Rotary Blades & sharpener

[TheKid]

What do you all use? I mainly use the fiskars small and medium rotary cutters. But, the blades do not stay sharp very long? Does the sharpener really work? I see them in different catalogs and I always wonder. Hmmmm. What is your take on these? It seems like I spend alot on blades. Help!
Thanks for the help. The sand paper sounds like a good idea. I am going to try this, since we have that on hand and use it for other projects.

[okie-quilter]

I feel like you the blades don't last very long and they are expensive I buy mine at Joann on sale when I can. I bought a sharpener to try but it doesn't work well for me. It came from Joanns. They say there are better sharpeners available but I haven't tried another one.
I did find that after I bought a new mat that my blades are lasting better. It must have been too worn. I had used it for along time.

[Suzquilts]

At a quilt show recently, spoke to a vendor who told me that the sharpeners only make the blade thinner and they don't last much longer after they are sharpened. I personally have not tried one.

Suz

[cindyg]

I haven't tried one but I've heard that the sharpeners don't work well. Sometimes you can take out your blade and turn it around and get a little more use out of it.

[12stepquilter]

I find that my blades last a lot longer if I only use the self healing mats. When I use the huge white plastic mat I got from Joann's it dulls twice as fast. Hope you find this helpful.

Rhonda

[khowardquilts]

I have used a sharpener with my daughter's medium sized Fiskars cutter with good results. I used one of the sandpaper type sharpeners.
(The cutter is worn out now and won't stay open).

Kathy

[TheKid]

Thanks for the help. I am now thinking about getting a new mat. I have turned this one around several times. I hope that helps. I do use the blade longer than I think. I have started putting dates on the booklet that I keep records in at the machine. So, I can get a better handle on how long they really last. Thanks.

[swakins]

I hadn't had much luck with sharpening my blades, but I have heard several folks say that the sharpeners sold by USASharpeners do work well. I bought blades on line at eBay, bought about 30 of them for less than $50 so I don't find myself trying to extend the life of the blade longer than I should. More accidents happen with dull blades.
OHSue

[northbound]

I've been looking at getting a sharpener, too. Some of the discrepancy may be in the quality of the blade, but from the reviews online, you either love 'em or hate 'em. Here are some I've found:
http://www.checkernewsletter.com/?p=717 ... com/?p=717
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.asp ... &tid=53861
Here's a review from someone who figured out how to replace the sandpaper on the Tri-Sharp brand:
https://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bi ... pl?ID=1554
And to top it off, the Grace frame people have come out with yet another version ($$$):
http://graceframe.com/gfxoops/modules/s ... ucts_id=99

After recovering from information overload and protective brain shutdown, I think I might wait for some reviews on the Grace--it uses a sharpening stone instead of sandpaper--sounds very permanent LOL!

Sharon C.

[WeeOne]

I have a USA Sharpener and it works well. I would recommend it. The directions on the package I bought was a little hard to understand, so I went to their web site and copied off directions there.
Lyn