I read several of the posts here about the carpet cutting blades available at Harbor Freight (HF) for a fraction of the cost of replacement rotary blades sold in the fabric & craft stores.

I wasn't 100% sure my old blade was dull but once in a while I noticed it didn't cut as well it had in the past.

Off I went to HF. Lucky me, the blades were on sale for $1.49! Wow, I better get a few! At home I open the package to find not one but TWO blades! Wow, what a deal! Two blades for $1.49!

First few cuts are perfect but after a few passes of cutting with it, I'm here to say "you get what you pay for". It appears that the blade isn't round. I can feel it while the blade is rolling and now I'm getting way more uncut areas than I ever got with my former blade.

Last night I put my "old" blade back on and it cuts like butter compared to the HF carpet cutting blade.

I could have saved my time, gas and money using a coupon and getting the correct blade in the first place. I'm sure these blades would cut carpet like butter but I'm just not satisfied with the way they cut fabric.

Hope this info helps someone thinking about using carpet cutting blades.

You may have gotten a bad blade. From what I read that happens sometimes but for $.75 most feel it's worth throwing out the odd bad one. Have you tried any of the other packs or even the other blade in the pack? I have some, but have a new blade in my cutter so am waiting til it dulls to try the HF ones.

Try the other blade. I have heard that sometimes there will be a bad one...you get needles and pins like that.
I haven't had any problems with the blades. Sorry to hear that you weren't satisfied.

They will accept the unopened blades back at Harbor Freight. Or offer them to someone on the board that doesn't live near a Harbor Freight.

So far no problems for me with the HF blades. They last just as well as the "name" brand and because of their price I'm much more willing to change them when they do become dull.

Please try another one.

Thank you all for the comments.

I will try the other blades and see if they perform any better.

There doesn't need to be any quality control when cutting carpet so it does make sense that the blade could be not perfectly round.

Thanks again....

I vote for HF blades, will never go back to a brand name.

My first blade left bits that were uncut. Next time I get a chance I plan to try the other blade that was in the pkg. I figured I just got a bad blade. That has happened with other brands, too. Also I usually take it off, turn it over and see if that doesn't improve the cutting.

I actually have found that if I use it on a single layer, they sometimes cut unevenly, but on a stack, they wizz right through. Could be the added pressure though.

I have been very happy with the blades I bought at HF. In fact, I think they are sharper.
One problem I have had recently, and it finally dawned on me how old my cutting mat was, that even newer blades were not cutting as they should. I replaced the old cutting mat yesterday and I am amazed how much difference it made. The "old" blade is now cutting like a new one.

I've not had a lot of luck either. I still have an unopened package I'll try though.

How do you know when you need to replace your cutting board?