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Member since 8/10/18
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Posted on: 5/16/19 10:47 AM ET
Hi-
I cut lots of sew Velcro 2” width and under to make straps for a product I make.

I use large shears and sometimes a razor and starlight edge to cut them to length. It can be time consuming to get clean 90 deg cuts and I was wondering if someone has used a paper cutter or similar to cut materials like this.

Thx!
  
Member since 5/2/09
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Posted on: 5/16/19 4:11 PM ET
You could try laying it upside down on a piece of glass, and running the tip of a cheap soldering iron down it. And just see what happens. It might cut through it, melt though it pretty cleanly (if you kept cleaning the tip of it off with something- in between trys) or it could be a huge mess. I actually don't know what would happen that way, (as not tried that on velcro) but maybe worth a try, particular if you do not mind a more hard or sealed finished edge where you did that. I will use something like that to cut through polyester or nylon organza sometimes, particular if making some kind of applique out of it, so that might be worth a try.

I'm also one of those people though, that really dislike heat finished and cut clothing tags on things, particular if stuck into the back of the neck of something- that you buy at the stores. Because once they do that, the tag is a hundred times worse on your skin someplace. But if the Velcro is not getting near anyone's skin, then maybe that kind of thing, does not matter.
-- Edited on 5/16/19 at 4:29 PM --
  
Member since 5/20/03
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Posted on: 5/16/19 4:47 PM ET
In reply to sayluv
I use a rotary cutter to cut Velcro when I use it in doll clothes. Sometimes I cut it widthwise and sometimes lengthwise. Because of the loft of the Velcro, it can be hard to cut straight, even with a ruler because the ruler shifts. Not sure if a paper cutter would work, but it might be worth a try, as long as the blade can handle the Velcro.
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When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don't get to decide that you didn't. Louis C.K.

When they go low, we go high. Michelle Obama

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Member since 11/28/13
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Posted on: 5/16/19 10:42 PM ET
They sell strap cutters for leather. Maybe they'd cut Velcro too.
  
Member since 12/13/08
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Posted on: 5/16/19 11:55 PM ET
In reply to AuntieShel
I have an older (1990s) Fiskars paper trimmer, very similar to this, and it takes standard rotary cutter blades, so it would probably work, although I'd think it would dull the blade quickly...? (I generally use industrial strength Velcro, though, so my representative samples might be different!). I don't know how the newer models work.

That said, I was wondering if they still made the old-fashioned, guillotine-style cutters we all had in grade school, and if that might be easier on tougher materials, and lo! Here's one by Fiskars!
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Posted on: 5/17/19 8:14 AM ET
That strap cutter was quite interesting. After watching the video it looks like starting the cut can be tricky and it is designed to cut flat pieces into strips. Was fascinating to watch.

For your situation of cutting velco strips, the guillotine style would seem to be a better solution. You would be able to line them up for a clean 90 degree cut and if the blade was heavy and sharp enough it should go through Velcro like it did multiple stacked pages of paper.
The trick is to secure the Velcro so it doesn't move on the cutter bed and for the cutter blade to retain it's sharpness after repeated use through a thick synthetic. Since the blades are designed for a more natural wood pulp paper product, I'm not sure how soon they would get dull or if they can be resharpened.

I am wondering if the blades on wire snips or rod/tin cutters from the hardware store would stand up to repeated use longer? If they stand up to metal, maybe they would stand up to synthetic nature and the thickness of velcro.
-- Edited on 5/17/19 at 9:39 AM --
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Posted on: 5/17/19 11:52 AM ET
I would search out a "wood burning tool" with the assorted tips. One is like the blade of a box cutter sort of and you cut just run it through. I've never tried it but I would go that route. That tool cuts great stencils, no blobby mess which is more user than tool issue. It felt awkward at first but it does a good job in the end.
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Posted on: 5/19/19 10:13 AM ET
In reply to stirwatersblue
Oh, like a semi-stationary rotary blade. Fiskars just keeps coming up with innovations. I have their paper cutter with a little orange blade piece that snaps in and out so you can change it when it gets dull. I love it, but use it mostly for paper. I was pretty sure they still made the ones we remember from grade school (so aggravating when the blade got dull.) I have a mini one like that--Creative Memories, that I use for paper also.
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When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don't get to decide that you didn't. Louis C.K.

When they go low, we go high. Michelle Obama

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. Ernest Hemingway
  
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Posted on: 5/19/19 3:17 PM ET
In reply to AuntieShel
Until you said that, I'd never considered whether the blade actually turns or not. It's mounted to the securing bar, which you lower over the work, and it takes some pressure to engage the blade to cut. This seems to have been an early foray by Fiskars into paper cutters; I was surprised to find a current link on Amazon, as I've not seen its kind in decades. They'd all but been replaced by the smaller types with the non-rotary blades.

I used to use it for scrapbooking and trimming photos; now its main use is trimming .pdfs! I save my used rotary cutter blades for this machine. When we bought it--at Costco way back in the '90s--it also came with a scoring blade and a decorative blade (deckle edge? Ruffle? Something).
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~Elizabeth in the prairie
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Posted on: 5/21/19 9:55 AM ET
In reply to stirwatersblue
There is a similar gadget for cutting strips of fabric for quilting. I asked for it for Christmas, but am so disappointed in it. As you mentioned, it takes some pressure to engage the blade--more pressure than I am able to exert, apparently. For something that's supposed to make life easier, it just makes me frustrated. Should have read some reviews before I asked for it.
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When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don't get to decide that you didn't. Louis C.K.

When they go low, we go high. Michelle Obama

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. Ernest Hemingway
  
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