How to Use Your Die Cutting Machine: 3 Mistakes to Avoid for Cleaner Cuts

After helping hundreds of paper crafters with their die cutting setups, I’ve noticed something…Most frustrations aren’t about the machine. 

Watch our quick satire about the evolution of die cutting. 

They’re about a few small (and very fixable) mistakes.

Here are the 3 most common ones I see:

1. Using the wrong plate “sandwich.”
Not all dies require the same configuration. A slightly off sandwich can cause poor cuts, warped plates, or even cracked platforms. Always check your machine’s guide — and don’t assume all brands stack the same way.  Occasionally, you may need to add a shim (copier paper or slightly heavier paper).  Additionally, once you figure out the specifics for your machine based on the brand of wafer dies, write it down.  

• Pro-tip: Write down the sandwich layers on my platform base with a permanent marker.  You can then coat with a thin application of clear nail polish, this should help to keep the marker from rubbing off the ink while using.

2. Not rotating plates regularly. If you always run your plates through in the same direction, they’ll bow quickly. A simple habit of rotating and flipping them extends their life dramatically (and saves money).  

• Pro-tip: try to I don't rotate, the bottom plate stays on the bottom and the top plate for the top.  This will keep most of the cutting lines to the bottom plate.  Sometimes the pressure of the sandwich creates deep lines and grooves on the backside of the cardsock, but if you alternate, those lines can end up on the front of your cut out paper creating a rough appearance.  The best bet, rotate the bottom, turning it upside down and same with the top, but keeping them as the designated bottom plate and designated top plate.  Typically when I do this, and it is time to change the bottom, I use the old top and replace for the bottom, and replace the top plate with one plate from the new pack. (A little extra life and saving.)

3. Buying dies without a storage system.
This is the big one. When dies don’t have a home, they get duplicated, misplaced, or forgotten. A simple magnet board, labeled envelope, or categorized storage box makes using your collection so much easier.

.                         We love the Tonic Studio Crafter's Die Stand.

Die cutting should feel smooth and satisfying — not like a wrestling match.  See BONUS pro-tip at the end.  If you have a Spellbinders Platinum Machine, the My Turn Handle also makes die cutting easier.

Let us know — which of these have you been guilty of? 😉 Or that you knew?

Don't forget to pick up some low-tack tape, because keeping the die in place with low-tack tape is one of the BEST tips ever, and we snuck this tip in. 

BONUS Pro-tip:  When you are cutting with a wafer die that has straight lines, such as a  rectangle panel, make this one adjustment.  Add the die to the paper on the platform, at a slight angle.  Continue to build your sandwich and roll through the machine.  The angle will allow the platform to pass through the rollers more smoothly.  When the straight lines are perpendicular, it is harder to move the handle and almost like hitting speed bumps. 

Have a Spellbinders Machine or interested in it?  Click here for machine details.  Looking for the newest wafer dies, explore new arrivals here.