I love paper piecing and use the cheapest copy paper I can find. I've never had a problem with the paper causing my blade to dull any faster than usual. I've never had a problem with the paper in my machine either, but you do need to shorten your stitches considerably. I'm not one of these that change my needle after x amount of hours, I change if I'm working with a different weight of fabric, etc., but I don't throw the needle away, I'll reuse it when I switch to a different weight of fabric. I haven't done any hand piecing with paper piecing but I don't think it would work very well, because you do need to have, in order to be able to tear the paper off, without the stitches coming out.