Die Cut Girl Blog

Sunday, April 1, 2012

KNK Zing Cutting Machine - My Review

I promised a review of my KNK Zing cutting machine so here it is. I absolutely, unconditionally, without a doubt - LVE IT! I am so excited to own it and very pleased.

Why do I love it? It cuts beautifully. I have been able to make the most detailed swirls and designs that my previous die cutting machine simply choked on. It allows me to cut all kinds of materials. The WYSIWYG mode is handy when I need to cut an entire page. When I just need to cut 1 or 2 items I can use the Knife mode and only use a small portion of my paper or use up even the smallest of scraps. The Print and Cut, all I can say here is that it's fabulous. It did require some set up to get everything aligned properly, but I will likely never have to do that again. Even if I do, I wrote down the settings so I'm ready to go. I have been able to cut my print jobs out perfectly!!! The embossing tool is awesome for scoring lines. I haven't used it to actually emboss, but that is on my to-do list. I've also been able to use to draw with my metallic gel pens and my glue pen. It's so much fun!

What's really great is that it aligns up perfectly over and over and over again. My previous die cutting machine never cut in the same place twice and never cut exact. Everything was skewed. Not the Zing. I can score then cut or do multicuts, whatever I want and it cuts exactly right. Everything comes out perfectly sized, all my pieces line up. It's a dream come true for me.

I did my research before purchasing and had heard a few people comment that it was "too complicated" so I want to address that now. First let me say that the 170 plus page manual is a bit overwhelming. For me, I worked through the first couple chapters and then just went to specific areas as I needed them. Although the size of the manual is overwhelming, it's actually nice to have so much information available. Is the machine complicated? I guess that depends on the person using it and their desires. If you are looking for something that you can just slip in a piece of paper and maybe make one setting, this is not the die cutting machine for you. Keep in mind that if you are looking for die cutting machine that simple, you are likely to have more crumpled paper than cut paper. I personally don't think it's that complicated. Yes you have to set the blade depth; you have choices for speed and pressure. You have to remember to adjust the offset when changing blades, pens etc. You get to choose from three different cutting modes (Knife Point, WYSIWYG, Print And Cut). And finally you must set your blade origin or 3 pt registration with Print And Cut. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too much at all. I think all the settings are what allow it to do such beautiful cut jobs on all kinds of materials. If you are the type of person who just wants to cut something from purchased cartridge then this may be too much for you. But if you are like me and want to make your own cut files, then this machine is perfect.

I highly recommend the KNK Zing computerized cutting machine.

4 comments:

  1. I love mine too. It's very versatile. I didn't have any cutting experience but playing, following the tons of tutorials and the forums get you around most, if not all, matters.

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  2. I had an ecrap for about 2 weeks before the zing. Two different animals though so I don't think that really counts for experience. I totally agree that it's very versatile. Love the video tutorial that are out there. I found one on using a glue pen in it and it works really nice.

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  3. I've been looking into purchasing a die-cutting machine for about a year now. I will be working with soft wood such as balsa or chipwood and vinyl. I have seen where the knk zing will cut wood, but have you had any experience cutting it?

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  4. I would like to use my own designs, ie cut out doll patterns and use Illustrator designs, but can't seem to get them on the virtual mat. Only just got my Zing, yay.

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