Silhouette Premier Blade Any Good?

[Neries]

Has anyone got the Silhouette Premier blade and are they good and last longer than the normal blade? I have been asked what I want for Christmas from my grown up children so I made a crafting wish list. My daughter found them on the big river (she has Prime) and many of the reviews are not good.

I have watched a video comparing the auto blade with the Premier and the Premier came out better. So I am wondering if it is user error for bad reviews or a bad batch.

[DJG]

I haven't got one but it's supposed to last 3 times longer that the normal blade so I assume it's a stronger/sharper blade

[grannyscrap]

I have one and, as a whole, I do like it. I had to start again with the settings. Generally a whole number higher BUT less pressure I find works. I have found that no matter what I do with the settings, there are some papers and card it just will not cut properly. Put in a ratchet blade and the old settings and it cuts fine. So go figure on that one lol. Other card - esp. the thicker card (300 gsm) cuts much better. I can't say yet how long they last, as blades usually last me a long time, anyway. But I have been using it since around March(?) and, with Christmas, it has had a bit of a bashing lately and still seems to be fine.
Hope that helps a bit.

[Neries]

I have one and, as a whole, I do like it. I had to start again with the settings. Generally a whole number higher BUT less pressure I find works. I have found that no matter what I do with the settings, there are some papers and card it just will not cut properly. Put in a ratchet blade and the old settings and it cuts fine. So go figure on that one lol. Other card - esp. the thicker card (300 gsm) cuts much better. I can't say yet how long they last, as blades usually last me a long time, anyway. But I have been using it since around March(?) and, with Christmas, it has had a bit of a bashing lately and still seems to be fine.
Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks Sheila,

[BrianP]

I'll give you my 2p worth on the premium blades.

The Premium blades are a tungsten carbide blade, compared with a supersteel blade on the standard blade. By its nature tungsten carbide is much harder wearing than supersteel, which is where the '3 times longer' claim comes from, but it is also more brittle so can chip easier.

If you know what you are doing and know how to customise your own cut settings for the specific media you use then the premium blade is a good choice because it should last much longer than a standard blade (potentially a lot more than the 3 times suggested but it will depend on what you are cutting) but, and this is a BIG BUT, if you are not confident about blades settings and are the type of person that just picks a cutting preset from the included list rather than test cutting your own custom setting, then the premium blade is probably not the best blade choice for you because it is less forgiving when used with incorrect settings and the tip will chip quickly with too high blade settings.

One thing I like about the premium blade is that it does not have a fixed click between each setting, it is a completely linear dial, so you can set the blade more precisely. For example with a standard blade: on 120 micron media, a blade setting of 1 (= 100 micron) would not be enough so you would need to go to a setting of 2 (= 200 micron) which means you have a little bit more blade than is needed so you have to play with the thickness setting to compensate for this. With a premium blade, you can set the blade to around 1.2/1.3 so it is much closer to the thickness we actually need to cut, this allows for less messing about with thickness settings, less wear on your cutting mat & blade tip and reduced risk of chipping the blade tip.

A premium blade is more like the CB09UA blades we use in the Graphtec machines, where as the standard blades are more like the old CraftROBO blades.

[DJG]

Thanks Brian I haven't got a Premium blade yet because I still have several unused blades but I will make a note of what you've said.

[Neries]

Thanks Brian for your explanation, it puts my mind at rest. It will stay on my wish list for Christmas times 2, one each for my Cameo 3 and Curio. I did wonder on reading the various reviews it might be user error causing the bad reviews.

[grannyscrap]

Thanks Brian, I will certainly buy another because I do like it - even with my reservations lol. I didn't know that the tip chips easier, a useful bit of information. Thank you.