If you have not received your blades and received a postcard from HF, check to be sure you weren't suppossed to send the card back as a confirmation you still want the blades.
I received the card on a Tuesday and when I opened the mailbox Wednesday to put the confirmation card in, the postman had already come and delivered my blades. Company said they would not send until tehy received confirmation I wanted them. Boy, am I good or what? :'

Try sharpening them.

I am still using my first blade and it is doing fine.

I know what you mean but it is a minor and I can not say the friskar/olaf ones are any better. It seems the harbor freight are sharper. I hav eno buyers regret yet.

i've found its the matt when i have a problem. either a very worn spot or something under the matt making a slight raised area.

I haven't even gotten mine yet order them over 3 months ago

My order is on backorder and I'm just waiting for the delivery. I bought 20 packs and plan on passing them around my quilt guild and asking them to evaluate the blades. Sort of our own experiment. I am anxious to see if what I get measures up to all the good reviews I've heard. We'll see. I plan to keep the brand of blades a secret and reveal what they are after they use them and I get responses from the girls.

June -

I so agree with you - lots of times we are told things like this because we found a better/cheaper way or thing. When I first came to the Charlotte area I visited Mary Jo's in Gastonia - of course!! I then went to a local quilt shop and was told that MJs only sells seconds in fabric - what a crock!! She is just way cheaper because she can buy in huge quantities that LQS cannot - MJs fabric is first quality - but she does not carry Moda.

Sandy in Mooresville, NC

Don't bother going to Lowe's or Home Depot for the blades. I've alredy asked, and looked for myself. They only have the knives. I'm going back to HF soon, and I'm going to byuy as many as I can. Just hope I don't have to buy the whole thing again.

I have used two of these blades with no problems. I gave one to a friend to try and she has no problems either.

I bought my blades about a year ago and I am on the 3rd package and I love them!

Hi! I bought some HF blades but haven't changed my cutter as yet because it has a fairly new blade in it but I discovered something today that I had never had noticed before.
I'm been having trouble with my blades skipping(these were the Olfa brand blades) and I would change them thinking their were the problem but today I happened to use a smaller mat than I normally use and its a new mat almost brand new. That old blade cut fabric like it was butter!
I really believe all the problems I've been having with the skipping and not cutting the fabric is my old cutting mat. I've had it probably twelve years and on occasion I have used a wet/dry sandpaper(600grit almost like Emory Cloth) to smooth out the cut marks. But I think its time to replace the mat. Its not the blades but the mat.

I think that if people wouldn't have been so free about telling them what we are using them for, then I have the feeling the prices wouldn't have gone up. It amazed me how many people were so willing to tell the store. Maybe I'm just an ole fuddy duddy. LOL

Your letter really hit home with me! I bought several pkgs. in Portland, OR recently and am using the second one already and it needs to be replaced. Ever since using it I have to go over the cutting line at least twice, sometimes more just to get a few threads that wouldn't cut. Glad to know someone else is having problems. Maybe blade #3 will be my lucky one! :cry:

My friend bought a package and found the same thing. I think Harbor Freight ordered so many, their source cut corners. We probably should let Harbor Freight know so they can go back to their vendor and complain.

I purchased my first blades from HF a couple of weeks ago.I have no problem with them. They are sharp and seem to work very well.

Think about this, these blades are sold for carpet cutting, the backs of carpet are stiff, and the cutting doesn't need to be perfect, (PILE hides a lot of imperfections on a carpet seam). We are using these blades for a use other than intended, and it maybe that the mfg specs for carpet blades are not as rigid as those for blades we use for fabric. Just a thought. :-)

Believe you have nailed the problem. The blades are heavy duty to cut through carpet and conseqently would not be suitable for our delicate fabrics.

Thanks for the idea it might be the cutting mat! Should be an easy fix and worth the cost if we don't have to change our blades so often.

Stopped at my local HF and they have no replacement blades and no idea when they will be getting them. Looked at the cutter, which comes with two blades, and while they look like the blades we use; in my humble opinion they also appear to be thicker and not as finely made. That is fine for cutting carpet, but think I'll stay with the higher priced blades. Fabric is too precious to me to take a chance on messing it up.

I opened up another pkg. of blades and tried both of them with NO problems. I made sure the first pkg. I opened I only had ONE blade in(yes, I've tried to put two in at a time,duh!!) and I've tried these other blades on different cutting boards(I have five besides the rotating mats) and it wasn't the mats problem. I've set these blades aside in case I run into more with the same problem and then I'll take them back to the store for a refund or exchange. With the price of gas and having to drive 25 miles to my HF I can't justify returning a couple of blades at a time especially with the FANTASTIC price that I paid for them(I was lucky enough to get ALL of mine for 2/$1.49)!!! I'm happy with the one that's in my cutter now and will keep track of how long it lasts.

I purchased some recently and have not had a problem but have you looked at your mat, sometimes if it is worn or has a ding in it the blades will sort of skip.
Marion

I've used 3 pkgs so far....no problems....cut just as well as Olfa.

Stopped in at HF today whe my hubby needed a few things. There were NO blades and a slim chance of seeing any before the first of the year. Thank goodness I bought up eough to last me for years.

Move to another cutting mat.. then use the blade again.. sometimes our self healing mats don't self heal and the mat has cuts and the blade wont slice thru the fabric- it just pushes it into the slice of the mat leaving an uncut fabric..

Maybe they are the "rejects" from quality control for fabric cutters...bummers.

I never volunteered any information, they didn't seem to care. All they know is they are in demand and selling like hotcakes!

I used to work in retail and I don't remember telling the uppers how people used things (I doubt I ever even had any communication with anyone who had a say in the pricing of items in a chain store like that). I just rang people up or helped them find stuff.

Carpet blades aren't the only thing that have gone up lately.

Several weeks ago I bought 12 pkgs of 2, gave one pkg to BFF, and still have the first blade in my cutter. No problems.

So I heard on the news on Tuesday, that cotton prices will be going up because mfgrs let their stocks go low due to the economy slowdown, then there was poor harvest on cotton crop, and most of whats out there is going to come from China, and speculators bought that up planning to resell at higher prices, so GET ready now. :|

They are going to price themselfs out of business.
I have used my HF blade for 3 quilts. It just started skipping. I took it out and turned it over like some have said on this post but it did not help. So now I am on my second and it is working as well as the first. I love them.

I have to agree, we have no room to complain about these blades in any way because we are NOT using them for their intended purpose. Cutting carpet is not the same as cutting fabric. They may look the same and work the same but they may be inconsistent quality for cutting fabric and I think have the potential to damage our cutting mats over time. Compare it using a butter knife as a screwdriver. Sure it works in a pinch, is probably a lot cheaper then a screwdriver and can do just as good a job but eventually you are going to either ruin the butter knife, strip the screw or do both. It is no different then using fabric scissors for paper. Sure it works great but eventually the scissors will be unsuitable for cutting fabric.

That does not mean we can't use them if we are happy with the performance and willing to take the risk. But if they skip or if they ruin the mats there should be no complaining, whining carrying on etc because you are not using the product for it's intended purpose. Just my 0.02

I thought mine were skipping too but then realized I had two blades stuck together and felt really stupid. Once I separated them, they have performed beautifully and keep waiting for my local HF to get some more in!

Yes they come 2 to the pkg and are very thin and will definitely stick together. I did that too.

I just tried one and it cut great for about 5 minutes and then nothing. I turned it over and nothing, so I sharpened it and still nothing. The second one was no better, and then I quit trying because I really needed to finish my blocks. I guess if none of them work it will have taught me a lesson. Thank goodness I didn't buy more than 9.

I also haven't had any probles with them. As thin as they are, are you sure you don't have two blades in your cutter at the same time. Just a suggestion. I've heard people do this before.

I haven't had any problem with them yet. I have been using my first blade since I got the first week of October.

I wonder if you tightened your rotary cutter too tight? I used to have that exact problem until I realized that if I tighten it all the way and then back it off a little, it works much better. You have to give the blade room to move. I think one of the rotarty companies says this in their directions about replacing blades.

I have made 4 quilts on one blade and it shows no signs of slipping. I put a tiny drop of oil on the plastic part of my cutter, then the blade, works like magic. Definitely sharper than Olfa's. Do not over tighten or you will have problems and make sure no dust bunnies or threads on cutter or blade.

maybe this is silly to ask, have you made sure you only have one blade in? a friend of mine had two blades in and cutting was a mess. she decided to change the blade and found she was using 2. took one off and the single blade worked fine.