Hello everyone! I thought I had released this back when I was working on my embossing leather series with different tools using my Sizzix Big Shot, for the most part, as the “presser”. The playlist was for people like me who had loads of mixed media supplies, and maybe a smattering of jewelry or leather tools/supplies. This post and video was a quick overview of using pancake dies, which are meant to cut metal, with leather in the Sizzix Big Shot.
I had a pile of them because I subscribe to Kevin Potter or Potter USA set of the month. At the time I didn’t have a hydraulic press, and never got to use them. Since I had been playing
around with leather, I wondered, if I could use these in my Big Shot to cut leather. I decided to sacrifice one of the pancake dies to try it.
I first discussed that when I first tried it, I used both tab 1 and tab 2 on my multiuse platform down but that was too tight. I went on to show how I used tab 1 with a plastic shim and only one cutting mat to cover the pancake die with the leather in it. That was much better and made a decent cut.
It does leave some threads and leather is a little trickier to get rid of the threads and re-shape the leather if necessary. However, I have used some of my filing and sanding tools and they
seemed to work okay. I usually add a finisher like Resolene or Gum Tragacanth or some other leather protectant on the edges and that helps stop the fraying.
Now, this is not what either these dies or these machines were meant to do. So please proceed with caution. You should with a pancake die that you don’t care about. And again, make sure when it goes through the machine it’s somewhat tight, but still easy to roll and you’re not forcing it.
