How I repaired my Big Shot !

Big shot repair

            Hi friends I am sure you can all relate to the feeling we experience when something we love breaks down! A cherished craft punch breaking down is enough to put me into minor depression so you can imagine how devastated I felt when my beloved Big Shot fell ill!! My Big Shot has been with me since August 2012 [here is one of my first Big Shot crafts]and though I am not a professional crafter its been put to some heavy use since I love to use die cuts extensively like in this Lantern

Die cut made Lantern

or this completely Die cut made 3 D Paper craft Chariot

Die cut made Chariot

              Shortly after the Big Shot's 2nd birthday it started acting cranky..it would only partially cut a die on one side. Analyzing  back, I think it was my fault as one of my acrylic cutting plates had cracked a few weeks before that and instead of replacing it immediately I kept on using it and I think that must have contributed to my poor big shot breaking down!

Big Shot repair

            Okay speeding up to what I did...phoned up the most knowledgeable crafty soul I knew [Crafters Corner owner and extremely talented crafter Shalini Mittal] and she diagnosed that a bearing must have broken down and that I should just open up my Big Shot!
            Does the thought of opening up the Big Shot give you the jitters...? Well I did get the jitters big time but after all I was a surgeon and I talked myself into being brave enough to perform an operation on my beloved Big Shot!Well we surgeons often call in an assistant for difficult cases and yeah you bet I called in my much more "tool savy" hubby to handle this particular case!

What do you need to repair your Big Shot

1. Courage! - yeah oodles of it as after all I bet its your most treasured crafty possession!
2. Camera- take photos at each step so that you dont panic when you want to put it back together and things dont fit !!
3. Container- to hold all the screws- believe me there are quite a few screws and washers and you dont want to lose anything!
4. Screw driver- nothing fancy - something you have at home will do.
5. Hammer - Am I serious? Unfortunately Yes ! Yeah each tap of the hammer will make your heart shudder but yes we do need it!
6. Spare-parts Source - this was the toughest one for me and I will tell you about it ..

Big Shot repair

          If you have mustered up the courage to repair your Big Shot , do follow a wonderfully written Big Shot bearing replacement instruction by Mechanical Engineering student Leumas Yrrep. His instructions have everything you need to repair your Big Shot.
           The reason I wrote this post is to give my  fellow crafters courage and reassurance that yes we can also repair it if the need arises ! For all technical jargon do read Leumas post  as I am trying to keep it simple here!

Put your Big Shot baby on its back and start unscrewing screws!    

Big Shot repair

Yeah take a deep breath ,gather more courage-- you can do it , and keep un-screwing more screws!There are 4 big ones in the center [ green arrows] and  lots of little ones on the sides [ red arrows]

Big Shot repair

I am not gender biased but  I have to acknowledge certain facts of life- in my home my hubby is 100 times better than me at repairing anything!So if you have a "tool savy"  hubby/boyfriend/brother/son/neighbor/anyone....ok you get what I mean.. do butter them into helping you ! If nothing else, they can be the villain and do the hammering bit when that comes and you wont have to hit your Big Shot darling!

Big Shot repair

Yes this is what I make my busy ENT Head and Neck Surgeon hubby do when he drops home for lunch!

Big Shot repair

Once you have unscrewed all the screws, pieces will start falling apart. Dont be scared...you will be able to fit it all back together!The side panels may require a bit of force to prise them apart.If you have the funny  L shaped metal [called allen key] your Big Shot came packed with use it to remove your Big Shot handle or simply rotate the handle screw and it will come off.

Big Shot repair

Once you remove the side panels, things really start to heat up as in become exciting!! You get to see inside your machine and what makes the baby tick and do all the magic!

Big Shot repair

The view above shows the big shot back on its usual working position but with the base removed  [it easily falls away on removing the screws] The 2 big gears are attached to bearings and the cylindrical rollers.

Big Shot repair

Your Big Shot has a total of 4 bearings [ on the ends of each roller] and the reason we read everywhere "do not force your platform- cutting plate- die - paper- cutting plate sandwich " is that if you force something too thick through your Big Shot, it can crush one of the Big Shot's bearings.

Big Shot repair

As soon as we opened my Big Shot, the crushed bearing parts fell off and the picture above shows the empty bearing socket with parts of the bearing still attached[ needed hammering to get out]

Big Shot repair

The picture above shows how the crushed bearing looks- many of the tiny balls in the bearing were crushed and rings deformed badly! When a bearing gets crushed the rollers of the Big Shot will not be able to give the needed uniform pressure to cut the die and replacing the bearing is all that it takes to repair your Big Shot.

How to procure a spare Big Shot Bearing

Big Shot repair

The biggest challenge I faced in repairing the Big Shot was getting the bearing. Check your good bearing to see what is written on it. Mine said NHC 6200 ZZ. Automobile spare part shops stock these bearings. In Bangalore and on an online easy spareparts.com  shop I was able to get 6200 Z [for Rupees 67!] and not 6200 ZZ.The 6200 Z was a millimeter smaller and wouldnt fit my Big shot bearing hole.

So options you have are 

1. Try auto spare-part shops - be sure to have a good bearing to compare with what they have and even better carry the central bearing - roller part with you to see if the bearing the seller gives you fits!
2. Try online shops 
3. Write to Sizzix - Shoma of Art Bug said sizzix sent her bearings free!
4. Ask crafters in your country if they know anyone who sells Big Shot spareparts

Option 4 worked for me! Shalini Mittal came to my rescue again and guided me to Reena Gupta who sold Big Shot spare parts.The bearing she sent me was not 6200 ZZ but it fit perfectly!!

How to fit your bearing into the Big Shot

            Follow Leumas instructions to fit your bearing into your Big Shot...this requires the most finesse and courage because getting the bearing to fit into the central shaft attached to your roller requires hammering !! If you are too hard your bearing will get crushed and if you are too timid you wont be able to fit your bearing on to the shaft! [ yeah its a sort of paradox!]

           Once your bearing is fit, the rest is like a jigsaw puzzle...whatever you removed is fit back...We undertook the bearing replacement and final Big Shot reassembly on a Sunday but my hubby had to visit the hospital to see his operated patients and I was too impatient to wait for him and attempted to reassemble it myself. Well I did feel pretty foolish when what I was trying to do for 2 hours he came back from the hospital and completed in 10 mins flat!!

For Big Shot owners who are in India

I want to give a shout out to Reena Gupta from whom I managed to get my Big Shot bearing [ I am in no way connected to her - I am just a grateful crafter! In fact I could have hugged her when I got my Big Shot working!!]
Reena sells Big Shot spare-parts like Big Shot bearings,  handle pin and horse shoe shaped spare-part called circlip.
Reena also undertakes Big Shot repairs ! So if your Big shot falls sick and  you are scared , you can get the professionals to do the diagnosing and repairing for you!
My Big Shot is back to life!
Yeah my Big Shot is truly kicking and back to life now! And I made this die cut laden Pop up card

Pop Up card

full of fluttering butterflies to celebrate!

Pop up card

Yeah I really went to town with intricate die cuts in this pop up card...but I think you can understand why...I had been missing my die cutting machine and was so glad to have it back!!
I hope this post about repairing the Big Shot the amateur way will be of help. Do tell me if any of you have had the Big shot/ other die cutting machine breaking down and how you dealt with it....I will edit this post and link to your blog.It will be of help to so many crafters out there.