Cutter 3 of 3: The Black Cat Lynx

As some of you may know, my Black Cat Lynx was delivered on Friday May 20, slightly over 2 months after I have ordered it. This was the second cutter that I ordered after the PC-MTC lawsuit and it is the last of the three to arrive. I paid $529 ($499+$30 shipping) on March 15 and I was excited when the Fed-Ex truck finally delivered with it.

Now, before I show you the box, let me show you the package that I received 2 weeks prior. Sherri (That's Scrap Inc.) had mailed out to all her Lynx customers a Welcome Pack that included  a welcome letter, a BLACK (woo hoo!) USB cord, and 2 blades (45deg and 60deg). Also included was a chart that listed the types of blades and blade holders and their uses. It is a very useful guide and I was glad to receive it.

This is the box that the pint-size Fed-Ex delivery girl handed to me. The box was so big I could barely see her but when I asked if it was heavy, her answer was a chirpy "No. Not at all!" :-)

 The shipping label stated that the package weighed 28lbs but it felt more bulky than heavy.

Here is the box with the outer plastic covering removed.

The box was stapled closed and not taped. I easily removed the staples and was totally expecting to see another box inside but instead....

...I saw a "cat" looking straight back at me.

Before I could take the cutter out of the box, I had to first remove the cutting mat and a smaller box.

The smaller box includes a blue USB cable, a white Serial cable, the power adapter, 3 blades (2x 45deg, 1 60deg), a pen holder (for testing), 2 pen ink refills only (for testing), 1 original blade holder, and one cd. I knew from the welcome package that I had received 2 weeks ago that I really don't need the blue USB cable and the serial cable. Nor do I need the cd or the blades.

This is the Lynx out of the box.

And here it is out of the plastic cover. I found a red piece of vinyl under the cutter. Probably from the factory testing. 

Here is the control panel.

I really appreciate that this unit has the 4-way direction buttons. In fact, at first glance I understood what all the buttons on the Control Panel were for. In case anyone is wondering, the button in the middle of the 4-way direction buttons is to set the Origin (or blade starting point). 

I noticed that, like the blue cd that came in the smaller box, the screen of the Lynx is labelled "Vinyl Cutter". I'll talk more about that at a later time.

Here is the Lynx and the Silhouette together.  The Lynx is the biggest cutter that I have while the Silhouette is the smallest. I thought that in this picture, the Lynx looks like it's about to eat up the Silhouette. LOL!

"Nom, nom, nom,....."

The Lynx is almost as wide as the Cricut Expression but it is deeper (broader?) and is very much taller.  

The Power On/Off button is on the left side of the Lynx.

The Lynx weighs almost 19 lbs, and this includes the blade and blade holder and without all the packaging materials and cable ties.

Here is a closer look at the original blade holder and the blades that came with the welcome package.

The instructions to using the Lynx with Make-the-Cut must be downloaded from the Black Cat forum. I downloaded 2 sets of instructions: One is a 36-min long video tutorial that took me about an hour to download while the the second is a written manual for the Cougar cutters.  I only referred to a few pages in the written manual, particularly the pages about the testing pen and the blade holders. I was very impressed by how detailed the instructions are. The photos were clearly labelled (How refreshing!). The video tutorial showed me a lot of information. It covers everything from getting the cutter out of the box to making a cut with it from Make-the-Cut. 

The written manual comes in the form of  PDF file so although I am showing a small sample  of it here, the page can actually be enlarged until it's pretty big in Adobe Acrobat.

Thanks Dawn for giving permission to show this on my blog.

After putting the cutter on my table, and happy noticing that it did not leave any black marks on my white table, I decided to follow the instructions on the written manual and test the Lynx by using the pen that came with it.

The "pen" is really a ball-point pen ink refill in a black holder. As instructed in the written manual, I wrapped some tape around the holder so that the clamp can better hold it in place.

Using the same Provencial Princess frame that I had used for test-cutting on my Silhouette and Gazelle reviews, I used Make-the-Cut to get the Lynx to "cut" (i.e. to draw). The drawing turned out looking sharp. The two circles that I tested looked good as well.

Next, I switched out the pen for the loaded original blade holder. The video tutorial demonstrated using the Lynx with the Click Blade Holder but on the two times that I had asked to buy the Click Blade Holder, it was sold out, and so I was only able to use the original blade holder with this cutter.

The instructions that I downloaded from the forum were crucial in helping me learn the Lynx. If you have ordered the Lynx and are awaiting for its arrival, you may want to download and watch the Quick Start video first. Just sign into the Black Cat forum with the log in info that was emailed to you when you bought the cutter and download the video from the Manuals Section.

The Black Cat Lynx

(If you use this machine with Make-the-Cut, please add your opinions about this machine under the COMMENTS section of this post. Please only comment if you use the Lynx. If I see any comments on this page about any other cutters, I will move or delete it. Thank you.)

picture from thatsscrapinc.com

MSRP: $499.00


Websites:

http://thatsscrapinc.com/ 

http://www.thymegraphics.co.uk/

The following user review is contributed by Tyler. Tyler is a frequent poster on the MTC Forum. He has very kindly written this review of the Lynx on my request. Thank you Tyler for taking the time to share your reviews with us.

--------------------------------------------start of review---------------------------------------

Black Cat Lynx
The updated Black Cat Lynx was introduced March 12, 2011. It is very similar to the old Lynx with a few upgraded components and a different color.

Look:
This machine takes after its big brother, the Cougar. It has a black sleek shine to with a 4x8 high resolution LCD Display and a green backlight. There are 10 silica buttons, and while they are not in the same layout as the cougar machine, they do have the same functionality. There are three pinch rollers/foot clamps that anchor the media within the machine, and they too match the exterior dark shine. Unlike the cougar, this machine does not have a tool compartment for storing those extra blades and accessories.

Construct:
Constructed with aluminum, this machine is built to last. The only plastic parts on it are the end caps, which are only present for looks and protection; they have nothing to do with the quality of cutting. The inner workings of the machine are compartmentalized and allow for simple and cheap repairs if needed, though that rarely happens. The grit shaft is also completely metal, and you can trust me when I say that they will securely hold your media firmly within the cutting bay. The only downside to this construct is the machine is heavier than those made of plastic, meaning it may be more difficult for some to travel with. That being said, I prefer my machine to have a metal construct, as plastic can bend and morph overtime and I don’t want that to happen to the machine or affect the cutting capabilities. While it might be heavier, I like the added strength provided by the aluminum when traveling. 

Capabilities:
The new Lynx is compatible with all of the cougar accessories, other than the current end table (though that may change soon as the machine has only just been announced). That means it can do all the embossing, debossing, etching, cutting, writing, and engraving the cougar can do. The only limitation to this machine is the thickness of the material that is able to be cut. This machine puts out ~500g of pressure, which is more than enough to cut all the vinyl, paper, heavy cardstock, and even thin cardboard that can be thrown at it. With the thicker materials, the user will want to use a deep cut blue plus blade. Unless you are cutting heavy chipboard, this machine will fit your needs nicely. 

Cutting:
The machine has a minimum speed of 50 mm/s and progresses by 50 mm/s increments all the way up to its maximum speed of 600 mm/s, which can come in handy when cutting out a lot of simple repeat shapes. It has the same detail capabilities as does the cougar and will allow you cut just about any design the paper can handle (I have actually cut designs where the lines got so thin that the paper couldn’t stand the stress/lack of support and broke, not because the machine did a bad cut, but because the paper couldn’t be cut that thin). In addition, the Lynx is compatible with Black Cat’s detail blade holder and click holder which allow for further detail. The mechanical precision of the machine is 0.025 mm with repeat accuracy of +/-0.1 mm. Without a doubt, this machine can do some very high quality cuts! Its max cutting width is 12 inches, though it will hold media that is 16.25 inches wide, and you can cut at an infinite length (good for those of you into vinyl)!

The precision is important to the success of this machine’s Print and Cut capabilities. That, along with the laser guided alignment, allow for delicate contour cuts to be performed (especially when done in Signcut).

Though not a cutting feature per se, the Lynx allows the front lid to easily lift up allowing you to draw with any size pen/marker/glue pen available. The Black Cat Pen Tool is recommended to do this (though I did it without the pen tool, just using some masking tape). It did equally well with the pen as it did cutting. I was able to write single stroke font text at 14 pt and easily read it. I did not test any smaller.

Software:
The machine is both MAC and PC compatible (runs on all versions of Windows) and runs exceptionally through the traditional Black Cat combination of Inkscape/Adobe Illustrator/Corel Draw and Signcut or through Make The Cut!. Future Sure Cuts A Lot support is in the making. The programs do not allow the user to set the force or velocity within the program; they must be set on the machine. Users can purchase MTC! Or Signcut for about $60 (Inkscape is free). This machine does not have a USB stick slot, but it does allow for communication to your PC by either a USB or Serial port.

Customer Service:
While I would normally never consider this as section of a review, the Black Cat Cutter’s customer service is second to none. I have never gotten quicker replies or better service than I have with this company.  And with the same operation as the cougar, more users are immediately available to assist the novice user despite this being a newly released machine. Black Cat Cutters also allows you to upgrade to the Cougar if you decide to at a later point.

Ease of Use:
I am not going to lie. The first time I used the Lynx, I had a little bit of trouble. Not because the machine is hard to use (it is the same as a Cougar), but because I had come from using a Cricut machine. Before, when using the Cricut, I had practically no settings to worry about. This machine allows you to do so much more that they can’t simply have just a “load mat” button. Luckily, their Quick Start Manual answered all my questions and walked me through step by step. By the end, I had the machine functioning without a problem and I just needed to get used to how it cut. I have occasionally asked questions on how to do something, and have received wonderful and accurate help.

Price:
Compared to what you are getting, the price is very competitive at $499 in the US and €359 in the UK. They were able to lower it about $190 from the cougar price by taking out a reset button, some of the force, and speed settings (though the maximum speed is still the same as the cougar). That puts a very high quality, professional grade machine in the range of many of the basic to intermediate crafting cutters. 

Overall:
While the Cougar is still king, Black Cat Cutters has done a great job with the new Lynx. It allows those who are mainly vinyl, paper, cardstock, and thin cardboard crafters to have the Black Cat quality at an affordable price. I have been very pleased with the Lynx and expect it to be a very popular machine in the crafting and cutting community. It is not a machine that will be easily overlooked by those looking to get involved in cutting community or those looking to upgrade, and those that own it will be pleasantly surprised with its capabilities.


It can be purchased at http://thatsscrapinc.com/ in the USA or http://www.thymegraphics.co.uk/ in the UK.

--------------------------------------------end of review---------------------------------------

Thank you, Tyler for the detailed review.

Everyone, if you are using this machine, please add your own review to the COMMENTS section below.

Thanks so much!