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If you're cutting pads have rickets like these,
I'll show you the cure in this video. Hi this is Sage Kimble and I'm the Mad
Stamper
with another video on tips for card makers and paper crafters.
In children, rickets are the result of vitamin D deficiency
characterized by bowed legs. Vitamin D won't help your bowed cutting pads of
course, but these tips will.
Flat Cutting Pads are absolutely essential when using
Framelits and the Magnetic Platform. The cutting pad has to be flush against the
platform.
If there's space under the pad like there is
you can see when I push down, then the magnet won't hold the Framelit and it
can shift when you're building your sandwich and putting it through the Big
Shot
which isn't a problem if you're just cutting plain Card Stock.
See them magnet isn't holding this at all.
But it is a problem if you're centering
a stamped image in the Framelit because
it can shift way to easily and you'll get
a bad cut. So how did these pads get rickets?
Every time you run the Cutting Pads with a Framelit
through the Big Shot, the roller puts so much pressure
in the center where the Framelit is
that the ends start curling
up away from the platform. As these pads started to bow, my tendency was to
place
the bottom pad with the center flat against the platform and the curled
edges
out at the ends so the magnet would secure the Framelit.
You can see
that this one will hold it
if I've got the bowed side down.
But doing this over and over only increased
the warping effect. So how do you fix warped pads?
You'll have to work on flattening them again.
If they're not too bad, you can use them with the curled
edges against the platform
every time and eventually they'll flatten out. However
if your pads are so warped that you can't keep your Framelits in place
like these are, you'll need to take more drastic measures.
Well maybe not that drastic?!
Cutting pads are acrylic and become somewhat malleable
when gently heated. So if you put them in the oven with some weight on them,
they'll flatten out. First wrap each pad
in aluminum foil. Lay them on a
cookie sheet with the bowed side
facing up. Then take
a Pyrex baking dish and put it on top. But you can see that
it doesn't cover the entire surface of the pads.
So what I like to do is put only one pad
and a cookie sheet and
I'll put this one and another. Nw you place this
on an oven rack and add water till it's about two-thirds full
to give it plenty of weight. Turn the oven on to 350ยก and set your
timer for 20 minutes.
Check the pads and if they aren't flat yet, return them to the oven.
Set your timer for another 10 minutes and check again.
Remember some ovens are hotter than others
and you CAN DAMAGE the pads if they're left in too long.
After an hour in my oven, the pads hadn't flattened much
if any. So I increased the temperature and continued to add more time.
This pad fared pretty well and although
it's not totally flat, the magnet
will hold the Framelit even when I
tipped it up like this. I'll just be careful to place the bowed side up every
time I
use it until it flattens the rest of the way. The pad on the bottom rack got
ruined however.
I think that's because the heat hits the bottom
rack so intensely. Anyway be warned and watch over the pads like a hawk.
Once your pads are flat, you can prevent warping them
again by flipping the pads over each time you use them.
I've now marked my pads with an A side
and a B side. I take note of which side I used the last time
I used them and flip them over
the next time. A posti-it on my magnetic platform
helps me remember which side should face up.
If you like the card making and paper crafting tips you learned today, be sure
to
click on the Subscribe button below the video.
For more inspiration and instruction, be sure to visit me on my website
at www.stampingmadly.com,
the Stamping Madly Facebook page, and the MadStamper YouTube channel.
Happy stamping!