Help - Changing a Rotary Cutter Blade
 

Been quilting almost 13 years and still have to go to Youtube every single time I need to change rotary blades. And I have the quick change rotary cutter!!! Any tips on how to skip Youtube and just do it?

As I take each part off the handle, I put it down in a "horizontal line" with the other pieces with the first one off being the one farthermost from where I am working. I usually pull each piece off and place it down so that I can pick it up the same way I put it down and put it back on the handle the same way it came off. Hope that makes sense. Oh and maybe put the pieces taken off from one side of the handle to the left (as you are holding the cutter just as you would use it) and the pieces taken off from the right side to the right. Hope this helps.

That's how I do it but I don't have a quick change cutter. Just the regular Olfa one.

I wear my Klutz glove when changing a blade. Any protection helps.

thanks for making it so clear

Ah you are not alone, I kept the outer pkg from the cutter and use the diagram every time I change the blades. Laying out the pieces in order helps, perhaps you could write down the exact order of pieces next time and tack the paper to the wall.

I am laughing loudly, not at you but at me! I have been quilting for almost 10 years and at the quilt retreat I was just at the gal who owns the quilt shop and hosts the retreat said, "Sharon you have your blade on the wrong side." News to me, it seemed to work ok, then I remembered when I was cutting double layer of fleece I had a hard time getting the blade to go through the double layer. We sometimes are a slow learning bunch. lol

I change mine just like KLO does.

How I do it. The hubs uses this method when he takes things apart. First piece removed is farthest from the thinga majig. Often depending we both will take a quick photo.

I do fine until I get to that curved washer thingy. I can't even tell from the diagram which way it should go.

This is kind of embarrassing, but I will fess up. A few years ago I stumbled onto an incredible deal on EBay. I got 3 Olfa original stick style 60mm cutters, 10 Olfa 60mm replacement blades and a pair of extra sharp small pointy scissors all unused in original packaging for $39. I gave one of the cutters to a friend who is a fellow quilter. I kept the other two. I only use one for cutting and the other one stays in its package so I can see how to put everything back together after changing blades. Yes, that's right, I have one for cutting and a 2nd one whose sole purpose in life is to be a real life model showing what a correctly put together rotary cutter is supposed to look like :shock:

Rob

That's cute. Wonder if you've thought to take a close up picture or two of the packaged one and just keep the picture tacked near the replacement blades?

Sounds reasonable to me.

I do it KLO's way, but I set the parts down in a shoebox lid as I go, so they don't roll away or fall off the table why I'm taking the thing apart. Learned the hard way and have also accepted that I'm diagram-challenged. So lining them up left to right in the order I take them off has been the trick.

Think of the curvy thing as a cowboy hat with the brim turned up.

I scanned the package of my cutter and can just pull up the directions on my computer without going to youtube. I have to do that with a lot of my how to directions, can't remember anything anymore.....I also store them in Dropbox, so I can look up on my phone if I am away from home and my computer. my mind is pitiful......sigh

Nope, never occurred to me LOL

LOL, I did this the other day when I cleaned my cutter. I could not understand why it wasn't cutting properly. Well when I realized what I had done of course I had to smile to myself. I get crazier ever year

I'm glad I'm not the only cutter assembly challenged! I once put two blades on the cutter at once! Usually I have my husband do it!

Fantastic hint Patchworkbarb. This has always been my problem as well, how to get it back on again.

Good hint! Thank you.

I manage but always dread changing the blade. I'd do it more often it was easier.

I just looked up pictures of the brand that I have because I was wondering if I have it correct. All the pictures show the blade on the left. I checked mine and it's okay. Would it help to see a picture?

Goodness, I did not realize that there was a art to changing the blade. I just do it and have for 6 years without mishap or error.

I took a blank piece of paper and as I took pieces off, I very carefully traced around them in a horizontal line. Then I put the paper in a sheet protector. Whenever I change a blade I pull it out and set the pieces on the diagram.

I really like the idea of taking pictures with my phone and just finished doing that and printing them out - one with it together and a second with the pieces on the diagram. I have added them to my original diagram and love it!

A few years ago JoAnn's had a free flier on how to change rotary blades. I picked one up thinking this would come in handy. Of course, it is very handy, but my problem now is where did I put it so I can change my blade again. I will look at UTube next time I need to change my blade.

I have cut myself, lost the little washer somewhere under a cabinet, assembled so that the blade won't turn, assembled so that the blade is sticking out away from the handle, and have now come to the conclusion that I'm so challenged that I've been known to buy a new cutter rather than figure out how to change the blade ever again.

I have to look on the back of the packaging. So you are not alone.

First -- make sure no one will interrupt you and turn off the TV or radio -- it is so easy to get distracted.

When I take the washer and put it with the other pieces, I keep it in the same position that it was in on the cutter. I also put my pieces starting with the first piece off the farthest from me. I also have the new blade out and in the correct position for assembly. I put the blade I remove very far away from my work area (I hate to say how many times I put the old blade back in before I did this).

I have tried to use gloves when changing blades but I seem to grab multiple blades if I do.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you look at it, the blades are heavily oiled -- thus they have a tendency to stick together -- so please don't be hard on yourself if you happen to get two blades instead of one -- the blades are hard to separate. Rotary cutters aren't the only things that get put together wrong. I obtained a 201-2 Singer sewing machine -- it had been brought to a place for repair -- the SM Mechanic apparently didn't know what he was doing either, because he couldn't tell that the tensioner was put back on the machine backwards. My son took one look at the User's Manual and at the machine -- and saw that it was backwards -- a 201-2 for free, except the foot control was gone as well as the slide plate, but those were relatively inexpensive. Ladies, give yourself credit for being human beings -- none of us are perfect and I've put my rotary cutter back together wrong before too!

True, key is logical reverse action of the disassemble process to reassemble it w the new blade. There are not that many pieces to it.

I tend to buy multiple blade packages. So what I do make a project of is SAFE disposal of the used blade. I use cereal box type cardboard and make a fold type pocket to cover the blade and seal it shut w masking tape b4 disposing it

Happy Quilting
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