Do you use scissors or a cutting pad?

[Ihavenoname]

Do you use a cutting pad or scissors to cut out patterns and which to do you think is faster?


If cutting pad, can you tell me what size and what kind?

or after looking up on youtube, do you use an electric rotary cutter?

Thank you

[Mike8560]

scissors

[MinUph]

Shears

[sofadoc]

I use an electric rotary cutter as much as possible now. Years of cutting with scissors has left me with "numb thumb".
I make all long straight cuts (such as welt strips) with the rotary cutter. I only use the shears for cuts such as an inside right angle cut that the rotary cutter can't make.
I've had the electric rotary cutter for several months now. I wish that I'd bought one 20 years ago.
Every morning, I wrap my thumb tightly with medical adhesive tape.

[gene]

Scissors and electric rotary cutter.

I do what Sofadoc does. I use my electric rotary cutter as often as I can, especially for long strips for welt cord.

Hey Sofadoc: The end of the middle finger on my left hand has been numb for about a year now. I am left handed and I have started to cut almost everything with my right hand.

When the Chiropractor was treating my dislocated pelvic bone, he also aligned a vertebra that was out of alignment and cracked my neck and stuff like that. The numbness in my middle finger has gone away. I had not told him about the numbness in my finger. I didn't think about it.

The cracking of my neck was to help my elbow which has been getting sorer and sorer. It really made a difference. He asked me why I didn't tell him about my elbow when I first saw him. I said that when I first saw him I couldn't walk. Why would I want to talk about my elbow? LOL

Another big thing for me sofadoc: read up on Pressure Points. When my left hand, or right hand, falls asleep, I massage under my collar bone and the outside of my arm around my tricept. The tingling goes away. I have been doing this for several years now. These spots are pressure points where muscle presses on nerves and causes the tingling in my hands.

gene

Remember, never run with scissors in your hands unless they are pointed at someone else and you intend to do serious bodily injury. I can't think of a reason why one would want to run with an electric rotary cutter in their hand.

[sofadoc]

I can't think of a reason why one would want to run with an electric rotary cutter in their hand.

You can only run as far as your extension cord will allow, anyway.

The end of the middle finger on my left hand has been numb for about a year now.

Are you sure that you haven't been over-using that middle finger for other purposes? ;) 
Seriously though, I did once have a pinched nerve in my shoulder that caused numbness in my index finger. But I'm pretty sure that my "numb thumb" is caused by cutting with shears.

[Mike8560]

Can you cut with the rotary on your work table top or do you need a pad under all your material.?

[Ihavenoname]

Thank you all for your help.

Sofadoc and gene what brand and model of electric cuter are you using and would you recommend it?

Thank you.

PS Out side edge my pinkie and tip my next finger have some numbness.  Carpel tunnel is what I hear.
I just borrowed tonight an Eastman hand held rotary cutter. It's about 30-35 years old is my guess. Still works but sounds a bit tired. It was used for carpet surging to bevel the sides of the rug. So very heavy use.  Replacement is $400.

[sofadoc]

Here's the one that bought:
http://store.keysew.com/catalog/product/c4561280ce324371ad8784d664f02590
Click on "View full size".
Mike: No, you don't need a mat underneath it.

[Ihavenoname]

Thank you Sofadoc.

[Peppy]

I use scissors, except when I'm cutting many simple shapes. We do rollercoasters in the winter and I use the rotary cutter then. I lay 5 or 6 layers of vinyl and mark the top layer. It doesn't cut with precision, and you risk ruining a stack at every turn, and stacking it up takes time, and it wastes vinyl, and you have to go back through the stack and add reference marks.

I find marking out each piece from a hard plastic pattern and cutting with scissors to be almost the same difference.

One tip for stacking up many layers is to staple into the waste vinyl to keep the stack from falling apart.

[baileyuph]

I find marking out each piece from a hard plastic pattern and cutting with scissors to be almost the same difference.

Good tip,

Doyle