Our findings re the Cameo blades

[Nige]

I am the same as Ruth but i have not commented coz i do not own a cameo and if i did reply about having to now either purchase a ratchet blade or the whole set for my craft robo it would not be positive i am afraid and i would ruin the thread. So sometimes its best to keep your mouth shut as they say lol

Exactly why my £300 is staying in the bank. Take it or leave it seems to be the only options offered now. I still don't see why those 4 pieces of twopenny h'appeny bits of plastic can cost so much, when not even required in most cases. To me, it's like having a puncture in your car and when going to buy a new tyre, the garage forces you to buy the whole car suspension system as well as it's 'Attached to the tyre'.

I'm very happy with my Robo and only wanted a Cameo as it was the new thing to buy, my interest in them has now gone completely so I'll carry on with my old friend until it visits the plotter graveyard in the sky, then and only them will I have a look round to see what's available to replace it, hopefully something with no quality or other known issues.

I'm glad that most of you are happy with Graphtec's response to the complaints, even though they don't seem to solve the problems being muted except to say it's the users fault and not their machines..........

[SylviaF]

if i did reply about having to now either purchase a ratchet blade or the whole set for my craft robo it would not be positive i am afraid and i would ruin the thread. So sometimes its best to keep your mouth shut as they say lol

I love my cameo, but I still have strong reservations about the cameo blade. I received my replacement blade in November but have not yet used it. I intend to start using it today and will see how it goes. Phil says that paper dust in the nose of the cutter shouldn't affect the cutting, but when using my original blade I got actual pieces of card trapped in there - for instance the small circles and other small pieces of my designs which I could not dislodge without putting my blade at risk of damage. I shall be keeping a very close eye on the performance of my blade and of course attempting to "clear the clog" as best I can.

[BathBelle]

post deleted by Ruth

Ruth

[susanroscoe]

No problems with my blade or the Cameo. Brilliant machine.

[gemsmember]

Are there any guidelines as to how many cuts you can expect from one blade. I know that is a bit like 'how long is a piece of string' but although I am not having problems with my Cameo, and it is still cutting OK. I have noticed that I started with a depth of 3 on the blade, which cut my box shapes wonderfully. After about 20 cuts - I had to increase to 4 otherwise it would only cut part way through, and again I have now had to increase to 5. It is not cutting through into the carrier sheet, so is obviously the correct depth (the card is the same all the time). So I am wondering if the tip is getting worn down or something, so I have to move it out more to be able to cut through.

Has anyone else had this experience?

[Gadget Monkey]

I didn't reply earlier to this thread as I didn't want to be the only negative poster. I received my replacement blade from graphtec also and I have the same problem as Gemsmember.... each time with BOTH my blades I have done a test cut first starting lower and working up higher so no way has my blade been abused (I had the original blue lidded craft robo for about 8 years and still have it and only replaced the blade twice).... my new blade is now blunt, I haven't cut anything other than Stampin Up card, no glitter, or anything else specialised.... I also have much more than just dust in my blade, it is large pieces of cut card (well large for the small hole) which have jam packed themselves into my blade and taken a lot of getting out.... I do blow out my blade after each cutting session too...

[christina-jane]

Well I'm just about to use the ratchet blade today I got a replacement my st blade went blunt very quick i had only had the Cameo 6 days and used the no's as 1,2,3 -blue, yellow, red as that was what i was doing wrong with my robo i was very careful the first blade wasn't chipped but i had been using the A4 c200/20 cutting mat and that was a lot thicker so that could have been what was wrong, are you ladies having the problems using the Cameo carrier sheet ? it's just a thought but if it helps save some money !!!

[frogzone]

When cutting card with the cutter, it is designed to work with a scissor action, to perform this it is important that the nose cone runs on the surface of the card while the blade cuts.
After about 20 cuts - I had to increase to 4 otherwise it would only cut part way through, and again I have now had to increase to 5. It is not cutting through into the carrier sheet, so is obviously the correct depth (the card is the same all the time). So I am wondering if the tip is getting worn down or something, so I have to move it out more to be able to cut through.
I have read with interest the problems encountered with these ratchet blades, firstly i would like to say i have had a problem with mine but am still unsure if it is operator error or the blade.. i intend to return it to be looked at.
I note in phil's findings he says that the nose cone should run on the surface of the card..now nowhere in the instruction booklet I have does it say this, and I do not doubt for one minute that PhilK is absolutely correct, but how much easier it would have been to ensure that the blade was set correctly if I had had this information from the start.
Which brings be to point two.. yes i am having to turn my blade up after as few as 5 cuts, then i am having to do double cuts and then i just gave up and put my old robo blade in..... but i now suspect, given Philk new details about how the blade works, that this is because the blade was extended too far and the tiniest bit of the tip was broken off, thus blunting the blade.

The other problem I have had is that the numbers on the ratchet blade don't seem correct , that is when turned anti-clock wise the mark goes past zero, two notches down to 9 and clockwise all the way through to 10. which may or may not be part of the problem.

So perhaps its not the blades that are at fault be the instructions?

[Lucille]

Lis, that number problem doesn't sound good, mine doesn't go past 0 in one direction and 9 in the other. Was it always like that or could you have forced it past the higher and lower numbers and not realised? I can see this could happen if people don't pay attention to the red mark on the blade and line it up properly.

[gemsmember]

Well I'm just about to use the ratchet blade are you ladies having the problems using the Cameo carrier sheet ? it's just a thought but if it helps save some money !!!

Yes, Christina, I am using the Cameo carrier sheet.

There are no cuts on my carrier sheet, so I haven't extended the blade too far out at any time, it just seems to be blunting fairly quickly, so by extending it down a bit more it is revealing a sharper side.

I am wondering if the material it is made from is not as hard wearing as the old blades. I wonder if PhilK is around to comment on this.

[Fuschia]

I am wondering if the material it is made from is not as hard wearing as the old blades. I wonder if PhilK is around to comment on this.

That was my thought with people are saying that they seem to blunt a lot quicker and it could be why they're cheaper too.

[ed dawson]

Remember - you're also paying for a ratchet system which is redundant once the blade blunts. I wonder if they're likely to sell them in bulk - at a discount price lol.

[suestan2]

I also read the post but don't own a Cameo so no good me commenting

[Tootsie]

Have said on other threads...but will happily repeat here....I LOVE my Cameo. I had a CR years ago and went to a Gazzelle for the extra width, but was never able to get a decent print and cut on that....well it started to die just before Christmas and I was surprised on Christmas day with a beautiful Cameo. Having read the cerfuffle about the blades I began cutting very gingerly.....but no problems here so far...well not with the blade anyway. Had some software problems regarding fonts, but that is now sorted so I am a happy bunny.

[christina-jane]

Lis, my ratchet blades the same i don't have any blade before no.2+ used it yesterday for the first time it doesn't seem as sharp as the first 1 so we'll see still. doesn't put me off the Cameo i love it.