Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Nestabilities and Cuttlebug

Over the next several weeks, many of you will be receiving Spellbinder Nestability dies. For those of you who will be using the dies in your Cuttlebug, I’d like to share with you my experiences…………

I’ve used cuttlebug and sizzix dies in my bug with no problems, and did not think I would have any issues with the spellbinder dies, but anytime you use one manufacturer product in another, care must be taken.

To use nestabilites to cut in the bug, you will notice that the standard “B” plate sandwich is insufficient – too thin.

Your next attempt will be to replace one of the “B” plates in the sandwich with the thicker “C” plate – giving you a “B/C” plate sandwich – IN MY OPINION, YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS!!

When I used this sandwich here were my results:

1) I broke 3 “B” plates over the course of my testing. Now you’d think I’d learn after the second one broke, but no, I had to keep on trying. The plates did not break every time, but when you have to exert pressure to crank the sandwich through it is not a good sign. You don’t need a lot of pressure to make the cut.
2) Using the “B/C” plate sandwich the dies often embedded themselves into the plate. I mean really, really embedded. To the point where I was using a screwdriver, butter knife and finally an xacto knife to pry the die off of the plate. More often than not, the resulting die cut was ruined and I had to start over again.

My conclusion: the “B/C” plate sandwich is just a bit too thick.

My solution: Start with your original “B” plate sandwich and add one or two pieces of chipboard, the thickness of your chipboard will determine how many pieces you need. I used two pieces that I cut the same size as the “B” plate and consider it just another plate to use. The chipboard increases the thickness of the sandwich, - thicker than the “B” plate sandwich, but thinner than the “B/C” sandwich. Also, because chipboard is softer than the plates, it has a little “give” to it. My dies cut cleanly and did not stick to the plate.

This is just my experience with these products. You may want to try different options – let me know if you do and how it worked out. I love the bug and the nestability dies – they are both great products in my humble opinion. I would recommend both to any crafter.

9 comments:

Susie said...

Nancy - Thank you SO MUCH for this very helpful information. I plan to use my nesties with my bug.

Becky said...

Thanks also for the warning! I haven't broken any B plates yet, but I haven't had the chance to play with my die cuts that much! Appreciate your sharing!

Linda said...

Thanks for alerting us. Can't wait to get the nesties to use on my bug. I read somewhere that you can use the rubber gasket sheet.

Unknown said...

Hi Nancy - I too am waiting on my Nestability dies. Have you ever checked out Ellen Hutson's blog at ellenhutson.typepad.com? She is an expert when it comes to Spellbinders and the Cuttlebug. If you have the Spellbinders Wizard Charm Embossing Kit you can run brass stencils through your 'bug as well as the Nestability dies.

Here's the "sandwiches":
Cutting Sandwich - (Stack from bottom up)
1. A plate
2. C plate
3. Spellbinders die face up (rough side up)
4. Paper or cardstock
5. B plate
Run through Cuttlebug machine.

Embossing Spellbinders Dies in the Cuttlebug- (Stack from bottom up)
1. A plate
2. B plate
3. Die face up (with die cut still in die)
4. 3 pieces of cardstock
5. 1 Spellbinders tan polymer mat
6. 2nd B plate
Run through Cuttlebug machine

NancyK said...

Note to Jennifer: Hi Jennifer - the cutting sandwich you list is the one I started with (ie the "B/C" sandwich) - this is the one I had problems with - so I would not recommend.

Anonymous said...

Is the problem with breaking plate B just when cutting? Also, if I go by the list that Ellen Hutson has, do I substitute the B plate and chipboard in her #2 (plate C) part of the stack? (I don't have a blog so I just went anonymous)

NancyK said...

Dear Anonymous: I've found the breaking "B" plate only when cutting. I started with the "B/C" plate sandwich that Ellen H outlined - this is where I had all the problems. What I did was to go back to the original "B" plate sandwich (your die and paper sandwiched between two "B" plate - just as you would use a cuttlebug die), then add to that - a piece or two of chipboard - I put the chipboard on top of the "A" plate. If you have any other questions, e-mail me at nkirk@aol.com

Linda said...

Hi there,

Thanks for your testing on your blog, I found it very interesting and helpful. I have been using my bug to cut with the nesties using "A", then "C", die, cardstock then "B", without any problems. The only annoying thing is my B plate is so marked from cutting that it leaves marks on my diecut. I've been embossing with "A", "B", die, cardstock, chipboard, tan embossing mat and away we go. The only issue I've had with this is keeping the sandwich square - I guess it takes some practice to stop the die moving around. The magnetic mat helps a bit but I'm still not getting the embossed frame as square as I'd like it.

Unknown said...

Hi everyone,

I was so excited to get my first new Label 1 die set from Spellbinders, but was disappointed to find out that it didn't cut well with my bug. I cut it with the A, B and C plates, all plates were fine after the cutting, but the dies (the two largest sizes) have never come out clean. The bug would only cut the sides well, but the two ends were never cut through. I tried adding two additional pieces of card stock, but one end still not cut through. I used Quickutz, Bosskutz, Sizzix dies as well, but never have a problem like this. Any comments or suggestions? Thank you.

Eva