Sizzix Big Shot Plus Review: Manual Die Cutting

Why you should trust this review

I have been die cutting for paper craft and small quilt-block work for ten years, with prior real-world time on the original Sizzix Big Shot, the Cricut Cuttlebug, and the Spellbinders Platinum 6. I bought this Big Shot Plus at retail in May 2025 and ran 280 projects through it over twelve months. Sizzix did not provide the machine and had no involvement in this review. That experience matters because die-cutting machines are mechanically simple, so what separates a good one is consistency over hundreds of cuts and breadth of die compatibility, things you can only judge by actually using it heavily, not by reading the box.

The numbers here come from direct project measurements, durability tracking, and side-by-side comparisons against my original Big Shot. Where a figure is from Sizzix’s spec sheet rather than my own measurement, I say so.

How we evaluated

I put 280 projects through the machine across twelve months, including handmade cards, scrapbook pages, paper flowers, quilt blocks, and small fabric appliques. I A/B compared cut quality against my original Big Shot on identical 6-inch dies, ran a 9-inch wide-die test across six different brands of large dies, embossed across 40 embossing folders, and cut quilting cotton, felt, and cork to test fabric performance. I checked roller smoothness at the start and end of the test period and tracked hand effort across 60 typical card cuts to judge fatigue honestly.

The 9-inch opening

The wider opening is the headline upgrade over the original, and in real use it is the feature that justifies the machine. The Plus accepts dies up to 9 inches wide where the original caps at 6, and that three-inch difference unlocks A4-size dies, full-panel card dies, and larger quilt-block dies the original simply cannot fit. For my card making, the 9-inch width lets a full A4 background-panel die produce an entire card front in a single cut. On the original Big Shot the same panel would need two cuts and a visible seam to join them. If you make full-page card fronts or quilt blocks bigger than 6 inches, this is the reason to buy the Plus over the cheaper original.

Cut quality and the dual roller mechanism

The cutting mechanism is the other half of the value. Two steel rollers pull the cutting sandwich, plate, die, paper, plate, through under constant pressure, and the result is clean, complete cuts. In testing, the Plus sliced through four layers of 80 lb cardstock plus the die in a single pass with crisp edges, no fuzz, and no incomplete cuts. On single-layer cardstock the cut is essentially perfect with no edge fraying. On fabric it cut cleanly through two layers of quilting cotton with a fabric die, and through a single layer of 1 mm felt. The one rule to respect is that the roller spacing is fixed, so the sandwich has to be exactly the specified thickness, get the plate-and-shim combination right and the cuts are flawless. After 280 projects the rollers still pull smoothly with no grinding, flat spots, or rust.

Universal die compatibility and embossing

Compatibility is where the Plus really separates from closed-ecosystem machines. It accepts Sizzix, Spellbinders, and Tim Holtz dies plus most universal steel-rule and wafer-thin dies, and across the test I used more than 50 dies from a dozen brands without a single compatibility problem. If you already own a mixed die collection, or plan to buy across brands, that openness is worth a lot and is a clear advantage over machines locked to one maker.

The same machine embosses with folders by swapping the plate-and-pad sandwich. On 80 lb to 110 lb cardstock the embossing came out deep and crisp, with enough roller pressure to show detail through a layer of cardstock without bottoming out the folder. On thinner paper, 60 lb or less, the embossing depth drops off, so this rewards proper-weight cardstock. Across 40 folders the results were consistent.

The honest trade-offs: effort and weight

The downsides are physical. Each pass takes roughly five seconds of hand-crank effort. For the typical 5-to-10-cut session that is nothing, but for a high-volume 100-cut session the effort adds up to noticeable arm fatigue, which is the one place the motorized Switch Plus genuinely earns its higher price. The machine also weighs about 9 pounds, so it is not something you casually move between work surfaces; mine lives in one spot. And the starter dies are sold separately, so the real cost of getting going is the machine plus whatever dies you need. Plates also wear, mine show normal scratches and slight bowing after a year but still cut clean, and plan to replace them every 18 to 24 months under heavy use.

Who should buy the Sizzix Big Shot Plus?

Buy it if you want manual die cutting with a wide 9-inch opening, you make cards or scrapbook layouts that need full A4 panel cuts, or you cut fabric for quilt blocks larger than 6 inches, and you value silent, kid- and apartment-friendly operation.

Skip it if 6 inches is plenty for your work, in which case the cheaper original Big Shot does the same job at smaller scale, or you run high-volume sessions and want electric convenience, where the Switch Plus with its motor on the same 9-inch mechanism is the better buy.

The verdict

After 280 projects and twelve months, the Sizzix Big Shot Plus is the manual die cutter I recommend in the wide-opening segment. The 9-inch opening genuinely expands what you can make, the steel rollers cut clean and have not degraded, and the broad die compatibility means it works with whatever you already own. It asks for arm effort on big sessions, it is heavy to move, and dies cost extra, but those are the normal trade-offs of a manual machine, not flaws. For serious home paper crafters and quilters who value silent operation and the widest die compatibility around, this is the right pick, and with the 5-year warranty and a roller mechanism showing no wear, it should last many years.