How do you sharpen a rotary cutter?
By sheila hagen from Boise,Idaho
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I didn't know you could sharpen them. I just buy new blades.
I found a rotary blade sharpener at Walmart several years ago. Since most Walmart stores are doing away with their craft & sewing departments (bah!) they may not carry them any more.
You may be able to sharpen them with a Dremel sharpener attachment, but a rotary blade is much thinner than most of the blades the Dremmel attachment is made for. So, it probably would'nt work very well.
I did find a package of replacement blades a couple of years ago for a very reasonable price. I think it was $7.95 for 25 blades at a fabric "mill ends"outlet store.
I keep one rotary cutter for cutting paper and interfacing, and another one for cutting fabric. That's because paper and interfacing dulls the blades much faster than fabric does. That way I don't go thru as many blades.
Pat T in Nevada
Patom's answer reminded me of what my granny always told us. She had special scissors for cloth and others for paper, etc. She made sure we never used her "good" scissors for paper or anything except cutting cloth.
To keep paper punches and scissors sharp, I have read to cut through aluminum foil. I have no idea whether this would help sharpen rotary blades, but you might give it a try.
I have a rotary blade sharpener - and love it. It has 2 grades of sandpaper - a fine and a super fine. One sharpens and the other removes any burrs on it - simple to use - just twist.
I told Bruce about my blade sharpener and I could not find replacement sander discs for it and so he had a challenge.
He took the sharpener and put a drop of dish soap on an old toothbrush, running cold water and gently scrubbed each abrasive disc. Do this quickly, as they are paper backed and will bubble. It took the black off. Then just patted dry with a kleenex. Then he put a bead of sewing machine oil on each disc and started to sharpen a blade.
As you sharpen a blade, starting with the gold disc first, you can actually hear and feel it coming sharp. It doesn't take long and there is less drag and less noise as it gets sharper, perhaps 10 twists back and forth per side.
I tried one and it was very sharp!
Hope this helps you. He sharpened all my blades in just a few minutes. Now I have to find him something else to do!
I wouldn't waste money on a rotary blade sharpener. There is a cheap temporary solution to having dull rotary blades (and scissors too!) and you probably have the tool in your kitchen right now! What I do is take a large piece of heavy duty tin foil, fold it up about 6 times. Then, on top of your cutting mat cut through the folded foil multiple times, then test your rotary on a scrap piece of fabric, TA-DA! Slices right through just like butter! I've sharpened my rotary blades about 3 or 4 times like this during their life span before going out and buying a new blade.
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