Fiskars Rotary Cutter and Ruler, Quilting Ruler, Rotary Cutter for Fabric, Built-In Measuring Grid & Spring-Action Blade, 24” x 6”, Gray/Clear

Years ago I bought a Fiskars Rotary Cutter and Ruler Combo when I first started quilting and was really lousy at using a Rotary Cutter and Ruler to cut my fabric. Later I learned the secret to doing it successfully but I still used my Fiskars cutter so much that it finally broke and that took about 15 years. I'd heard that Fiskars had stopped making them and I was heartbroken. But whoever told me that was wrong because I found my favorite way to cut fabric on Amazon and bought it and I am back in business and loving it. When you use a regular ruler and rotary cutter you have to either walk around the mat to cut the fabric or if you don't have a small enough table you have to turn the mat or the fabric so you are cutting it the right way. One of the best things about the Fiskars Rotary Cutter is that you turn the cutter, not the fabric or mat. You never have to worry that you will goof up and have the cutter go off by itself and ruin your fabric because the cutter is built into the ruler and all you have to do is push down on the push handle over the cutter and slide it up the ruler and the cut is always perfect. The ruler never slides on the fabric because there is a some kind of rubberized or metallic strip underneath it that prevents this. This one has a carrying handle which I find very useful for hanging my ruler up so it doesn't get damaged. It has a standard 45 mm rotary blade that can be changed if you need to do it but since you are never whacking the blade into the ruler the chances of having to change the blade are pretty slim. I changed the blade on my old one once in all the years I used it and was horrified to find that the blade had been in it so long that it had rust on it! The ruler is longer than the the usual 24" one by a little more than 3 1/2 inches so you can position it on any mat easily. It is clear with black and white markings (not those hard to read yellow lines) and has every possible angle marked on it that you would ever use. It's 6 1/2 inches wide and the only drawback is that you can't cut anything smaller than 1 1/2 inches because the cutter gets in the way of cutting anything smaller than that. But that is the only drawback to using it. I brought my old one to one of my quilt guild sewing nights and one of my friends pretended she was going to steal it because it is so easy to use. Well, now she can buy one for herself! If you hate using a rotary cutter because you have never learned the secret to using it correctly then this is the product for you. By the way the secret is that you must start with your fingers on the ruler down by where you start the cutting (being careful that your fingers are not anywhere near the blade) and then walk your fingers up the ruler as you cut. It is easy if you watch someone do it, but why bother when you can use this wonderful cutter!

Good item cuts well

I read the negative reviews before ordering this and was concerned about the common complaint that the blade seemed to be dull in one place and didn't cut at "regular intervals" because of the "dull spot." When I first used it, this did seem to be the case.However, I soon learned that the problem was NOT with the blade, but with the pressure I was exerting on the blade assembly as I pushed it along. Any slackening of my pressure meant that that area of the strip did not get cut cleanly through the fabric (I was cutting polar fleece into strips for making a rag rug).Once I figured this out, and was conscious about maintaining pressure on the cutter knob, there was no more problem, no skips at all. Every cut was very sharply and cleanly made.I would recommend this product for its ease of use, ONCE YOU figure out how to use it. There are short videos on Youtube that teach you how to align the fabric/paper to make the cuts the right width. That was a little tricky to begin with, but again, once I figured it out, it was easy. Perfect cuts at the perfect width.

It's not bad, but I find it much easier to just use a ruler and rotary. I got this before I had a long ruler though, so it was very helpful at the time. That being said, it is convenient to not have to pick up and set down your rotary, but I find it difficult to read smaller measurements due to the part that attaches the rotary. Plus, if I cut larger than the size of the ruler, I have to line it up on my cutting mat and do some math to figure out where to line this up. That was the main reason I stopped using it. It's also hard to see where exactly the blade is going to cut, so I can't necessarily just turn it around and line it up that way.

Love this ruler; saves me alot of time especially when I have alot of fabric to cut for a quilt

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I saw this being used at Michael's to cut fabric and it sliced through the cotton like butter. I cut a lot of fabric, so I bought this to cut my cotton. Of course, for demin or thicker fabrics, I use my electric scissors but for cotton, this is a great product.

I was hesitant to purchase this Fiskars Cutter and Ruler. It just couldn't be as great as the other reviewers gushed in their reviews. But, I'm here to add my gushing testimonial! All one has to do is to set this apparatus on top of the fabric, move the Fiskars cutter over the fabric to the measurement one desires, and push down on the cutter and slide it to the end of the fabric strip. Lift up the cutter and the freshly cut piece of fabric remains beneath. It is incredibly easy!If you are having doubts, this Fiskars Cutter and Ruler is definitely a worthwhile purchase!

When I got this ruler, it had a chip on one of the edges. I considered returning it, but lately my luck with amazon returns has been pretty bad and I've had a bad experience with them despite doing what I was supposed to do on my end. So I was kind of wary to send it back and wait months for a refund again when I really needed the ruler now. It was only a small chip anyway.Well, a month later and that small chip developed a crack that moved down into the main part of the ruler and caused it to slightly warp. Now the edge isn't exactly straight, rendering it useless for accurate cutting. So it's a $40 piece of trash now, unfortunately.I did like the item when it was functional. It works as intended and it helped when I needed to cut a large piece of fabric, though I think I'm still faster with the plain old rotary cutter and a ruler. I probably wouldn't repurchase, but if I did I would do it in person.