I read on here that someone got blades from ebay--so I looked and bid on some, lost that one, but got the next deal!! 30 Olfa 45mm blades for $1.97 each--including shipping!!! I just bought 5 for $30--(with 40% off) at Joannes... so these are 2/3 off the regular price. These should last 3-4 years!! :D

maybe this is the time to buy a lotto ticket!

Love the new Avitar. The block is beautiful! I get my blades with 40 or 50 percent off coupons at Joann's or Handcocks. all the time. How do your blades last so long! Or was that a joke! I only get about 2 quilts from a blade. I like them sharp though. I save the used ones for paper and other crafts. I recently bought five blades at a garage sale for $5 and top of the line quilters fabric for $2 a yard. Always looing for a bargin.
Connie

I use blades waaaayy tooooo long, I know. I was mad about dropping a new one so it skips a few threads every 5". :? I never realize how dull one is until I buy a new and it truly feels like cutting butter. I don't change until it's skipping. But this last one never skipped, but man do I have to push to get it to work well. :roll: Joanne's was out of single packages, so I went for the 5 pack--then I knew I'd win the 30 more for sure. :lol:

I used the same seam ripper for 15 years before reading on here they go dull. :shock:

I have ruined a new blade more than once. A pin under the fabric and by dropping an opened one on my ceramic tile floor (I had just put the blade in not one cut made). Sharp blades for cutting also save wear and tear on the body.
Connie1948

Five blades will last you for 3-4 years? Amazing. I change blades that many times in a year. Because usually I cut over a pin or hit the ruler edge. Once it skips, it's changed. I buy blades when I find a good sale and stock up. Now that I have my Go cutter, I haven't touched the rotary cutter much at all. The blades should last a long time now.

I let mine go until they are majorly skipping an inch of fabric, then I change them.

I only buy from ebay and the olfa mat does not dull my blades like cheaper mats do.

BellaBoo--the 30 blades will last that long--not the 5. :wink:

Oh, that makes much better understanding. I should have paid more attention to what I was reading. :oops:
A guild member said she got excellent results from the new version blade sharpener. It's pricey but she said it was worth the price.

What is a "Go cutter"? Whatever it is, I think I need one :)

A Go cutter is something I want, but am most likely never going to get on account of the dies and how expensive they are.

http://accuquilt.com/

Bella-
How do you like your Go cutter? I am green with envy :mrgreen:
I couldn't decide if it was fabulous or if I would tire of using the same blocks over and over...How long have you had it?
How many quilts have you cut?
How many layers at a time?
See, I have LOTS of questions.... :D

I don't cut the same blocks. I cut block pieces. Triangles, rectangles, squares, half squares, strips, and other shapes. I love that the ends are all cut off the triangles making it so much easier to match up. The rag cut dies are a big time saver the edges are perfectly snipped for you. I waiting for the Double Wedding Ring die to be available and the Drunkard's path. The dies come in basic sizes and are the sizes I was cutting for most of my quilts. The Studio model has more quilt dies and is made for high volume cutting. I opted for the Go because it's portable and is a personal machine for the sewing room. After having aches for a day after rotary cutting pieces for quilting, it's worth the price to me. No other material items gives me a much enjoyment as my quilting supplies.

Does the go cutter waste a lot of fabric? And do you have to purchase a lot of supplies for it? My lqs has an accucut they rent by the hour but the last time I was there they said no one had rented it yet and they were just figuring out how to use it. I thought about buying one a few years ago but it was cost prohibitive and so big. I didn't realize your go cutter was the same thing only smaller.

I have seen a few shops employees using the bigger die cut machine and they don't know how to NOT waste fabric. Most do what the demo shows, which is lay a piece of fabric over the whole die. That's just for a demo and has too much waste. I have much less waste then using a rotary cutter because I mess up a lot of cuts with that. I don't want all the same fabric for all the pieces so I layer different fabrics together. The cutting mat that goes over the die and fabric is like a rotary mat, the die blades cut into that. They get used up eventually but are inexpensive. The dies will last for years. It's all manual, no technical do- dads to go wrong, no battery or electrical power needed. It isn't for everyone but I have no regrets at all about buying it.

thanks for the update on the Accucut Go! I wondered about all of that...

So do you rough cut the fabric into pieces a little bigger than the dies and layer them over it? I am really thinking about this being my next big purchase as no matter how hard I try, my squares are never exactly "square".

Bella, I have wondered about cutting 2-inch jellyroll strips with the GO. Do you fold the fabric so it cuts one 42-inch at a time?

Yes, you can cut three strips side by side or one or two, 1-6 layers each ever how long your fabric is by folding it. I do about 2 layers at a time, don't need a whole lot for myself. It's great for borders. The Studio will cut up to 10 or more layers and is for mass cutting. The Go die is 2 1/2" wide. No matter how I lay it on the die, no curve in my strips at all.

That sounds awesome! I have never been able to cut without the curve. I just try to make everything fit.