Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
Need advice on how to remove chads from back of intricate die.
Hi,
I feel silly asking a question like this, as I have my pick and brush and have no issues getting the chads out.
However, not all dies have holes for each area. Can anyone please recommend a trick or suggestion on how to get the chads out? I was thinking of letting them soak in water, but wanted to ask here, first.
I use a paper piercer (aka pointy tool - VERY sharp lol). I use the tip to lift the paper chads out of the die.
A tip for the future - make your normal sandwich for your machine, but place an unused dryer sheet underneath your cardstock. Run the sandwich through the machine and remove the top plates and metal die. Your cardstock will peel off the dryer sheet and virtually all of the chads will stick to the dryer sheet. I put a video on YT showing this tip because it saved me so much work with those intricate dies and I thought others might like to know about it, too!
Thanks y'all. I have Anna Griffins pointy thing with the roller brush. It works great. Just not on very intricate dies. I was able to get them out. :-)
Couture Creations die release paper can be really helpful - plus it makes a extra sort of ghostly, fun die cut. I used to use it for intricate dies in my previous machine.
And the tip of a pokey tool works, not just to stab through the holes but to push the bit out when there isn’t a hole. I have the Tim one.
I just use the tip of a craft knife, or a pointy tool.
I was stymied at first too, and then I took my piercing tool and just stuck it in the bit of paper and it came right out. What isn't as easy is trying to get die cuts out of a die that doesn't have any holes in it to push the die cut through, ugh.
Karen
Just realised I should also add- if you want to apply colour to your die cut, either go with the dryer technique, or make sure when you use wax paper that the wax side is facing the die, NOT your cardstock. The pressure from the die cut machine will press wax onto your die cut, and unless you are using wax based pencils to colour, it won't work. Guess how I know that?
Silverwolf, I bet I can guess how you know!! LOL And guess how I know, I should always be DARN sure I'm only running one die through my cuttlebug! Ruined, or almost ruined one that way, a few years ago. I guess we live and learn. :-) Mrs. Noofy, I love Dawn Griffith! I subscribe to her on youtube and have made some lovely cards, casing hers. She does some beautiful cards. Thank you for the link.
Thanks DeeAnn! I love youtube! Kazeka, I have some dies that, while they have holes, not every little piece does. That can be a little tricky! LOL :-)
Beth
Almost all of my dies have at least a few poke-out holes, but a die cut frame set that I have by Avery Elle that I own doesn't have even a single hole in the frame. I even emailed the company to ask how to get the frame-cut out of the die and they didn't have any suggestions. Finally figured out that if I give it a couple of sharp whacks against the edge of a table, it will loosen it enough to pry it loose. What a crazy design!
Karen
I have the Spellbinders Tool-in-one and find it almost useless for getting those little bits out of intricate dies. The roller brush gets a few of them out but then the bristles start falling out and I end up just using the pokey end to push out the chads.
Thanks Silverwolf! I had also heard about wax paper, but never tried that! You ladies are WONDERFUL! :-)
Beth
I used to use waxed paper for my intricate dies and it works like a dream but I kept running out of waxed paper. Now I keep a roll next to my die cut machine. However, I only use it on the really intricate dies and the rest of the time I just use my pokey tool.
Karen
Just realised I should also add- if you want to apply colour to your die cut, either go with the dryer technique, or make sure when you use wax paper that the wax side is facing the die, NOT your cardstock. The pressure from the die cut machine will press wax onto your die cut, and unless you are using wax based pencils to colour, it won't work. Guess how I know that?
Yes, when I use waxed paper, I notice a nice subtle sheen left on the die cut that I actually like. Haven't added any color to my die cuts so I hadn't thought about that problem though. Thanks for the tip!
Karen
Whackin' 'em was the old go to. I never liked it. Too easy to bend a die like that. Might even crack a thin delicate one. I used to try to do it against my body which rarely worked.
You could try a small pc of washi tape on it and pulling it up enough you can get the pokey tool under it. If I am going to do a lot of it I might ball up some painters tape and just tap it on the die cut to pop it out.
Btw...I LOVE our technical terms. :lolo: Hey! We got a crying laughing emoji! Now we just the one with a mask...
Whackin' 'em was the old go to. I never liked it. Too easy to bend a die like that. Might even crack a thin delicate one. I used to try to do it against my body which rarely worked.
You could try a small pc of washi tape on it and pulling it up enough you can get the pokey tool under it. If I am going to do a lot of it I might ball up some painters tape and just tap it on the die cut to pop it out.
Btw...I LOVE our technical terms. :lolo: Hey! We got a crying laughing emoji! Now we just the one with a mask...
Oh yeah, I just saw a video of someone using washi tape to pull up part of a die cut from a die, but promptly forgot about that. I'm going to have to give it a try. I even have a used roll of painters tape that I re-wound after my husband used it. He couldn't believe I was saving it but I figured it would work to anchor dies down on my card stock before die cutting. Now I have another use for it!
Karen
cardmaker2, I've heard of voting chads, but it was only recently that I heard those left over pieces referred to as chads. I love your signature, by the way.
cardmaker2, I've heard of voting chads, but it was only recently that I heard those left over pieces referred to as chads. I love your signature, by the way. Beth
Same here. This was the first time I've heard them referred to as chads as well, but then again I call my piercer a pokey tool...so no surprise, haha!
Karen
By the way, I have used the drier sheet- it works great, and also waxed paper, that too does a great job.
Shaz, the owner of Cheery Lynn designs, Mike Dywan, had a video on die cutting where he recommended NOT using wax paper. He said the wax will eventually build up on a die and can make it where the die won't cut or cut properly. (The video is no longer available to go back and listen to it.) He recommended instead using plastic bags (like you put your groceries in). I tried the plastic bag idea and it worked great for cutting. MY QUESTION to you: have you noticed the dryer sheets or wax paper building up on your dies to the point they no longer cut? I'm wondering if maybe it would take a LOT of cutting with the die to reach that point. If someone had a favorite die they used often, might be something to consider if using wax paper. Apparently one can "sharpen" the die again by cutting with aluminium foil.
Here is a video showing the 3 methods: wax paper, dryer sheets and plastic bags. The dryer sheets seem to catch the most chads.
The aluminum foil may clean off the die since there’s nothing to sharpen (I noticed you put it in quotes so know that!).
Not to enable anyone but of all that I tried - except dryer sheets, which I didn’t want to use - I found the extremely thin Couture Creations release paper on the little rolls the most effective. But I might have been influenced by a little bit of concern about wax paper.
The aluminum foil may clean off the die since there’s nothing to sharpen (I noticed you put it in quotes so know that!).
Not to enable anyone but of all that I tried - except dryer sheets, which I didn’t want to use - I found the extremely thin Couture Creations release paper on the little rolls the most effective. But I might have been influenced by a little bit of concern about wax paper.
I agree... clean off would have been better wording.
Need advice on how to remove chads from back of intricate die.
