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It's called the precision base plate and is due in stores (i.e HL, Michaels, Joanns) in March 2015 per the Sizzix website.
t!m holtz demoed it in one of the 2015 CHA videos on YouTube.
It replaces the bottom cutting plate and is to be used with thin, intricate dies.
I did finally break down and use the MFT metal plate in my Vagabond, ALWAYS checking my sandwich thickness, but t!m has said all along if anything you want to use in your sandwich was not made by Sizzix, don't use it, so I am always nervous.
No need to worry anymore as of March - YAY!!!
__________________ "May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity." - Jonathan Lockwood Huie.
I have been using a metal plate in my Bigshot that I purchased from Cheery Lynn; it has helped tremendously with cutting intricate dies. I have never had a problem with the sandwich I am using.
I swear, sometimes I think manufacturers use scare tactics to make us buy their tools, accessories etc. My plate was 13 dollars or so; I wonder how much Sizzix is charging for this?
Same with the magnetic platform. It's very expensive. I bought a dollar sheet of magnetic material, and voila, I have a magnetic platform at way less than that magnetic platform costs.
I have the cheery lynn one too, but I will definately pick this one up since it replaces the bottom cutting plate. I hope I can find one in stores soon!
I have the cheery lynn one too, but I will definately pick this one up since it replaces the bottom cutting plate. I hope I can find one in stores soon!
I'm very excited about this and I hope it works as advertised. I love my magnetic platform. The sizzix/su one is far superior to the genius...the genius has a lot of "cold" spots so many times the die will twist around on the platform. The problem is as soon as the plate starts to warp, it doesn't work nearly as well. And as we know, all plates warp (and for me, it seems to happen pretty quickly). The only way around this I have found is to put the cutting side up, reserving the bottom acrylic plate as a non-cutting surface ( which means it won't warp). This process however, bypasses the best feature of the magnetic plate, which is precise placement without taping.
I'm hoping the metal plate would eliminate that problem, because I'm hoping the metal won't warp with cutting. I had assumed it would be a solid piece of metal, but in reading some other posts, it is evidently a sandwich of an acrylic plate and metal plate. Don't think this would be as stable.
The other concern is if cutting into the metal would dull our dies. I currently use the Cherry Lynn metal shim for difficult dies. When they first came out, the company said to cut directly on the plate. I contacted them and asked about dulling the dies. They said at that time, based on customer feedback, they had changed their recommendation and wanted us to put the shim behind the die (on the non-cutting side) to avoid dulling the die. Now I don't think they had that many people complain about it. The biggest one was a person doing 200 cuts with the same die. She said it got dull. I don't plan on doing THAT many of one die, but I certainly don't want to mess up my dies. I'm sure Sizzix had thought of this...I HOPING Sizzix has thought of this...during design. What do you guys think?
I have been using a metal plate in my Bigshot that I purchased from Cheery Lynn;
I have the metal plate from Cherry Lynn, too, but we're not supposed to use any accessory in the Vagabond unless it comes from Sizzix and that's from mr t!m holtz hisself and I believe him ... but I did finally use the MFT metal plate out of desperation - measuring the sandwich thickness with my Vagabond keys - only did this a few times, so I'm (again) really, really, really happy that Sizzix now has a metal plate.........and I also love their new colored cutting plates - easier to find than the clear ones when they're laying somewhere hahaha in my craft room - I think I remember t!m saying a long time ago that colored cutting plates would be easier to find than clear ... I just love that guy
__________________ "May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity." - Jonathan Lockwood Huie.
If anyone tries this new Siizix base plate with a Teresa Collins Eboosr machine - please post your review or comments
As this is such a new product, there have been very few reviews or comments. Unfortunately, I don't have a Big Shot and only a cuttlebug & EBosser machine.
I currently have the Cherry Lynn adaptor for both machines & find at times I still have to shim the die for a one time cut.
I'm asking if anyone who has the Magnetic Base Tray for Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers dies, also has this new metal cutting plate? If so, are these the same metal? I have the Base Tray and the metal is 'soft' in that it gets dents in the shape of each magnetic die, so that I started putting the small plastic cutting pad between the tray and the die to prevent 'damage' to the tray.
I hope the new metal cutting plate is stronger metal!
I have used this Holtz cutting plate for about a month with a divided opinion. Initially I used it with my trusty old Big Shot with the recommended single top plate sandwich though it seemed unusually hard to crank through. The cuts were flawless but I noticed the dies, especially the simple Mat Basics rectangles, were warping upwards which did not make me smile one bit.
Circumstances forced me to purchase a replacement Big Shot quickly. When I used the new machine with the metal plate, the same thing happened: difficult to pass the sandwich through with a noticeably warped die result. With only the metal plate, die, paper, and top acrylic plate, you have nothing to "play" with to decrease the pressure.
One old machine, I might have rationalized as finicky; a brand new machine merits no blame for warped dies...the "constant" is the new metal bottom plate. I watched the YouTube demo again to see if I had somehow missed something but no go.
Am I alone with this problem? Any suggestions out there? Sure could use some help as I'm not willing to ruin my dies until the problem is resolved.
Thanks much!
Last edited by crlfl; 04-30-2015 at 03:04 PM..
Reason: format
Are you talking about the Holtz 'tray' "movers and Shapers" L tray? This is a specialty item to use with his Movers & Shapers items. I never use it for other dies.
No, I am referencing the initial post in this thread concerning the Sizzix Precision base plate that Tim Holtz introduced at CHA 2015 specifically targeted for use with thin, detailed dies.
This plate is featured in an accompanying YouTube video demo which features Tim flawlessly cutting his script dies with sparkle paper and his Vagabond. The Sizzix official sandwich is a magnetic base plate or multi-purpose platform, precision base plate, paper, die and an acrylic top plate.
The reality is that this Precision Base Plate appears to make the sandwich too thick for both of my Big Shots, warping the wafer thin die itself. Tried fiddling with it again today with the same result.
I'm at a loss as to a) the cause and b) how to fix it. The resulting die cuts are perfect but not at the expense of the dies themselves. Would really appreciate some feedback from others who have used this new metal plate.
Carolyn, I too find the sandwich using the metal precision baseplate a tight sandwich. I was so excited to get mine and then so disappointed with it. I actually broke my old Big Shot with it. On the third time using it, the whole sandwich got stuck so completely (halfway through) that I had to disassemble my bigshot to get it out. When I reassembled it, it no longer worked. I contacted Sizzix and after explaining the situation, they replaced my Big Shot. They also had me send my precision plate, my magnetic platform, the cutting plate and the die that got stuck to them so they could test it. They had no problem running it through the new machine. Their theory is that my old machines rollers were a little "off" from use and that was why it broke. All I know is that it was working fine with everything else BEFORE I used the precision base plate. To be fair, I guess it could have just been a coincidence. I tried it with the new big shot machine. It worked ok, but still seems a little tight and I did notice my dies curling a little. If I use it in the future, I'll be VERY CAREFUL (and may switch back to the old platform with the tabs to be able to control the tightness a little better) . For cutting intricate dies, I actually think I like using my Cherry Lynn metal shim better. I've also found that the hint I saw online about using old dryer sheets under the paper helps a lot. Not only are the cuts cleaner, most of the little pieces stick to the dryer sheet making cleaning out the dies much easier. What I'm most disappointed about is that I thought the precision baseplate would be a plate I could use all the time (instead of the bottom cutting plate) that would not warp or have thousand of little cut lines in it that sometimes transfer to my cardstock during cutting. I love my magnetic platform, but once the plates start to warp it doesn't work well.
I've explored this topic in depth in another thread which, hopefully, is listed: Forums at Splitcoaststampers (As I don't have a blog, all this techno stuff is Greek to me so forgive my fumbling in the dark.) There is an account of my experience with Sizzix about the precision plate and their response to same.
Your post restored my faith in my own sanity as our experiences are similar. Judging from the feedback on this thread, we are in the minority. Without getting embroiled in that fiasco again, suffice it to repeat: I'm done.
Carolyn, I too find the sandwich using the metal precision baseplate a tight sandwich. I was so excited to get mine and then so disappointed with it. I actually broke my old Big Shot with it. On the third time using it, the whole sandwich got stuck so completely (halfway through) that I had to disassemble my bigshot to get it out. When I reassembled it, it no longer worked. I contacted Sizzix and after explaining the situation, they replaced my Big Shot. They also had me send my precision plate, my magnetic platform, the cutting plate and the die that got stuck to them so they could test it. They had no problem running it through the new machine. Their theory is that my old machines rollers were a little "off" from use and that was why it broke. All I know is that it was working fine with everything else BEFORE I used the precision base plate. To be fair, I guess it could have just been a coincidence. I tried it with the new big shot machine. It worked ok, but still seems a little tight and I did notice my dies curling a little. If I use it in the future, I'll be VERY CAREFUL (and may switch back to the old platform with the tabs to be able to control the tightness a little better) . For cutting intricate dies, I actually think I like using my Cherry Lynn metal shim better. I've also found that the hint I saw online about using old dryer sheets under the paper helps a lot. Not only are the cuts cleaner, most of the little pieces stick to the dryer sheet making cleaning out the dies much easier. What I'm most disappointed about is that I thought the precision baseplate would be a plate I could use all the time (instead of the bottom cutting plate) that would not warp or have thousand of little cut lines in it that sometimes transfer to my cardstock during cutting. I love my magnetic platform, but once the plates start to warp it doesn't work well.
I too just started using the Precision Plate, very hard to crank thru, my Big Shot is the newest one, my clear cutting plate curled a lot and my dies left cut marks in the grey pad of the P.B. I think I'll try running it thru next time without the 2nd tab. I tried without tab 1 and some shims but didn't have enough to pile up to work. I don't want to damage my dies or other plates and the dryer sheet and wax paper techniques work fairly well. A dilemma for sure and a waste of $ for metal plate.
Trish G
I have one and used it on my new BS with both the magnetic and regular base without a problem, it is supposed t o be used only on intricate dies. It reminds me of a thin Big Z die.
I did not know about the "intricate" die rule. I mean, who needs to read the directions? I have ruined one of my stitched circle dies. Small shards of metal have come off the cutting edge and will no longer cut cleanly. I was just trying it out today on a very intricate die and it did not cut the entire thing cleanly. However, when I used my metal shim, perfect. I think I am done with the precision plate.
Remember the beautiful SU doily die. I loved that thing. Every review I read said "It doesn't cut well." But I knew better. Even my Demo had nothing good to say about it. Well, they were right and I was WRONG. Doesn't cut. Cuts around the outside edge but nothing in the center area. And the precision plate makes no difference. Has ANYONE out there had any success with this thing?
Remember the bea
oily die. I loved that thing. Every review I read said "It doesn't cut well." But I knew better. Even my Demo had nothing good to say about it. Well, they were right and I was WRONG. Doesn't cut. Cuts around the outside edge but nothing in the center area. And the precision plate makes no difference. Has ANYONE out there had any success with this thing?
Mine works fine in my Big Shot with the regular sandwich of plates - unless there is a new doily die. I have this one from a few years ago.
Finally a metal cutting plate from Sizzix
