Jadyte's Inn of the Smiling Sun

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Wafer thin dies or Sizzix dies

You can use Sizzix dies (and most other brands) with the Cuttlebug.

Use the following sandwich recipe: A + C + paper + any wafer thin die, cutting side down + B.

B plates are included in the box, you'd need to buy C plates separately.

Cuttlebug V2 or BigShot?

I've am a big fan of the BigShot for a couple of years. However, I've been looking for an option that is smaller and lighter. More portable!

The Cuttlebug V2 is almost half the price of the BigShot. The platform area is about 2/3 the size, too.
However, the sides of the Cuttlebug fold up, and the handle folds INTO itself when not in use.

This means the footprint of the Cuttlebug is about 5 inches by 10 inches. Really small compared to the BigShot!

Everything the BigShot can do, the Cuttlebug can do. UNLESS you want to use extra large dies.

Sandwich recipes for the Cuttlebug is dead easy, and its really very hard to mess it up.

The B plates for the Cuttlebug are the thickness as the BigShot plates. Good news here, as I have STACKS of BigShot plates in assorted sizes.

BigShot at home, Cuttlebug for travel.

Cuttlebug V2

Cuttlebug V2

The Cuttlebug is a really good investment. Just a little bit of patience and experimenting needed.

The B and C plates will be marked by the dies you use each time its run through the machine. These plates (B and C) are easily replaced and its good to have a couple as back-ups.

The sandwiches are as follows:

Thin metal dies (or wafer thin dies) - A + C + paper + die with cutting edge facing paper + B
Embossing folder - A + B + embossing folder with paper in it + B

If you use the sandwiches described above as a guide, and don't try to squeeze a thicker sandwich than that, you will be fine!

Plates B and C are meant to be "consumed" and I've been using my plates for almost 6 months without changing. But now I'm churning out holiday cards, so will probably replace them at the end of the year.

Last thing, when you run the sandwich through the cuttlebug, you will hear loud cracks from the machine. As long as you are following the sandwich recipes above, don't worry! The loud cracks are normal. This is just the sound of the die cutting through the paper and onto the C or B plates.

Die cutting machines exert an incredible amount of force on the die to cut through materials (like paper or cardstock) so cleanly, and this force has to go somewhere. That's what the B and C plates are for.

Hope this was useful.