Craft Robo, Wishblade Or ?

[GiddyGreetings]

I own a Big Shot, I have owned a Cricut and don't have it anymore. I don't plan on buying another Cricut. But I am looking to purchase a die cut machine that is compatible with my computer that will cut JPG, PNG and SVG files. What machine do you all recommend? Thank you!

[suplayingwithpaper]

I have a cricut expressions which I adore and use exclusively with scal to cut jpgs & svgs. I also have a new craftrobo which is more or less the same machine as the wishblade & silhouette.

I loathe and detest the robo. It will only cut card not much thicker than SUs whisper white with a single pass. Anything thicker such as pti or su coloured card, bazill or textured needs a minimum of 2 passes and it's slower than the cricut. The paper input slot isn't as stable as the cricut and I've had the mat slipping and sliding about. I'm not keen on the software although the newer versions are far better than the original ones.

The only thing I will give the robo over the cricut & scal is that it picks up more of the edge detail. This though is a double edged sword if you like working with jpgs and/or paintshop pro images. With psp it makes the image in a similar way to doing a cross stitch picture, lots of teeny tiny squares. Great for straight lines but when you create a circle, even at a high dpi rate, the robo picks up on those tiny squares and you get a very fine serated edge unless you want to spend a lot of time editing the nodes in the robo software. This is so different to scal and the cricut which cuts a beautifully smooth line and you can get the machine cutting within moments of importing the file.

When my robo dies, it will go in the bin and I'll clap. When my expressions dies I'll instantly be online to replace it either like for like or if there's still little price difference I'll buy a Pazzles Inpspirations. The PI is very similar to the expressions but uses software similar to funtime. Uses the same mats and deepcut blade as the cricut but it has double the cutting power and you can buy embossing, engraving, distressing, piercing tools for it.

[dkwalsh]

Tale a look at the BossKut Gazelle. I upgraded to one from a Wishblade and love it.

[Julie in Indy]

Have had a Wishblade since March 2006 with no problems whatsoever, in spite of heavy use in the days when I participated in scrapbook swaps. It's got a bit of a learning curve if you want to design your own files (I use Illustrator for that) but it's also very versatile.

I do find that cutting SU cardstock requires two passes (copy/paste) due to its density.

[cat_woman]

I've had my CraftRobo for about 3 years and love it. I'm not sure why other people have problems with heavier cardstock like Bazzil or SU because I've never had an issue with it. I love the versatility of being able to use virtually any image or TTF I want. Once my Robo dies (which probably won't be for a long time since its a little workhorse), I'll be upgrading to a Klick n Kut. Now that's the ultimate in my opinion.

[lylacfey]

If you can spend around $400-$500 look at the BossKut Gazelle. It cuts 12x12, Jpegs, SVG, you can Print & Cut. Cut different varieties of materials such as acetate to foam. She's made all out of metal, has nice little side drawers so you can store extra blades, housings, etc... Gazelle has great Customer Service. They have been so good to me with my goofy questions.

Another one to look at would be the Pazzles. The designers of Cricut also did this one. She's a good little machine comparable to the Gazelle. The Gazelle has more pounds of pressure for different materials.

I was a Wishblade owner and I really liked it but the software just threw me a learning curve. The software that comes with the Pazzles and Gazelle is Funtime and it's a lot easier to use and more powerful. You do have to convert your SVG's to the WPC format but it's not any different than converting to SCAL that the Cricut uses.

If you can only spend $300 or under then the Silhouette is a good little machine. Actually the Silhouette, WB and CR are the same machines. Made by the same company. The Silhouette does have the extra function of accepting SD cards. These machines can only cut light materials at 8 1/2 x 11. For example Bazzill will need to do a multi cut. If that does not bother you then you can find an affordable machine on Ebay.

I do own two Cricut's. I love my machines very much. I also own SCAL but for designing I tend to use my Gazelle more. She's my only dedicated cutter set up at my desk.

Here is Paperthreads site: www.paperthreads.com. They have comparison charts, forums and anything you need to know about the confusing die cut market.

HTH!

[barbara32ca]

I have a Silhouette and I cut 110lb cardstock almost exclusively without problems.I also haven't noticed any problems with serrated edges when tracing jpegs or mat slippage.

Barbara

[stiz2003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GiddyGreetings

I own a Big Shot, I have owned a Cricut and don't have it anymore. I don't plan on buying another Cricut. But I am looking to purchase a die cut machine that is compatible with my computer that will cut JPG, PNG and SVG files. What machine do you all recommend? Thank you!

Hi
I purchased the Klic N Kut this past summer and absolutely cannot live without it now. It's a bit of learning but there are things you can do almost immediately- like weld words. There is also a lot of video tutorials on line to simplify the learning. I considered the Cricut but would prefer to do some designs on my own instead of investing on cartridges. Good luck in choosing. There are so many to choose from. Sorry this is such a late reply but I am just catching up on the forums.
Nancy

[Margaret Wilburn]

Before you get rid of your Cricut, you might try the Make-The-Cut software that will import .svg files and do a lot of other things...and cut them on your Circut.

Margaret Wilburn

[juliefes]

I own 10 different electronic cutters and can answer your questions about them: Pazzles Pro, Pazzles Inspiration, Gazelle, KNK Zing, eClips, eCraft, Silhouette Cameo, Craft Robo, Cricut Expression, Cricut Cake. I have used many other cutters as I served as customer support for several companies.