Triumph and Disaster!

[KayK]

As I am now a trainee darksider, with a fear of rotary cutters, I have splashed out on a Gemini die cutter.  It has arrived, been unpacked and works like a dream.  I am seriously impressed with it,  but of course, DH, who can take the shine off anything new with constant 'how much?' and what do you want that for' ......supportive he is not!  I have purchased some fabric for next project and will be cutting away very shortly! - that was my triumph! 

However the disaster came in the shape of a walking foot to fit the Brother V5, which didn't, and then found out I needed to buy an adapter to make it fit! ( I told the supplier which model I had).  The upshot of this is that the very dire quality foot is going back, and an adapter is not being purchased, the price for the both being over £50!  I shall stick to the heavy and clunky one that belongs to the Juki and not purchase stuff on a whim again!!

Right off to play with new toy!

[rubywishes]

We all buy stuff on whim don't we LOL! I kitted myself out with a ruler foot and rulers which was a substantial (in my eyes) purchase and have since lost all interest in them without really giving them a fair go. Luckily for me, Mr.Ruby has numerous motorcycle related whim-purchases that far outnumber mine by quantity and financial outlay so it balances out!

[Ploshkin]

My DH bought a 'must have' 20 year old Mercedes 3 months ago.  It has been used 4 times to collect an Indian takeaway.  He decided yesterday that he didn't really need it and is selling it.  (I could have saved him the bother 3 months ago but my opinion would not have been well received  ).

[jintie]

I bought a Babylock Sashiko machine (£1500) on a whim about three years ago. Still slapping mesel.

[KayK]

EEK!  Your Sashiko machine knocks my walking foot into a cocked hat!!

[KayK]

I have splashed out on a Gemini die cutter.  It has arrived, been unpacked and works like a dream.  I am seriously impressed with it,   

Oh no I'm not!  Today it decided it wasnt going to play, and will no longer take the cutting plates though, it just makes a lot of noise.  I have contacted the bods I registered with and am furious!   

[Flobear]

My DH bought a 'must have' 20 year old Mercedes 3 months ago.  It has been used 4 times to collect an Indian takeaway.  He decided yesterday that he didn't really need it and is selling it.  (I could have saved him the bother 3 months ago but my opinion would not have been well received  ).

Blimey, Plosh, if only I'd known. I have a 20 year old Fiesta he could have had for nothing! Plenty to keep him busy,  it needs welding and stuff to keep it on the road 

[KayK]

The wretched thing is going back - These are the plates that are one day old and you can see how they have bowed and marked in this short time - They were turned over and round after each cut - I probably only did about 10 cuts before it gave up the ghost.  I cannot say just how disappointed I am in it. 

They have a facebook page and I asked for help, no denigrations, just asked what to do when the 'sandwich' wont feed through the rollers - my post got taken down!

I think that says enough!

[Iminei]

So sorry KK dont let them give you s***  about a full refund!

[BrendaP]

Die cutting plates do mark after every cut, that's what they are made for and why you use acrylic plates and don't cut directly against the base.

There are two schools of thought about cutting against one side only or both sides.  If you only cut against one side the plate will curve and if it gets too bent before you turn it round it's more liable to crack than if you use both sides from the start, but on hte othr hand you might want to keep one surface pristine for occasions when you want to use embossing folders to add texture to paper.

[Kenora]

I have the Sizzix Big Shot machine - but the electric version, so no hand cranking. It's on special from Amazon at the moment. Sizzix Big Shot Electric

I've had it for several years and have never had a problem with it - it saves me hours of cutting time. I don't have many dies for it but the best ones are the 2.5" x 25" which cut all my quilt binding for me. The acrylic plates are very sturdy, and hardly bend. My DH tried buying cheaper acrylic and making our own plates, as they're rather expensive, especially the longer ones, but it didn't work - the acrylic cracked after 3 or 4 uses. The original Sizzix plates are much tougher quality. As @BrendaP says, they do mark after each use but I'm still using the original plates - you can hardly see through them but they're not cracked and still work well.

Edited to add: The opening may be smaller than your Gemini - it is only 6" - but it works well for any quilting shapes I need to cut.

[KayK]

They have a facebook page and I asked for help, no denigrations, just asked what to do when the 'sandwich' wont feed through the rollers - my post got taken down!

I think that says enough!

I have just gone for a further nose though their facebook page again, and see that an awful lot of other people have had similar problems - it seems that many people answer, and once again - 'Admin have turned off comments for this post'.  It would seem that this is a generic problem - many people have noisy machines, cracking plates and stuck plates.  It also seems that the older machines were supplied with different plates and dont seem to have much of a problem - the "new and improved' machine has different plates. 

I dont know about you, but to me 'New and improved' means more profit for the company and a cheaper product!

[Iminei]

@KayK  ... you bought this new from a retailer (I hope) didnt you ???

Send back/get full refund incl. postage both ways and put it down to experience.
Either go for a better/ more reputable model or ... dare I say it ... learn to use your rotary cutter  (hides behind the sofa)

[KayK]

@Iminei - Ah yes!  it came from Amazon and has now gone back, the whole lot - Amazon dont charge for returns, and I took it to the 'drop off' place on Sunday!  I have also left an 'interesting' review on Amazon as well.  I have purchased some templates for cutting, and I haven't done too bad a job of cutting the rest of the shapes that I need for one strip of 12" blocks needed to complete one length of a quilt.  I think i'll stick to the cheap and cheerful rotary cutter & use my left hand.

I think part of the problem is, is the actual finding of a reputable model - reading the reviews doesn't always help, as there are a lot of fake reviews out there, but my discovery of the FB page and the turning off the commenting spoke volumes!

[rubywishes]

@Iminei -  - reading the reviews doesn't always help, as there are a lot of fake reviews out there, but my discovery of the FB page and the turning off the commenting spoke volumes!

@KayK sorry you've had such lousy customer service and resolution from their fb page. As Im said, stand your ground and don't let them get away with it; get your full refund including postage. I hate using templates and accuracy has never been one of my outstanding qualities..hence I mainly do FPP these days.