Free coal miner SVG files

Sizes and what to cut them from

Black vinyl suits these better than any other subject, and most of them are bold enough to cut small. The pickaxe, the helmet, the dinner pail and the heart have nothing under 2 mm at 100 mm and work from about 50 mm on a hard hat, a lunch box or a truck window. The points of the pickaxe are sharp, so press them down well on iron-on.

The miner with a pick has a handle about 4 mm wide at 100 mm and cut lines a little under 2 mm for the zip and the leg bands: keep it to 90 mm or more. The safety lamp and the cart loaded with coal have small rivets, mesh and sleepers, and are better at 120 mm or in wood and acrylic.

For memorials and family history

Many people look for these to remember a father or grandfather who worked underground. The helmet with a cap lamp, the safety lamp and the drift mine entrance were drawn with that in mind: each leaves room beneath for a name and dates, which you set yourself. The monogram ring is open in the middle, and the tub of the cart is plain apart from a row of rivets and one line.

How to open the files

• Cricut Design Space: choose Upload, pick the SVG, and add it to the canvas. Set the width you want; the shape is already welded.
• Silhouette Studio: Designer Edition and above open the SVG. The free Basic Edition does not, so open the DXF instead.
• LightBurn, xTool Creative Space and Glowforge: import the SVG, then set the layer to cut, score or engrave.
• Inkscape, Illustrator and Affinity: open the SVG. It is a plain filled path, so you can recolour it, add a stroke or combine it with your own work.
• Printing or sublimation: use the PNG, which has a transparent background.

Each design page lists the file’s narrowest part at seven sizes, so you can tell whether it will survive at the size you plan to cut.

Questions