Whats the best cutting machine..

[sarahjellybean]

Sorry to butt into the conversation but if I wanted a cutting machine to do little treat boxes with a window for school fundraisers am I right in thinking the bigshot is best for those kind of things?

BUT I would also like to cut titles for scrapbook pages in a joined together font, so I am thinking big shot is no good for that.. SO is there anything that would do boxes and titles?

[krafty1]

Dawn i did have a craft robo and cricut but sold them about 5 yrs ago...i could'nt get my head around the robo but the cricut was easy... i'm going to have to have a good think about this.....

I had a cricut too and also found it very easy to use that's why I moved onto the Sizzix eclips as it's very similar, there's virtually no learning curve involved at all and the cuts are amazing.

If you used SCAL and/ or MTC when you had your cricut then the software to go with the eclips is again very similar so you would have no trouble picking it up. You can also use cartridges with the eclips if you prefer.

[DJG]

Sorry to butt into the conversation but if I wanted a cutting machine to do little treat boxes with a window for school fundraisers am I right in thinking the bigshot is best for those kind of things?

BUT I would also like to cut titles for scrapbook pages in a joined together font, so I am thinking big shot is no good for that.. SO is there anything that would do boxes and titles?

You can cut almost any design or font with a Craft Robo, Portrait or Cameo machine depending on the size of the file/design, the Robo and Portrait uses A4 card although it doesn't cut right to the edge of the card because of the rollers, the Cameo uses 12" wide card

[Viv1]

I love my cuttlebug but felt I wanted to get something to cut larger plates. I was shown an ebosser and wondered if anyone knows anything about this machine.

[sharen mk11]

another vote for the cuttlebug, and have a silhouette as well for bigger cutting. love both

[Cgray88]

I have a Cricut Expression. I like it but I think I would like a Cameo much better.

[soojay]

I LOVE the look of the Ebosser as i have loads of different dies already - they even cut the thick sizzix dies and its A4 so will fit all the larger dies too - I will be saving up for this one as my Big shot is in constant use but is a little small.

[craftygirl34]

Hi I have a cricut expressions and big shot, I love them both tbh. The only down side of the big shot I have is that it won't cut the big dies xx

[Agrims]

I have a cuttlebug & cricut with scal...soon will be looking to upgrade to cameo.

[scrappyoz]

To the OP, you need to ask yourself whether you want to purely die cut or do you want to emboss too?

If you want to emboss you'll need a manual machine like the cuttlebug, bigshot, ebosser or Fiskars fuse. You can also diecut too using these machines and you'll find the cost of dies will certainly add to the overall cost of this system. If you're a scrapbooker and want to cut and/or emboss anywhere on your page, then the 12"/30.5cm tools like Fuse or Bigshot Pro have an advantage over the 6" width limits of the CB and BS.

If you only want to diecut, then one of the electronic machines would probably be a better investment as you can cut whatever you want, however you want with most of these machines now. Personally, I've got my eye on a Cameo.

[JaneH]

Sorry to butt into the conversation but if I wanted a cutting machine to do little treat boxes with a window for school fundraisers am I right in thinking the bigshot is best for those kind of things?

BUT I would also like to cut titles for scrapbook pages in a joined together font, so I am thinking big shot is no good for that.. SO is there anything that would do boxes and titles?

No problem about butting in ... we all do it. As for cutting machine for the things you say, the Big Shot will do everything you mentioned. There are lots of dies to make little boxes and also to do letters. Tim Holtz/Sizzix has some, as do Memory Box. I use these all the time.

As for which non-electric machine, the Big Shot is the only one that can use ALL the dies, thick like the Tim Holtz ones and thin, like the others (Memory Box, Spellbinders, etc.). I know some people have managed the thicker ones in a Cuttlebug but generally it's not recommended. The Grand Calibur is great for the larger but thin dies but honestly I have so little use for these that for me the Grand Calibur was a silly purchase. (I tend to have lots of silly purchases, however )

I personally think the electric ones (Silhouette, Robo, Cricut, etc.) are just too much trouble and some require being connected to a computer, but if you intend to do lots and lots of die-cutting and you have the space, then it may be worth it for you.

[scm2]

I have a craft robo and love it because of the freedom from cartridges but you need a computer.

I also have a Cricut mini which also uses PC as well as cartridges but can't use it as i work with a netbook laptop and its not compatible

[catseyes]

i love my silhoutte cameo does everything it says on the tin))
i do not regret selling my cricut expression one bit,cartridges were getting so expensive to buy.

susannah.cuckow

[anniehall]

I'm definitely in the Silhouette Cameo camp. Brilliant machine. I had a Craft Robo and then a Pazzles - both incredibly complicated. Then a Cricut and Imagine, but expensive to run with having to buy carts. The Cameo's wonderful and has an excellent print and cut facility. Its easy and very precise. Wouldn't swop it for the world.

[Lacelady1]

I have a Big Shot Pro and a Grand Calibur, but the reason I bought my Silhouette Cameo is because I was fed up with buying quite pricey sets of dies (spellies) or faulty ones (Sizzix,) that in both cases can be limiting. My S.Cameo can cut out any size of design up to 12in wide, so I can buy one design for 99c that might originally be 3in across, and change the size to get dozens of different sizes, or get the Cameo to cut out as many as would fit on the cardstock, all in one go! So my 3in design would fit on the card 16 times (I think, it is late here!) whereas you would have to run a single die through 16 times to get the same set of designs. Very handy if you want a bunch of flowers, or snowflakes, or leaves etc. etc.