Potential Buyer with Questions

[Salucas]

Hi everyone,
I am hoping to buy a Silver Bullet 24" cutter in the next few days & am wondering what people would recommend for accessories, or must haves. I am wondering about getting a stand. I'm trying to locate a picture of 1 to see what it looks like & how much space it takes up. So far, I am thinking of purchasing the full accessories pack & the tables. I am hoping to make small detailed cuts on vinyl for etching work. I would also love to hear from folks who have used it to cut polymer clay & what your protocol was for doing that. Thank you!
Shelly

[Angel135612]

Shelly, if you are getting the gotta have it all package, and the tables, and the stand, I don't think there is much else you would need.
I don't recall hearing any one talk about cutting polymer clay with the machine, but I'm sure it could be done, as long as you roll the clay out thin enough to fit under the blade, and I would make sure that you don't put it where the rollers would go. I think the "stickiness" of the clay and the mat would keep it from moving on you, but it is probably something you will have to experiment with to get the right force, and speed for what you want to cut.

[Elizabeth]

I've never cut polymer clay but it sounds like fun! I'm wondering about how to remove cuts from the mat without warping them. Will have to add it to my list of things to try! (Long, long list, LOL!)

[Gigi]

I am with you, Elizabeth..... LONG list of things to try. Wonder if you would need to leave larger pieces on the mat to harden and then remove them? I have never worked with it so really have no clue as you can tell!!

[Elizabeth]

Polymer clay has to be baked to harden. I wonder if you could place it on paper, cut both the clay and the paper, and then remove it with the paper backing to help the clay keep its shape. The baking temp is low, so I think the paper could just be placed in the oven with the clay piece still attached. Really wishing I had more time!!!

[Gigi]

I knew someone like you would have the answer!! Thanks Elizabeth. Sounds like a great idea to use the paper to back it...

[Elizabeth]

I'm not sure it is the answer, Gigi. I was more or less thinking out loud, or what ever the internet version of that is. I hope it will work, though. I am thinking of some pretty cool applications, if it does.

[Salucas]

Thanks so much everyone for all your help!! I took the plunge & bought the 24" Silver Bullet, the accessories package, tables & stand. I'm so excited!! I'm going to start out with some vinyl work first & am wondering where people are sourcing their vinyl from. I would like to adhere it to glass to start with, & no etching, so permanent vinyl decal. I am doing some searches on polymer clay & die cutters & will be happy to keep everyone posted as to what I find, though I might start a new topic for that. Can you tell I am excited

[LisaH]

Congrats on your purchase!!! We are excited for you as well as with you. Will be interesting to see what you do with the polymer clay...

There are lots of places to purchase vinyl.
Tyler has a store that carries items that are completely comparable with the SB (All That Jazz - tab at the top of the page)
I purchase rolls of vinyl from either US Cutter or Sign Warehouse, others may have other sources. I guess it all depends on whether you want sheets or rolls and what sizes...

[Elizabeth]

Congrats! Vinyl is a great place to start. It is one of the easiest things to cut. I purchase from Tyler, and also from Expressions Vinyl. I buy sheets, as I only do the occasional small project.

[Gigi]

I buy sheets as well and buy from Tyler and vinylsuperstore.com

[Salucas]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I'm getting my soon-to-be craft room organized & ready to go for when the Bullet arrives. Still doing the happy dance

[Angel135612]

Congrats on your new purchase, you will LOVE it!! I also buy vinyl from Tyler, and VinylSuperstore. One thing I did when I first started working with vinyl is to buy some cheap contact paper, so that I could "practice" and not waste my vinyl. While cutting vinyl is easy, you want to be sure not to cut through the backing paper, and so I used contact paper until I got my settings just right. I also use the contact paper for when I want to etch something, and I also used it (when I first started) as my transfer tape to move the vinyl onto my item.
I don't think it really matters where you buy your vinly, just get a good quality and it should hold up. I have noticed that "cheap" vinyl doesn't seem to last as long, but it depends on how the item with the vinyl is being used.

[Salucas]

Thanks for that great suggestion Angel! I have contact paper so will experiment with that first The stand arrived so assembled that tonight & looking forward to the cutter arriving in the next few days

[pigtailpat]

Salucas -

my advice to you is to definitely practice with contact paper, but also, practice with the standard shapes that are in the software you are using (not sure which software you will use). In the beginning, stay AWAY from all the freebies on the internet as much of it is loaded with so many nodes and bad designs, that you will not be happy. This machine excels at whatever you throw at it, but I find I am much happier with very clean designs with minimal nodes - no matter what machine I might be using.

Have fun!

Pat

[PennyDuncan]

Now I would like to say there are TONS of people who create and share free files that are very high quality and very well made......I offer free files, Michelle offers free files.....I believe Lisa has and all of these files as well as Monica's and Paulo's ...people would never go wrong with....... and if she's using SCAL the volume of nodes really isn't going to matter because SCAL doesn't even blink on high node volume of nodes and it's super simple to simplify them......

[pigtailpat]

Penny - I agree yes there are quality free files by known people like yourself, Monica and Paulo. But there are so many other unknown people, and, I well remember my newbie days of so much frustration. A new person won't know in the beginning what's clean or not clean. So I took the safest course in my advice. I did not mean to insult the quality people, and we all know who they are.

Pat

[Suzan]

I agree with you Pat. When I got my machine, I came from a cricut, and had no clue what an svg even was. So shapes are a great way to get your feet wet. I don't think you insulted anyone. I wouldn't have know a good file from a bad one.