Pazzles - settings to cut Stampin' Up cardstock

[Jasmine54]

I've had my Pazzles Inspiration since July 2012. I've named it Frazzle. I can not get it to cut SU cardstock or DSP. It either rips my paper or doesn't cut all the way through on one side. Can someone who has successfully cut SU cardstock/paper, please give me the settings - blade length, pressure, etc that worked for you. I know that your settings may not work on my machine, but at least I'll have a better starting point than I have now.

Thanks for any assistance anyone can offer!!

Kathy

[Pazzles]

Hi Kathy,

Sorry you're frazzled by your Inspiration. I hope someone chips in with the settings that work for them. I would like to chime in with a few suggestions of my own

First, I do want to make sure you've ran the updates here: Inspiration - Pazzles

Second, I'd like you to read this blog post: Pazzles Craft Room • View topic - Trick for Determining Blade Length and Pressure . It's probably the best description for determining the correct blade length. You want the blade just deep enough to cut. Any deeper and it will score your mat, and the blade won't turn in the housing, and that's what tears paper. Sounds weird, but shallow blade is better a lot of the time.

Third and finally is finding the right pressure. I've not used SU!, but I've heard it's a bit heavier and can have a different weight from color to color, which of course makes it trickier. The pressure settings on the Inspiration are so powerful, we recommend you only change the pressure upward in increments of two. Yep! Two! So, for your SU! cardstock, you might find a blade length of 2 will cut through one layer on the 'fold test' described in that blog post. So, start at blade 2, pressure 18, and cut a small circle. Didn't work? Try blade 2 and pressure 20. Keep cutting circles until one pops out clean. You'll find the magic spot!

Other things of note: try cutting slower. I prefer to cut a little slower when I am working with something more 'sensitive' or intricate, and I will only cut fast when I'm cutting something super-simple, like a plain box.

Also, humidity can be a big big big factor. If you live in a humid area, your paper will soak some of that up. We tell folks in humid areas that blade length and pressure go down, not up! At Pazzles Corporate, we are in a very dry area with almost no humidity, so if you're somewhere humid, take everything we say and turn it down a notch. Make sense?

I hope this helps. Since you are still under warranty you are totally welcome to call tech support and we'll get you going over the phone or on chat.

~Amanda_H~

[Jasmine54]

Amanda,

I updated my machine as soon as I took it out of the box and connected it to my laptop. Klo strongly suggested this when I purchased it. I had watched the video about setting the blade length and had success in cutting American Craft paper. I did the circles, adjusted as suggested. The circles cut fine, 3 different sizes from very small to a about a dime size, these all cut fine. I tried cutting the Koi using the same sheet of cardstock. The cardstock was the same color SU that Lydia used to cut her Koi. The first try, the outline cut clean, the inside of the tail & fins cut fine with just a couple of places to snip with scissors, one eye cut fine, but the "scales" and the other eye did not cut all the way through the paper. This was at blade length 2.5, pressure 18 and speed 3. I increased the pressure to 20 and left blade & speed the same. Same cardstock piece, opposite side and the cardstock starting tearing immediately. Cancelled this cut. Turned the mat, and tried cutting blade length at 3, pressure 18 and speed 2. Cardstock started tearing on the tail inside cuts.

I'll contact support after the holiday. Thanks for taking the time to make these suggestions. I greatly appreciate it!!

[Jasmine54]

Amanda,

I didn't contact support, but I have been able to cut SU's cardstock for two days!! Settings that worked for me both on a sunny day and a very damp rainy day: Dark colors: Blade @ 3.5; Pressure @ 23; Speed @ 3. Light colors: Blade @ 3; Pressure @ 21; Speed @ 3.

Hopefully, this information will give someone else a starting point.

Thanks for your suggestions. I really appreciated you taking the time to respond.

Kathy

[Pazzles]

Kathy, YEA! This is good news and I'm totally happy for you. I hope this works for others.

It's interesting that the light and dark colors are different -- this does happen for some brands as they add different things to their fibers and dyes for the different colors. They really ought to put out their own charts or warnings: Consumer beware, our dark colors are thicker than our lighter ones! LOL! It'll never happen, but a girl can hope, right?

Have fun cutting! And feel free to show off the results -- you know I love it!