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In today’s post I will be reviewing; Basic Grey Notch and Die tool
Product Details
- Manufacturer/Brand; Basic Grey
- Item number TOL-327
- RRP at time of writing: £23- £25
Reason For Buying
I have been trying to get hold of one of these tools for about three years! The concept is that you can cut a variety of ‘notches’ in your card stock to use as decorative features or as closures. I want to use this for closures for books.
Pros/Cons
Pros
- Small and compact
- Self stores; it comes in its own tin which is foam lined and perfectly stores the hand tool and the various cutting heads
- A good size for closures and features on smaller projects.
- Has three interchangeable heads, one straight blade, one curved half moon blade, and one v shaped.
- Lots of ideas for closures on a card that comes with the tool
Cons
- If you have limited dexterity like me, then you are likely to struggle to use this tool.
- Sadly the blades just don’t seem very sharp. I was only trying to cut through 220 gsm card stock and later 160 gsm and both times it tool a HUGE amount of effort to get the tool to cut. More than I could manage and felt a lot of pain after using the tool. (RSI)
Build Quality
- The tool itself is really well made, the hand tool has a rubber grip and is comfortable in the hand.
- The magnets that hold the tool heads in place are excellent, they hold well but are easy to remove.
- The let down is that the blades seem reluctant to cut card. Since this is the primary purpose of the tool, I was disappointed by the results.
Value for Money
I was lucky and picked mine up in a sale for £9.99 and for that price I don’t feel too crushed at the results. Had I paid the full rrp of £23 + then I would have been extremely disappointed and probably tried to return it to the shop as not fit for purpose.
Would I buy it Again?
I want to say yes, the idea is fantastic, the results if you have MAN muscles are wonderful. But unless you have a lot of brute strength then I have to say no.
Had I had the opportunity to try this in a class before purchase, then I would not have bought it.
Summing up
A great idea, but sadly the blunt blades make this a tool that is hard to use. This is a great shame, as it has so much potential.
Struggles to do what it says on the tin 😦 The packaging suggests the tool can also cut chipboard, leather and plastic! You would need massive strength to achieve this though!
Links
Here is a link to the manufacturers
I really hate giving a bad review of things. I really wanted this tool and in fairness others had warned me that it was hard to use, but not given more details about what made it hard to use. I guess if Basic Grey had made the blades sharp there would be more danger in removing the tips from the storage case to put them into the hand tool, as you have to get hold of the heads by the blade to remove them from the box.
Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon
Billie 🙂
thanks for the review Billie, very helpful!
Hi Dymphie
Your welcome 🙂 I had heard that the tool wasn’t that great but no one said WHY. As I had found it for such a good price I figured it was worth a go. Interestingly DH had the same trouble with it, so I can’t even blame my poor dexterity for not being able to use it. Stick to We R Memory Keepers products their Crop A Dile range in its various forms is SOOO much better.
Good to see you
Billie 🙂
So sorry you have had problems with this tool Billie as I know you were keen to get it.
When you first mentioned it to me I found a Youtube video about it and the lady demonstrating it said it wasn’t easy and she used a hammer with the heads instead of the handle which quite defeats the whole object I thought 😦
It is a shame you had to spend a tenner to find out it wasn’t man enough for the job.
Hugs
Lynn x
Hi Lynn
Yes it was a shame but hey, for £10 you can’t be too upset, it would have been worse if I’d paid the £25-30 or so I’d seen this tool for before. I haven’t the dexterity for hammers, so I’ll stick to Crop A Diles and try and get a small circle punch with a leaver for the cut in option from the tool. If you still have the link to the video you saw, Please can you post it for me? I’d like to have a look.
hugs
Billie 🙂
Here you go Billie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkqrUYqSIFY
The sound quality isn’t brilliant though.
I wouldn’t like to use a hammer as I can imagine how many times my fingers would get hit 🙂
hugs
Lynn x