Hi read with interest your chat on the Sizzix Big Shot Pro Quilter fabric Cutter and Accuquilt GO! Fabric cutter. I have been looking into them, our guild is buying the Sizzix BSP they have checked them all out and got a great deal and great help from our online quilt supply store in Canada. What I have been told. The Go! is good if you want portable and you want to pack it away. the GO! takes 4 layers of fabric, apparently they say 6 on the instructions but now the advise is 4.
The GO! only takes the GO! dies. The GO! has a one year warranty. The GO! has a great selection of quilters dies. Good videos and patterns out there.
The Sizzix Big Shot Pro - Quilters machine and apparently it is important to say this as they have a BSP that is not the quilters model and to convert you have to buy lots of other items and it is much more economical to buy this machine for quilting.
The BSP ( have to cut that name down!) cuts up to 10 layers of fabric. It has an extra long tray to take the super big strip dies.
The BSP is not portable - you leave it set up. It is not as big as the Studio machine but never the less it has to have a permanent home.
BSP is very sturdy - does not move all over the place like the light fold up Accuquilt machine.
Easy to crank the handle - made very well and very strong.
Now the really good news ---
BSP will take the Sizzix quilters dies, the sizzix original dies, the sixxix bligz dies and the bligz L and XL dies. Then it takes accuquilt when you make the adjustment for these smaller dies. It takes up to 80% of the Studio dies - not the jumbo ones.
Important to remember the cheap sizzlits are not for this machine they are not for fabric cutting.
The BSP comes with a Five year warranty.
The cutting pads are really strong and last much longer than Accuquilt cutting mats.
Blades on both machines are never replaced they are industrial sharp.
You have to replace cutting pads and cutting mats when they wear out.
All videos for the Accuquilt GO will work with the BSP fabric cutter --- all tips apply to both, patterns and books will work with both.
This means we have choice, I have been really checking it all out, I want to buy the biggest so that I do not have to go buy another one in 6 months as I bought one too small. Then I do not need a huge industrial machine as I am using it for myself and not business, so the studio is out.
My husband was going to buy me the baby GO! for Christmas and I said Thank you but No - Thank you! I did not want to rush into things -- glad I did not get the baby one as I really know I would have wanted another one larger.
It is really worth checking out what you want carefully. This new BSP is out in conjunction with Westminster fabrics, they are going to bring out patterns etc to go with the dies. At this time they have several quilters dies and loads of applique suitable. New dies are coming out in February and again a lot are on the way for June, so the dies will not be an issue.
Certainly for the Guild it is fantastic - they need a machine that will stand up to lots of use and at the same time cut accurate strip, squares etc in record time. All the donation quilts will be cut with this machine. We can book it for our own use - first we have to read all the instructions and go onto the website at stitch in the ditch and watch the videos on preparing the fabric etc. That is fair.
But I want my own!
So let me know what you decide --- Valentine's day is coming up and as I postponed my Christmas gift -- a larger fabric cutter is what I see in the horizon. Just want to make sure the store are carrying on their great specials - I heard these were until end of January.
I am not affiliated with the store in Canada, it is online so we have never met them, but it is the best prices we Canadians can get - and the service is awesome. Great information on the website so you can find out more there. My friends in Saskatchewan and Manitoba all buy from them. My sister in law in Ontario buys from them - she told me about them.
check out the various fabric cutters, also the new vagabond which is electric - all worth reading about.
link is
http://www.stitchintheditch.com/