Well, I've broken it! :( My husband was going to crank some material through for me since I hurt my finger and couldn't do it myself. I miscounted and put 8 layers instead of 4 and then draped the extra on top of the mat to get it out of the way and told him to crank. (Yes I know, REALLY bad idea) Several very bad sounds later, the mat and die are stuck in the machine and the handle has absolutely no tension in it. We can't get the mat to budge forwards or backwards. We're going to call Accuquilt in the morning and see if they have any ideas but I have a bad feeling about it.
So, word to the wise, don't try cranking through more layers than recommended!