DIY Bride L Letterpress Review

Khris — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:13:39 +0000

Though I haven’t had much of a chance to really play with my newly acquired L Letterpress Kit, I wanted to give my first impressions since a lot of you have been asking about it. Plate Quality Issues First off, I can attest that there is a problem with breaking plates. The first plate I used snapped on the very first run. This pretty much made that plate as unusable. Not good.

You can see where the plate snapped - on the first run - rendering it unusable.

Die Machine Compatibility There have been mixed reports about whether the L Let can be used in other die cutting machines. Yes, it can. I report that it works in my Cuttlebug (Provo Craft) and others have reported it works great in the Big Shot (Sizzix). There’s absolutely no wiggle room, width-wise, in the Cuttlebug but it ran right through. Inks
L Letterpress Gold & Silver Inks

The gold and silver inks are really pretty.
Clean up of the plates, lid, and packing mats is really easy. I used baby wipes (having a 10 month old is paying off!) and the ink came up with minimal scrubbing. FWIW: Pampers Natural Aloe Unscented wipes were used. Please thank Zion for his contribution to this experiment.
The inks are oil-based. Work in a well-ventilated area. The odor can be overpowering in confined spaces.

Ease of UseThe machine is very, very easy to use.

The grid system on the lid and mat is tremendously helpful for accurate placement.
If you’ve ever used a die cutting machine before, this will be super intuitive. If you haven’t, don’t worry! It’ll likely take newbies just a few minutes to get up and running.

Notes

Definitely check out the L Letterpress tips over at Boxcar Press. As Harold mentions, get a better brayer (the roller that applies ink). I happened to have a soft roller from Speedball (around $13.00) and it’s much better than the one supplied by Lifestyle Crafts. A good roller will make a world of difference in ink application.
Paper is also important. Regular cardstock won’t take an impression – or a very good one. Get proper uncoated cotton paper. See my list here of paper resources.
An unexpected use of the L Letterpress kit: use it with unmounted acrylic or rubber stamps for perfect stamping placement each time. Stick the stamp to the lid and the paper on the base like you would for a letterpress run, ink your stamp, press the top plate onto the paper (manually or through the machine). Stamps won’t deboss but they will leave a perfectly placed image behind.

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DIY Bride L Letterpress Review