New Sil Blade Works!

I am so happy that the blade arrived and that it works! Turns out that I did NOT need a new housing - at least not for this blade. QKMary was right: not all blades are equal. Of course, this is the balde that I ordered, not the one promised to me by Brian from SilMac.

To try the blade,I cut out tags for a friend's daughter's MA bag and they were perfect (and crossing my fingers while biting my nails might have helped.) Well, at least until my small laminator ruined the best one by having a crease run right down the middle length-wise. Actually, it was more like a long, thin air bubble. Must have fed it wrong.

I cannot win.

Since I have had time to think, a new idea occurred to me: using my Copic Sketch Markers in the Sil instead of the pen. I tried one for size and with a bit of padding, it might just work....

I am ever the optimist!

Frank to the Rescue!!!

Today I was the most frustrated I have been in a long time! My Sil would not cut AT ALL. I tried several times on several pieces of paper y NADA. I felt really bad because I was trying to help Sandy's DD with her Destination Imagination project.

After awhile, Sandy & I noticed that we couldn't see the blade. I was sure I had the cap on wrong. I even wrote SilMac to see what could have happened. Then I saw the picture of a blade on the Sil site and the difference was immediately apparent: the good blade has an angle, mine has a sort of round, jagged end. OOPS!

I posted on SRWMB for Guru Frank's help. He knew exactly what I had done - when I changed the blade, I had lost a little white piece, which I thought was unimportant. I was so very wrong. It is a very necessary piece, a spacer.

Frank told me to contact Sil for a new housing piece. I will do that tomorrow. Until everything arrives (I had to order a new blade online), I can only draw with my Sil.

Bummer. Major Bummer.

Maybe David should change it next time.....

Sil Frustrations

Could someone please explain why certain shapes on the Sil cut like butter and others cut like my blade is a sharpened stone??? I cut two hearts, the scribble and the lace heart. Guess which one cut and removed easily? Wrong! It was the scribble. I had to remove the pieces of lace using my CutterBee's, not something I enjoy.

Did I mention that I cut them at the same time, they were sharing the paper?


IT JUST DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!

Oh, btw, even though you should be able to reduce designs down to 1/4 inch on the Sil, I am never sure which ones will actually work. I tried shrinking an elephant, a giraffe and the rhino down to just under an inch - and let's just say that there was a lot of tearing. I put in a black pen and they came out nicely, and I cut them by hand. Then, they didn't work for what I wanted. Bummer.

I still love my Sil, I am just a bit frustrated right now. But, if everything worked the way it is supposed to, I wouldn't be the Scrapklutz.