
Once I got over the initial shock of the cover sheet quality and bad first impression I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the ElectroStatic Mat.
If you are a paper, card, or sticker cutter this is a great way to avoid loading mats constantly and avoid curing and tearing papers.
So I give the ES Mat a thumbs up and would say the CAMEO 5 ElectroStatic base does a good job of holding up to its claims that "Whereas a traditional adhesive cutting mat might cause some materials to tear or curl as they are being removed, electrostatic adsorption can enable thinner, more delicate materials to be cut without damaging the material upon completion."
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