Can this help reduce cutting time?!

[liston319]

I haven't been on here for a while and frankly I haven't stitched any bags for about 4 months (so sad!) because of getting bored with cutting out panels! I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to use one of these cutters to help cut panels out, and if so, do they work well?!

http://www.amazon.com/12210-Bidex-heavy ... 32&sr=1-21

or this cutter with the lever arm -

http://www.amazon.com/Swingline-Classic ... 332&sr=1-9

P.S. Matt Cross - Since you may mention this, I have read the thread about faster cutting times with magnets, but for some reason I can't for the life of me get that to work!!

[mc]

What's going wrong for you with the magnet method?

[liston319]

Well from what I have tried with that technique, each pentagon progressively gets smaller in the stack in between the magnets! I don't know how to correct this so that's the reason for this post asking if those would help!

[mahhkohh]

what you posted is.... well not a good idea. the blades are not sharp enough, just because they are made for paper cutting not fabric. so dont even bother. not to speak of the long arms wich will make long cuts and produce loads of scraps and waste fabric....

i think getting a sharper scissor might help with your magnet method problem. also try less layers of fabric. when i use this method i cut 4 panels at a time max. as sad as it is, there is no way around cutting panels. maybe laser cuting, but not everyone has a laser cutting machine at home right now. tho i love to have one too

[liston319]

Okay cool, that was the answer I thought I was going to get! I just wanted a few opinions on the matter before I scrapped the idea. Using less layers of fabric with the magnet method should work at least a little better so I guess that's where I'll go from here! Thanks for the response! Yeah laser cutting would be nice...oh well!

[jaust]

i've been using a rotary knife. if you draw the panels and cut it with a rotary knife it's way faster than doing it with a scissor. but its still slower than the magnet method but you'll waste less fabric.

but you will need a special cutting mat or a glass plate to cut on it to keep the blade sharp. but a big disadvantage is that the blades are pretty expensive (a single blade costs about 3€).

here i've found a rotary cutter like the one i used on fields:

http://www.fieldsfabricsonline.com/Olfa ... 14968.html

[mc]

If the panels are coming out in different sizes when you use the magnet method, you need to make sure that you are cutting perfectly perpendicularly to the template. Different sized panels means you are cutting at an angle that is not 90 degrees.

It also helps to have scissors that are sharpened regularly. The sharper the scissors are, the easier it will be for you to make the cuts smoothly and accurately in one snip. Keep trying. Also remember that, although having perfectly even panels is good, the panels do not have to be PERFECT to make a great footbag.