1 Feb 2016

all my die cutting machines

I am a collector of die cutting machines, as I think lot of you are. I started out with a machine called the zipemate which didn't last , it was not well built at all.


I proceeded to the spellbinder wizard, which was the top of the range at the time. Never really got the hang of feeding the plates in to the machine and the ratchet. But I still have it somewhere I am sure. It was all metal and well built but not very user friendly.


 Next I was sent a cuttlebug from the USA and was very pleased with it, have never had any problems with it. Except finding the right sandwich to get a good cut
 
Then the craft robo came out and it fascinated me, no more buying dies, I could create any shape I wanted in any size. After a couple of years it got replaced by the silhouette SD which was even easier to use. Thanks to great software.




then one day I found a cricut create for a bargain price but never really liked it very much. It only had a 6" x 12" cutting area and needed cartridges which were very expensive.

 
My latest is the ebosser which is an electric machine which I will be keeping as well as  my cuttlebug.
So far it has cut very well, only real problem is its weight....... over 7kg to pick up.
All the others I will be selling so I can buy my ultimage machine that will replace all the electronic ones. The new brother ScanNcut900. 




How about you, which machine do you use ? which one is your favorite ?
Please share, I would love to know.

Hugs, Joanne



6 comments:

My Card Attic: Hazel said...

Hi Joanne, I too have a large collection (I don't know what to do with them). My first cutter was a Spellbinder Wizard - I, like you, couldn't get the hang of the wretched ratchet - I also still have that one. Then came my trusty Cuttlebug, which I still have and use to this day. Then I was seduced by the electronic, cutting machines and bought the first Craft Robo when it first came on the market. that was very restrictive in what it would cut, so I then moved on to a cutter that would cut more things (the name of which escapes me at present) but that was primarily designed for cutting vinyl stencils for cars and was difficult to understand in the card making arena, so I then bought a Black Cat Cougar machine that will cut through anything and everything and can even engrave, but unfortunately it is a hit or miss affair to where it cuts and I end up wasting more card than I cut!

Next I bought a Grand Calibur and although expensive at the time, it is not very sturdy, so I then went on to purchase a second hand Big Shot off ebay and loved it, but then something went wrong, so I bought another (then clever hubby mended the first one) so now I have two!

After that I was offered a good deal on a second hand Big Shot Pro and an Ebosser (well, I can never refuse a bargain, so I HAD to buy both!

Finally, my friend purchased a Brother Scan 'n Cut when it was first released here in the UK . . . bless her, she doesn't have a lot of patience, couldn't get to grips with it and said she was fed up with it and was going to sell it . . . well (you can guess the rest) . . . I still have ALL of these machines and now do not know what to do with all the ones I am not using.

My favourites are, Cuttlebug for portability, Big Shot for robustness and my Brother Scan 'n Cut, all of which are used still. All the others are just expensive ornaments!!

Have a lovely evening! Hazel xx
My Card Attic

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Hi Joanne,
Been Ng from Oz and things super dear I only have two, the Cuttlebug bought in 2010 and should be really dead by now as its so worn out but it keeps rolling on and use it the most.

I thought my 'bug was dying so bought a a Big Shot on sale and use it some and it is a good machine.

I would like an A4 machine and like the Xpress one, which you can get here, or even dearer the Borther Scan ncut.

But these are both pipe dreams ...nice to ponder but not necessary :)
Shaz in Oz.x

Anne said...

I started off with the Wizard but it never worked properly and the customer service from Spellbinders was non-existant. So it landed up in the bin! Then a friend bought me a Cuttlebug. It has it's limitations with some dies and its aperture size but it is a very good machine. The electronic machines are very tempting if one has the means and the need! So what does this brother do that is a must have above all others?

Anne said...

BTW if I was given a Big Shot I wouldn't say no....the reviews have always been good, CB and BS, each with their strengths and weaknesses have stayed the test of time. Has anyone tried the crossover from CheeryLynn? It looks a bit of a chunk.....

Lynda Murphy said...

Bonjour Joanne,
I love my Brother Scan N Cut. I have the blue one since it came out and use it all the time for cutting fabrics. Starch is your best friend for cutting fabric with NO Heath n Bond.
Lynda in QC

Shoshi said...

What an interesting post, Joanne, and what a journey you have been on with your machines! I originally planned on getting the Spellbinder Wizard too, but our local craft shop advised against this and sold me the Cuttlebug instead, which I am still using (old style one). Until recently, I hadn't done much die cutting with it but used it just for embossing. I have a limited collection of dies. I got a Cricut Expression after that, and it did fairly well until I wanted to do more complicated stuff, and I found it wasn't quite accurate enough, and then Provocraft changed their policy and we were no longer allowed to cut our own designs on the Cricut. This is when I bought my Black Cat Cougar cutting machine (now Silver Bullet) from Thyme Graphics - the Rolls Royce of cutting machines! However, with other things going on in my life in the past 2 or 3 years, I haven't got it set up again since we moved house. I will be interested to hear how you get on with the Brother machine.

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a nice comment. I am delighted to be back online courtesy of our kind neighbour! It will probably be the end of next week before we get our new hub. Thank you for your kind words about my blog background too - it was a total pain to do - never again lol!! - but I am pleased with the results - there is a lot of my own work photographed and montaged in it and I think it expresses my personality!

Shoshi