Saving money on rotary blades
07-04-2017, 07:05 AM
#23
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: N. Nevada
Posts: 953
I buy the 45MM blades through Amazon Prime. They come in a ten pack for $15.97 and are made by Quilting Bee, called just bee in the first part of the description. I just checked to see if they were still listed as It's been a good year since I have purchased any, and they were for our local 4H girls. They are, and the price is still $15.97 for 10 and are still a prime item.
07-04-2017, 07:34 AM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Texas currently
Posts: 1,222
I also tried (and hate) Harbor Freight blades. Couldn't cut more than one layer of cotton fabric at a time. As far as sharpeners: I've tried them all. The first ones consisted of a flat 'donut' with a sandpaper 'inner donut' and a thing you screw the blade to, then twist it over the sandpaper. OK for slight dulling, worthless for bad dulling, and the sandpaper rings didn't last long. Tried the one like a ruler that you put your cutter into and scroll forward and backward. Not helpful. Got the $70 one with electric motor. Also only good for slight dullness and I have found it impossible to change the sharpened block, cause I can't get the old block out of the unit. I'm retired too, but that level of frustration is way more than the cost of new blades on sale.
07-04-2017, 07:48 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Harrison, MI
Posts: 8,493
I have ordered blades from J.Hittle several times in their 10 pack & the blades are pretty good. I have no complaints with them. I assume they are the same blades as the 100 pack but you could call him & ask. Several years ago when someone here posted about the Harbor Freight blades, I bought some & they worked great. I repeat bought them online about a year & all the sudden they wouldn't cut & were terrible. I thought I had a bad batch so I had my sister pick me up some at her HF store. They also was terrible. They must of changed their suppliers or something but at first they really was great blades. I also recently bought some from Ormkraft & I really like the blades & they have good prices.
07-04-2017, 09:28 AM
#26
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: deep east Texas
Posts: 146
I did the same. They did take a long time getting here but worth the weight.
07-04-2017, 09:52 AM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,140
I buy the Olfa blades at Wal-Mart on the rare occasion they go on sale.
Blades & needles do add up, but I personally had too many injuries trying to work with dull ones (same thing with knives).
The trick with sharpeners is that they must re-sharpen the blade at the same angle at which it was originally sharpened. Otherwise, it's not going to do much good. I haven't been able to find that information out for rotary cutters (it's available for knives through manufacturers or sometimes even with literature in the box) but if you could match up the angle of a particular brand of blades with a particular sharpener, it would work.
Blades & needles do add up, but I personally had too many injuries trying to work with dull ones (same thing with knives).
The trick with sharpeners is that they must re-sharpen the blade at the same angle at which it was originally sharpened. Otherwise, it's not going to do much good. I haven't been able to find that information out for rotary cutters (it's available for knives through manufacturers or sometimes even with literature in the box) but if you could match up the angle of a particular brand of blades with a particular sharpener, it would work.
07-04-2017, 08:26 PM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Edmond, OK
Posts: 1,859
I just spent a little less than $20.00, tax included, for 5 - 45MM Fiskars blades at Walmart yesterday. That was after trying Harbor Freight's $1.99 package of 2 carpet blades. They were worse than the dull blade they replaced. The last time I had a JA's coupon for 40 or 50% off anything, their blades were still even more expensive than Walmart. I looked on Amazon and they have all manner/brands of rotary blades with a wide variety of prices, a lot as inexpensive as $1.00 or so per blade. The same brand I bought at Walmart, Fiskars, was $15.62 with tax (I'm on Amazon Prime, so no freight charge), so you're still talking over $3.00 per blade. Have you tried any of the oddball brands on Amazon?
I just read this thread, looking for a less expensive option: Rotary Cutter Blades. Some people said Harbor Freight's carpet blade was good and worked well. My one experience was awful. (Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'm glad I was cutting sashing, as all those nicks and boo-boos can be cut off when I square up.) Did Harbor Freight's carpet blade give you good results?
Some say the sharpeners work. Some say they are useless. They range in price from $15.00 to the $50.00 range and some were more expensive than that. Did they work for you and which one did you buy?
This site was mentioned on the thread. Has anyone tried it? http://ormkraft.com
Since I've retired, I'm trying to watch my spending more carefully. $4.00 for a rotary blade seems rather excessive at this time of my life. However, even at $4.00 each, I'm not ready to go back to scissors.
What solutions have you found?
bkay
I just read this thread, looking for a less expensive option: Rotary Cutter Blades. Some people said Harbor Freight's carpet blade was good and worked well. My one experience was awful. (Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'm glad I was cutting sashing, as all those nicks and boo-boos can be cut off when I square up.) Did Harbor Freight's carpet blade give you good results?
Some say the sharpeners work. Some say they are useless. They range in price from $15.00 to the $50.00 range and some were more expensive than that. Did they work for you and which one did you buy?
This site was mentioned on the thread. Has anyone tried it? http://ormkraft.com
Since I've retired, I'm trying to watch my spending more carefully. $4.00 for a rotary blade seems rather excessive at this time of my life. However, even at $4.00 each, I'm not ready to go back to scissors.
What solutions have you found?
bkay
Hi, thought I'd insert my 2 cents.. I have used these blades for quite a time now, & reordered, I love them, they cut thru multiple layers and stay sharp a very long time. I've been very happy with them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041V8SQ2/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AMX5T13O2KBVS
07-05-2017, 04:50 AM
#30
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fairfield, OH
Posts: 3,694
I think the blades are like everything else. Everyone has their preference. I have never tried the Martelli blades so I can't comment on them. I prefer Olfa blades myself. My friend gets them for me at a good discount. I don't change my blades as often as I should because I just don't think to do it until they get pretty dull. A couple of members of my Quilt Guild own a shop that sell supplies for Home Ec classes etc. They have some sewing supplies. They brought a couple of blade sharpeners to retreat for us to try. The one we preferred was long and thin and you ran the blade down the groove to sharpen it. I don't know what brand it was. While it worked ok, none of us was impressed with it.
I guess for now I will have to continue to just keep replacing my blades.
I guess for now I will have to continue to just keep replacing my blades.
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