would you ladies, how thick are the rulers you use when you cut your fabric. i've been using a regular one, but yesterday i went and bought a new cutting mat and got a new ruler, but when i got home, it seems the same thickness as the regular one,!!!! i thought a thicker one would be safer to run the rotary cutter by. thank-you Thelma

Mine are about the same thickness as my yardstick.

I just grabbed one and measured -- so about 1/8"

Mine are about the same thickness as my standard rulers too.

could we somehow get the makers to make them thicker, wouldn't it be safer to use them.?

it may be safer, but then the weight and shipping would be an issue. more money for us to pay, i would think.
they have come out with a new ruler, with a groove in it..that the rotary cutter rest in, as you go..
i can't think of the name of it right off hand. seems to me, they had it in Keepsake quilting or nancys notions catalog.
are you holding your hand right, when cutting? is the ruler slipping on you? tell us what is going on, so we can maybe guide you..getting cut by the roatary cutter is a really nastly cut..

The times I've gotten cut with my rotary cutter had nothing to do with the thickness of my ruler.

They had everything to do with my being careless.

i dropped an open, locked one, on my foot..
i no longer use the "locked open" ones! lol!
plus our quilting over-seer at group, collects a buck from us, if we set an open roraty cutter down and walk away from it! lol!
she was just trying to get it through our heads, just how dangerous they can be!

i guess i need more practice, and i think i need to put the mat on my kitchen table and have it lower so i can stand over it and see it better, and i think i'm scared of the cutter too. that make sense?!?!?!?!?!

yes it does!

i cut at the kitchen table, but when my back starts acting up, i go to a cutting table, it is higher , more like the height of a counter top.

anyone in your area that can give you some guidance? or even a joanns? they used to have beginner/basics for new quilters. i was taught to "press" not "iron"..cutting,using a ruler, measuring, reading a pattern..etc...it was well worth it. then after we had the basics down, we got to make a raggedy quilt!

Do you use a pizza cutter to cut pizza?

It's not that much different to use a rotary cutter.

If the rulers were thinker the rotary blades of some rotary's would not be able to cut as the part of the rotary that runs along the ruler would not be deep enough. Make sense?

Hi Thelma,

I use these safety shields on some of my longer rulers. They come in three sizes that fit 12", 18" and 24" rulers and you can see through them so you can still see all the markings on the rulers. Right now, they're on sale at joann.com.

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/p...RODID=prd38193

Here's another site where they're 10% off, but it shows them better:

http://www.softexpressions.com/softw...afetyShlds.php

These might help build your confidence as you get some more practice cutting. This link shows you how to properly use a rotary cutter and ruler for safety:

Here's a great tutorial on how to use your rotary cutter with lots of super pictures:

http://www.purlbee.com/rotary-cutter-tutorial/

Hope this helps,

Karla

Karla, thank you so much for the info about those shields. I just cut the side of my finger up next to my nail, it has really scared me how dangerous those blades are! I've been searching & looking everywhere & couldn't find the solution. On Soft Expressions they showed another safety called "Guidlines Finger Guard", do you know anything about those? And do you think the shields are the best? I was thinking about ordering the multi pkg. I have an AccuCutter GO, but there are still times you have to use that ruler & rotary. Thanks again.

Mine is 1/8 inch the 6x24 Quilt in a Day. I cut either at the dining room table on we have a fold up rectangular table (came from Wal-mart) I will use it sometimes. I am short 5'3" so I don't have a good feel for cutting at my kitchen counter (except food).

fons and porter have a klutz glove that they wear when cutting.

First of all, I'm SO sorry to hear that you've cut yourself with your rotary cutter. That's awful, and must've been quite painful. Hope you're healing well.

You're welcome Wanda, but thank you too, for pointing these new finger guards out to me!! :thumbup: Now, these look like they'd be the better deal for a variety of reasons. They say they're 25 times more stronger than acrylic - which is what the other ones are made of, I believe. And, I like that these are repositionable, so they can be moved from one ruler to the other -unlike the ones I mentioned above. WOW! I like that! :thumbup: Well, at least we have some choice now.

Thanks so much for the tip! :thumbup:

Karla

All of mine are 1/8th of an inch so that must be the thickness.

The rulers you have for long arm machines are thicker, more like a quarter of an inch, but I don't think I have seen any with measurements on them, they are just shapes, i.e. rectangles, circles etc.

Have a look at this site: http://www.quiltersrule.com/template/nestedMain.html

you need kevlar gloves, like fons and proter sells.
try Harbor freight for a cheaper pair. or if you know someone who works in a factory, they may be agle to get them for you..

the thicker ruler does not make it easier, though i can see why we would think it might. actually if your ruler is thicker than about the 1/8" norm your cutting is not as accurate; thinner is better in this case. it is very important to always practice safety first and holding your hand on the ruler with a finger or 2 off the ruler braced on the table beside the ruler holding it so it can not move is best. it takes some practice to really cut accurately but a thicker ruler will make that more difficult, not easier.

it was nice of you to find these sites, i'm going to look for these shields, i was at joann's two days ago. to get the mat, and i didn't look enough to see whats there!!!! and i put the sites on my favorite list to read them again. thank-you.

I was out of town and forgot my rulers and mats. I had planned to buy a new mat, but new rulers were not in the budget. So I went to the hardware store and got some acrylic and made some. When I found the acrylic at the store, I found I had several thicknesses to choose from. I will now be making more rulers.

i would never of thought of this, what will you cut it with.? will you use a regular to make your marking?

I used a box cutter. I clamped a steel yard stick for a straight edge to the edge of plywood. I scored the acrylic along the stick until it snapped. I used the outside edge for cutting fabric with the rotery cutter, as the edge I scored was a bit rough. - I do woodworking and at home I have a band saw and belt sander. - Original piece 18"x24". Finished ruler- 5"x24". Left over acrylic - 13"x24". Total cost -$6.59. - I will mark as needed with a sharpie after scoring with box cutter for now.