Rotary Blade - It is Supposed to Wobble

Excuse me if this has been posted before. I tried a search to check, but there are a lot of posts about rotary cutters.

I learned something new to me the other day about rotary cutting, and it has made such a huge difference in my cuts.

I stopped at a quilt show demonstration and the first thing the lady said was "You all know you don't tighten your rotary blade all the way down, right?" There weren't many of us standing there, and we all looked at each other and then at her and said "Of course!"

Well no, I did not know that. I have always tightened my blade tight. This demonstrator talked about how you need a little wobble in the blade to get nice straight cuts. I came home and tried loosening up my blade just a little and didn't notice a difference, but then I loosened it just a bit more and I swear I have never cut such straight strips.

Did everyone else in the world know you don't tighten the blade all the way down? I know that was never discussed in any of the classes I attended.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

I did not know that! Thanks for sharing!

I have never heard of the either. Will have to try it and see. Thanks for the info.

Blade need to be able to turn, If tight blade can not rotate.

I've never heard that. I'll have to experiment a little.

That reminds me, I don't think I posted about my Martelli experience. I had a cutter that the blade seemed to get tighter when I was using it. I would have to get pliers to loosen the screw. Called them and they said it was the screw and they sent me a new one, no charge. Problem solved. Great customer service.

Mine will work loose if I am doing a lot of cutting. I'll tighten it, then try to cut a couple times and loosen it just a bit and it cuts much better. Heh, so whether or not I knew it was supposed to be like that, I've been doing it that way.

I will have to try this

Well well well. Who'd a thunk it!?!? I'll give it a try too!

I finally have learned the proper direction for the lock washer and nut when reassembling mine after a blade change. That, too, makes a big difference.

I dabbed some nail polish on the side of the nut that should face me because it does make a difference!

What a great tip!

OK, I am very intrigued by this issue. I have the basic Olfa cutters. Went back to the Olfa website to review the videos there which I only watched once the first time I changed my blade. Pretty much as I remembered. When the demonstrator shows how to remove the old blade you can see the nut isn't very tight by how easily it starts turning. And when she replaces it she uses the term "finger tight" to describe how to tighten the nut. Hardly a precise term. I haven't ever tightened mine down hard. And I've never had trouble with either loosening or with the blade not turning because I had it too tight. It seems to me the curved cowboy hat shape of the nut would provide the correct amount of "give" as long as you don't over tighten. But I was certainly willing to try something new, so last evening when I had some cutting to do I checked the tightness I already had and backed up the nut by 1/4 turn. I didn't feel a difference with cutting, and didn't notice a wobble. Then I tried an additional 1/4 turn. I did feel a difference. The performance of the cutter wasn't different, but I was cutting shorter pieces, so maybe long cuts would be different. So I am still kind of in the dark about this.

Anyone else make changes in their cutter and find something different? I will do some cutting of longer pieces of fabric this evening and will post again. I'm interested in what others have learned, if anything.

Wow I love new tips like this. I'm gonna try this out!

I tighten mine too. Going to give this a try and see if I see a difference. Thanks for the "heads up"

I don't keep mine loose enough to wobble, but I do keep it loose enough to roll easily along the fabric. :)

I did not know this. Thank you for sharing. Sure will make changing blades a little easier. LOL

getting the old one out is easy ... remembering how it goes back together isnt so easy .. especialy the first time ... So i have learned ... still not sure if its back the correct way but it works

I never thought about this...will give it a try. Thanks!

We learn something new every day.

I did give this a try - and amazing! It worked. I could not believe the difference. I guess mine was too tight - it is cutting so much easier. I think those of us who see a big difference may be because our was too tight to begin with. I tried a few different turns back and forth and found a spot and it cut so dang smoothly.

Thanks much for a wonderful tip!

hummmmm, bet that's why a lot of us have been having frustrating experiences with rotary cutting. Thank you for this!

I am glad this information has helped some of my fellow quilters. I know it has made a huge difference to me.

I took a small class in rotary cutting when I first started quilting and the instructor made a point to tell us to tighten down our blades. I can't tell you how many times I put off a project because I didn't want to deal with how much the cutting of the fabric. Since I learned about loosening my blade I have completed one quilt and have finished 2 quilt tops.

Happy quilting everyone!

I just changed my blade. Which I probably should have done months ago. I made sure to loosen it. Before I always tightened it as hard as I could. Between the loosening and new blade, I am just flying through fabric. I can't believe the difference. I also can't believe how hard I was pushing with my old blade. I need to remember this and stop putting it off in the future. If I can by yards of fabric at 10/ yd, I can buy a $5 blade (though it kills me).

Turtle, I would like to thank you for the tip. I tried it. What a world of difference.

Wow, I did not know this. Will have to try.