Fiskar's Rotary Cutter replacement
 

I purchased a Fiskar's rotary cutting tool back in November and had not changed the blade out after several quilts- I know my bad.
Well, this morning before I started to cut the squares for a rag quilt, I decided it was time to change the blade. Easy peasy....but I was aghast when I saw my fingers- they were all black with a grease like substance. I noticed that the hole where the screw goes into, which holds the blade in place, had this substance.

Luckily I noticed this before I used the rotary on bone colored fabric.
Has this happened to anyone when changing the rotary blade?
Should I be prepared for any other surprises when quilting? LOL thanks

I don't know about Fiskars brand blades but Olfa blades come with a light coating of oil on the blades. I assume it is to inhibit rusting. I would think Fiskars does the same. You should have noticed the thin coating when replacing the blade. Olfa blades have a small piece of clear cellophane type paper seperating blades when purchased in multipacks. As I have never bought a single blade I can't say how they are packaged.

Where the screw holds the blade in place I have gotten lint build up that appears greasy due to the oiled blade but it has never transferred to my fabric while cutting.

Other surprises... Well when you regularly clean and oil your sewing machine you should always sew a length of scrap fabric before returning to your regular peicing because I have had oil transfer to my scraps from a freshly oiled machine. But other than that I have had no issues.

When cutting the pieces for a quilt make sure the instructions are correct. I just cut 2 yards of fabric into large half/square triangles, when I started piecing I discovered the instructions were incorrect - had to buy another 2 yards of fabric. Now I will check the magazine website to see if there are any corrections in the patterns.