Friday, July 18, 2014

Using Sizzix Dies in the We R Memory Keepers Evolution Advanced Die-Cutting Machine

From: http://www.hsn.com/products/we-r-memory-keepers-evolution-advanced-machine/7395245
Ok, I had to drink the kool-aid.  The HSN presentation was too memorizing not, too.  I will say that I did sit on my hands for almost 3 months before making this purchase and that was after lengthy discussions with my mom (because we're going buying this together) and reading the online reviews that I decided to make the leap.  I could always return the machine and HSN breaks up the payments.  Why not?

So why did I choose the We R Memory Keepers Evolution Advanced Die-Cutting Machine?  Well, the presentation said that I could use just about any brand of die and embossing folder in the machine, I only had to adjust the dial and that the nifty cheat sheet would be include.  I don't have a huge amount of old school Sizzix dies, in fact, I only had three when I purchased this machine.  But I did find a brand new one on clearance for $6 - it's a layered flower die.  Was super excited to get this new toy to play!



So when it arrived I opened up the box and laid everything out on the table.  All the important stuff was there, except for the cheat sheet pictured above.  No biggie, because it's posted everywhere online, just had to download it. So off I go to play...

As part of the package, I received a letterpress kit, two embossing folders and a set of thin dies.  I haven't tried out the letterpress kit yet, but the included embossing folders and thin dies work beautifully.  Very simple to adjust the dial and run the paper through. I've also used a few of the Paper Studio embossing folders and they work beautifully as well. All was perfect until I tried my thicker Sizzix dies.



No matter what combination of platforms, mats and nobs of the dial I did, the dies wouldn't cut all the way through the plain paper and would even tear is places.  After doing some extensive searching on the internet and not finding the answer, I emailed customer service the following:

"I'm really excited about my new We R Memory Keeper Evolution Advance. I love that I can use other dies in this machine but am having issues finding the correct setting for my thicker Sizzix dies. As you can see in the photos, it's not cutting entirely through and in some places it's tearing the paper.  Can you please advise me on what the correct setting is to use these dies and is there another mat that I need to use? I think I read some where about an A mat.  Thank so much!"

I received a quick response back of the following:

"Thank you for contacting us! We have included helpful recommended Dial Chart settings for your reference. Typically for the Steel Roll thick Sissix dies we recommend using the die in place of the platform, the media or paper, the aqua rubber mat, then the Mat B and having your knob set to 11 when running through the machine."



I love this new instruction sheet - the original one was a little lacking and this tells me exactly what I need for the different dies and embossing folders.  Unfortunately, I'm still getting the same results with my Sizzix.  If anyone else has found a solution - please let me know!  At this point I don't want to mess with it any more because I'm afraid that I'm going to botch up my Sizzix dies (if I haven't already...)