Kitebuilder.com

[Steve D]

For those like me who haven't worked with a rotary cutter before - here's a word of caution - they're SHARP! Very sharp!

Connie picked up a cutter and a mat for me the other day at our local JoAnn's. I was trying it out, cutting a couple of little sled skins from a trash bag and noticed a small 'bump' as I cut along the edge of my template.

After I finished and pulled the template away I noticed an odd piece of something lying on tip of the plastic. On closer inspection I realixed that it wasn't a piece of plastic or part of the poster board template - it was a little hunk of skin!! The bump I'd felt was the end of my finger.

Fortunately I didn't cut it deep enough to draw blood but I did learn a valuable lesson.

[Dorsal]

Yep! They really are that sharp. I have a 25mm and a 37mm OLFA, and my wife just bought me a 65mm Fiskar. I'll bet that big sucker would roll over the whole finger without slowing down if a person weren't VERY careful!

Kids, Don't try this at home - We're trained professionals!

(Now, where's that big roll of bandage material, and the duct tape?)
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"The wind is the perfect reminder of God.
The only way we can prove it exists is by observing the things it affects. "
Dennis
AuctionSniper.com

[KiteSquid]

DONT buy spare blades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy a sharpener that is designed for the job of sharpening them!!!!

a lot cheeper in the long run!!!!!!

ALWAYS PUT THE BLADE GUARD IN PLACE AFTER CUTTING!!!!!!!! This I learned the hard way!!!!!!!!!

A cheeper alternative to the rotary cutter is a snap off blade knife but you will have to press harder on you pattern to keep the fabric in place while cutting it.

I usually reach for my rotary cutter first.

The larger the wheel the straighter it will cut and the less often you will have to sharpen it!!!!
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VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA


P.S. Yet another post by the Squid..... Doesent he ever shut up???

P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier.

[Gary]

I'm sending all my dull blades to Harold for sharpening. I've got one the sharpeners and never did get it to sharpen a blade back to usefulness.

Most of the mats for rotary cutters have instructions that specifically say do NOT use a knife of any kind on them. For snap blade cutting I use rubber mats from Tandy that are intended for tooling leather. They are sold to dampen the noise of the hammer blows, but they are actually best for driving punches in to. They are also great for setting eyelets. The 'face' doesn't flatten out against the soft rubber mat.
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good heavens;
Gary E

[KiteSquid]

Gary,

Send em on out!!!!!!!

I'll sharpen em so you will get cut just looking at em....

send me your sharpener too so I can see what is wrong wiht it, or if it was just Operator Error
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA


P.S. Yet another post by the Squid..... Doesent he ever shut up???

P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier.

[Steve D]

Harold,

I managed to scrape my rotary cutter blade across a steel ruler today and not have a small spot on it that isn't sharp. Don't want to replace a nearly new blade. Where might I find a sharpener for rotary blades? Mine is a Fiskars...

[KiteSquid]

First go to Wall-Mart and see if they carry it.... ASK someone if they do.

I wally world cant save you a few $'s go to the fabric store and look arond the notions and by the quilting notions too, if you cant find em ASK... They are not always near the cutters.

The sharpeners work for one diameter of blade, regardless of brand.

If the nick is bad, the sharpener will not help as they are not very aggressive, just a hone of sorts...

300 grit sandpaper on the coarse side and 600 on the fine side, I think.... but I removed the coarse side and replaced it with crocus cloth. I get a SHARP blade when I am done.

To get a deep nick out of a blade might take tooooooo much work even on the coarse side.

If just a few minutes of work does not take out the nick, I would recommend you replace the blade.

I purchased a 5 pack of blades and have them SHARP and I don’t sharpen till I am done with a kite project, I just put in a fresh blade.

I usually get several kites out of a blade, but I use the 60 mm one so the blade makes fewer revolutions for the same length of cut of a 45 mm blade.

The larger the diameter the blade the straighter your cuts will be, so if you have a lot of curves get a small diameter blade and vice versa.
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA


P.S. Yet another post by the Squid..... Doesent he ever shut up???

P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier.

[Steve D]

I just took a look at the blade. Its doesn't appear to be a bad nick (hard to even call it a nick - just a sorta dull spot on the blade. Think something more of a hone would be just the ticket...

I'll check the fabric stores.

BTW - whats crocus cloth?

[KiteSquid]

I wish somebody made one with a replaceable Diamond hone in medium, fine and extra fine....

I might have to build one for myself...

the sand paper is OK but there is not enough choices in grits, as I like to have an assortment not just the 2 that they come with.... 4 or more would be better.

Maybe I should buy a second one and just replace the sand papaer with some difffrent grits...

I am just talking in circles now...about circular knife blades.
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA


P.S. Yet another post by the Squid..... Doesent he ever shut up???

P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier.

[KiteSquid]

Crocus cloth is fine sand paper like stuff. it is an abresive embede in a denim like cloth

fine polishing can be done on metals.


Think of it as abotu 4000 grit sandpaper

look at Emery Cloth too
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA


P.S. Yet another post by the Squid..... Doesent he ever shut up???

P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier.