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Post by CardBoxer on Dec 18, 2022 20:23:10 GMT
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Post by Embri on Dec 18, 2022 20:46:15 GMT
That's not the best flush cutter you can get - it's still got a bevel on the "flat" side, which leaves more of a nub. True flush cutters are 100% flat on one side, which is what you want. I have a pair from hobby modelling which are meant for cutting metal.
Even then, no pair of cutters leaves a perfectly smooth edge. I can always tell where the connection points were unless I file them smooth.
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Shakti
Pearl Clutcher
Troubled, complicated, and constant
Posts: 3,241
Oct 30, 2022 23:42:30 GMT
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Post by Shakti on Dec 18, 2022 21:53:48 GMT
I bought Hero Arts die snips when I got my mystery bundle, but I haven't used them yet.
I'll keep my eye out for a small metal/jewelry file.
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Post by CardBoxer on Dec 19, 2022 19:36:03 GMT
That's not the best flush cutter you can get - it's still got a bevel on the "flat" side, which leaves more of a nub. True flush cutters are 100% flat on one side, which is what you want. I have a pair from hobby modelling which are meant for cutting metal. Even then, no pair of cutters leaves a perfectly smooth edge. I can always tell where the connection points were unless I file them smooth. That cutter is the one Jenn and some other pros use and apparently does the job well at an affordable price for many. Mine wasn’t purchased for card making, is quite old and was fairly expensive from a brick and mortar jewelry supply store. The goal is cutting right against the edge and eliminating any sharp bits that could hurt. Being able to see or feel where a nub once was is fine, and should be pretty smooth. If someone wants to go beyond that with a file that’s fine too. |
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Post by MichyM on Dec 19, 2022 20:16:17 GMT
I also want to chime in. As a long time jewelry maker, jewelers wire snips work great. I wouldn't spend more than $10 on them if one purchases them simply for clipping dies. One side of the snips will be beveled, one side will be flat. Make sure the flat side is butted up against the edge of the die.
I also want to add that it is clear simply by the number of products that Embri rejects from her AE orders, that she is more particular than the average card maker. Perfectly fine for her, do not get me wrong. But filing the tiny little nibs after doing a good job cutting the excess bits off is more effort than I've personally heard of. YMMV.
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Post by Embri on Dec 19, 2022 20:18:22 GMT
That cutter is the one Jenn and some other pros use and apparently does the job well at an affordable price for many. Mine wasn’t purchased for card making, is quite old and was fairly expensive from a brick and mortar jewelry supply store. Amazon has many flush cutters for ~10$. They're not any more/less expensive than the micro-beveled versions. Get one from the hardware/electronics market and avoid paying the pink/craft tax. The goal is cutting right against the edge and eliminating any sharp bits that could hurt. Exactly. A snipper tool that doesn't have a bevel will cut closer and leave less of an edge. (Just to make it clear, I'm talking about the "back" of the tool in regards to flatness. One side will always have deep bevels down towards the cutting tips because that metal is needed to make them sturdy enough to work without breaking like a piece of wet tissue paper on the first use.) |
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Post by CardBoxer on Dec 19, 2022 20:55:11 GMT
That cutter is the one Jenn and some other pros use and apparently does the job well at an affordable price for many. Mine wasn’t purchased for card making, is quite old and was fairly expensive from a brick and mortar jewelry supply store. Amazon has many flush cutters for ~10$. They're not any more/less expensive than the micro-beveled versions. Get one from the hardware/electronics market and avoid paying the pink/craft tax. The goal is cutting right against the edge and eliminating any sharp bits that could hurt. Exactly. A snipper tool that doesn't have a bevel will cut closer and leave less of an edge. (Just to make it clear, I'm talking about the "back" of the tool in regards to flatness. One side will always have deep bevels down towards the cutting tips because that metal is needed to make them sturdy enough to work without breaking like a piece of wet tissue paper on the first use.) What you said. I laughed at “pink tax” because sure enough I had a Zutter pink wire cutters in a pink case. I don’t know how I got it. And yes to what you wrote. I'd just add that some—not all—hardware wire snips would be too large to fit into tiny die spaces. |
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Post by Embri on Dec 19, 2022 21:37:15 GMT
What you said. I laughed at “pink tax” because sure enough I had a Zutter pink wire cutters in a pink case. I don’t know how I got it. And yes to what you wrote. I'd just add that some—not all—hardware wire snips would be too large to fit into tiny die spaces. Oh yeah, definitely. A lot of snips are too dang big to use for fine manipulations. Conversely there are some that are too delicate for snipping even the thinnest of steel. It's a fine line to tread between sturdy enough to do the job, but dexterous enough to get into all those little tight areas. I had one heck of a time separating out a set of letters and outlines just the other day. My desk looked like a toolbox exploded across it - vicegrips, two sets of needlenose jewelry pliers, flush cutters, bamboo skewers, dental tools, and other assorted stuff. All to try and separate those alphas. |
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Post by CardBoxer on Dec 19, 2022 23:14:04 GMT
Yikes! 🤪
Here I was annoyed that one of my alpha sets is a single die plate that cuts every letter at once, when all I needed was an M (twice) and an O. Mom for a tag for my m-i-l. What a waste of cardstock.
To think it only took me a few years to figure out I could cover the letters needed with good cardstock, and cover the rest of the letters with cheap stuff not used for cards. (Not covering all the letters means cutting into a plate pretty deeply.)
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Post by marg on Dec 20, 2022 1:36:13 GMT
I swatched all of my inks onto 2x2 inch pieces of paper and put them in a coin holder by colour, ala Jennifer McGuire. It looks just like pinklady's photos - same rectangular stamp, even. All of the brands are mixed together, for instance all of my reds from light to dark. I like this for when I'm searching for a particular shade.
I've also started swatching onto tags and put them onto binder rings by company. I use this for when I want to use one company's inks, for instance, The Stamp Market (agree with MichyM, they're great. I reach for those the most) and want to compare swatches in order to co-ordinate colours.
So, two methods works best for me.
I am getting a bunch of new inks for Christmas so I will be happily swatching during the holidays.
Next I want to swatch my cardstock - by company, onto binder rings.
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Shakti
Pearl Clutcher
Troubled, complicated, and constant
Posts: 3,241
Oct 30, 2022 23:42:30 GMT
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Post by Shakti on Jan 7, 2023 13:03:25 GMT
For those of you who arrange ink swatches chromatically, do you separate dye from pigment? Or just make one rainbow? If the former, I imagine hybrid would go with dye, since it's generally fast-drying like dye.
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Post by joblackford on Jan 21, 2023 3:19:26 GMT
Just in case anyone is looking at this thread and wants a quick and dirty example, this is how I swatch. I store my inks in the bundles and mostly use them with other colors from the bundle, and tbh I'm not often very picky about using an exact color. I stamped and swiped the pad and I feel like that's enough info for me to make a choice, even if I'm planning to blend, smoosh or stencil. I also have some cardstock offcut strips with a stamped heart, swipe, and scribbled label for my oxides and random ink cubes. They tuck into a corner of my ink drawer and again, they're good enough for my low standards  http://instagram.com/p/Cnp_m5SPG81 |
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