Alpha Dies
 

I bought the alphabet die by We R Memory Keepers. It does NOT cut all the way through cardstock. It sort of works on copy paper. Because it doesn't cut clean, the letters don't come loose.


Any one have a bright idea on how to make it cut better. Oh... I use a cuttlebug.

Which die set specifically do you have? W R Memory Keepers makes a bunch of different ones.

If it's single letters with sprues, cutting them apart so you can just die-cut a few letters at a time may help. Means more pressure on any given part of the cutting surface as it goes through.

Otherwise you may need to shim the die to increase the force being applied. Check your plates as well, make sure they're set up correctly.

Metal shim maybe. I guess you have tried running them through more than one pass. Do you have other alpha dies that are cutting cleanly? If it’s just one or two spots I add layers of scotch tape to the low places.

It is the Lollipop Alphabet. Letters are very small. The entire alphabet is on a 4x4" die. I have tried different shims. I tried fun foam over the cardstock. That works with other dies.
Plates are easy... A,B and C. Works with every other die.

Finally.... I added another "shim". This time from a manila file folder. Had to hold VERY tight to the crank and use a LOT of pressure. Now it cut through to cardstock.

Oof yeah, 'all in one' plate dies can be a bit of a pain. As nice as they are in keeping all the bits together, they do rather limit what you can do in regards to adjusting pressure. Glad to hear you got it to work for you.

Be careful when shimming as it's possible to end up breaking the machine by overdoing it. I'd maybe try shimming one vertical section at a time using a long cardboard strip. Cutting your cardstock down and only putting it over the letters you want can also sometimes help.