What's the best way to sharpen a rotary cutter disc?

moonlight machine · Nov 10, 2019

This is for a hand held rotary cutter used for cutting cloth. it is .011 thick x 2.33" in dia. the wheel is beveled from both sides to a razor edge. This is for my wife's quilting hobby and she uses them up pretty quickly, at 20.00 each it adds up quickly. So how do I sharpen them?

eKretz · Nov 10, 2019

Something like that will be a pain. My first try would probably be having her bring them regularly BEFORE they are too dull and rather than have to do remedial sharpening, keep them sharp with some sort of maintenance on a strop pasted lightly with very fine abrasive (chromium oxide, etc.). To that end I'd probably make a small arbor for them that can be held in a drill chuck and rotate very slowly with the drill while dragging them backward so the edge is coming away from rather than traveling into the strop, along the strop at the correct angle - or alternatively moving the strop while the drill slowly rotates (again so that it's traveling off the edge rather than into it).

You might could try a very fine diamond plate too. You may have to experiment regardless to find what will work best as far as edge finish. Run the other direction with a hard sharpening stone - so into the edge instead of away. Maybe then a couple of light opposites direction deburr/wire removal passes on a strop.

trevj · Nov 10, 2019

moonlight machine said:
This is for a hand held rotary cutter used for cutting cloth. it is .011 thick x 2.33" in dia. the wheel is beveled from both sides to a razor edge. This is for my wife's quilting hobby and she uses them up pretty quickly, at 20.00 each it adds up quickly. So how do I sharpen them?

Is the cutter round, or lobed?

If it's round, you could likely sharpen it in situ, either by spinning it against a wheel or a strop, or by spinning it and applying the edge to a carbide sharpener.

If it's lobed, then make a sharpening jig to hold a strip of abrasive paper or such, at a fixed angle to the blade and rotate around through the 'sides'.

Mark Rand · Nov 10, 2019

You may well be able to get a fair bit of additional life out of the wheels by pulling them along a butcher's steel. If you get the angles right, the wheel should rotate as it moves along the steel. I'd suspect that the edges get turned or burred quite often in use.

atomarc · Nov 10, 2019

My wife also quilts as a hobby and uses the same type of rotary cutter. She does all her cutting on a strange looking, soft green board of some type that allows the cutter to last a very long time. Does your wife cut her material on a surface compatible with the rotary cutter?

She buys her blades at JoAnn Fabrics and they are much less expensive than $20 dollars...more like $7 dollars.

Stuart

moonlight machine · Nov 10, 2019

atomarc said:
My wife also quilts as a hobby and uses the same type of rotary cutter. She does all her cutting on a strange looking, soft green board of some type that allows the cutter to last a very long time. Does your wife cut her material on a surface compatible with the rotary cutter?

She buys her blades at JoAnn Fabrics and they are much less expensive than $20 dollars...more like $7 dollars.

Stuart

She uses a green board, Probably used up 25 over the years. the small rotary cutters are about 7.00, this is the big size. This is a freeking expensive hobby, I just bought her another Pfaff sewing machine,the only thing it won't do is sing and dance. $$$$.$$!

atomarc · Nov 10, 2019

moonlight machine said:
She uses a green board, Probably used up 25 over the years. the small rotary cutters are about 7.00, this is the big size. This is a freeking expensive hobby, I just bought her another Pfaff sewing machine,the only thing it won't do is sing and dance. $$$$.$$!

All true..but don't forget, when the Queen is happy there is peace in the kingdom!

Stuart

bhigdog · Nov 10, 2019

moonlight machine said:
She uses a green board, Probably used up 25 over the years. the small rotary cutters are about 7.00, this is the big size. This is a freeking expensive hobby, I just bought her another Pfaff sewing machine,the only thing it won't do is sing and dance. $$$$.$$!

If it keeps her happy and off your back, no matter the price, it is freeking cheap.....Bob

howieranger · Nov 10, 2019

My wife goes through 2-3 blades with her quilting obsession a year and always uses them on a Martelli cutting mat or an Olfa.

Sewing machines make my machine tool habit look cheap!!

moonlight machine · Nov 10, 2019

bhigdog said:
If it keeps her happy and off your back, no matter the price, it is freeking cheap.....Bob

Yeah, what's 8 grand if you can get a few weeks of peace.

bhigdog · Nov 10, 2019

moonlight machine said:
Yeah, what's 8 grand if you can get a few weeks of peace.

Try a pricey attorney and half your I R A..........Bob

DavidScott · Nov 10, 2019

I would use a smooth, water-cooled, resin bond diamond face wheel with the cutter in its holder so it could spin a little while I sharpen it. But that is just the best option in my shop, I don't know what yours are. What about a ceramic blade?

moonlight machine · Nov 10, 2019

DavidScott said:
I would use a smooth, water-cooled, resin bond diamond face wheel with the cutter in its holder so it could spin a little while I sharpen it. But that is just the best option in my shop, I don't know what yours are. What about a ceramic blade?

Ceramic would be good, I don't have the technology to make one, anybody know where to buy one?

Jim Williams · Nov 10, 2019

Wolf Industries Twice As Sharp scissors sharpening system has an attachment for sharpening rotary cutter blades. You can find a used new style system on the internet for much less than new, but you will probably not find a used rotary cutter attachment. I enjoy sharpening scissors with my Wolf equipment and highly recommend the system.

I looked up the cost of the rotary cutter attachment, and the parts to add to an existing sharpening unit cost over $800. A new complete machine with the rotary cutter attachment is somewhere around $1,200.
Not bad if you are going into the scissor sharpening business.

moonlight machine · Nov 10, 2019

Jim Williams said:
Wolf Industries Twice As Sharp scissors sharpening system has an attachment for sharpening rotary cutter blades. You can find a used new style system on the internet for much less than new, but you will probably not find a used rotary cutter attachment. I enjoy sharpening scissors with my Wolf equipment and highly recommend the system.

I looked up the cost of the rotary cutter attachment, and the parts to add to an existing sharpening unit cost over $800. A new complete machine with the rotary cutter attachment is somewhere around $1,200.
Not bad if you are going into the scissor sharpening business.

That's amazing!!!! A POS china grinder and about 3.00 worth of aluminum for only 1200.00

gbent · Nov 10, 2019

Pfaff? Wait until she gets the full CNC Gammill! Will make pasture pets look positively thrifty.

I used a lathe fixture and a fine stone, but decided they were throw aways and not worth the effort. I ought to try it again with a 1000 grit wheel on my Glendo Accu Finish.

blcksmth · Nov 10, 2019

My wife has been a quilter for many years and she also laments the cost of replacement cutters. I have considered trying to sharpen them but never came up with a method I thought would work - safely. Reading this thread, I wonder if one could hold a fine stone against the wheel while running the cutter across the cutting mat? Her biggest complaint is when they get a nick from rolling across a pin or some such object. It appears to me that this would take some serious honing to remove. I have been mildly successful sharpening shears that have been nicked from pins but they are much easier to hold. I don't think there is any way to hand hold a cutter wheel safely.

Bob
WB8NQW

Screwmachine · Nov 11, 2019

Dritz makes a sharpener for I think the smaller blades, wouldn't be hard to make a larger version. It's a clamp for the blade, and a ring with two grits of sandpaper angled to match the blade edge. Seems pretty simple and should work OK.

If you want a really good edge though I think you want the abrasive action happening close to radially to the blade. Could set the blade up in a holder on a spin index or something, T&C grinder would be handy. I have small grinding attachments for my lathe, I'd chuck the blade on an arbor and hit it with a fine alox wheel, finish with a wood wheel and paste.

TeachMePlease · Nov 11, 2019

You can get five for $14... https://www.amazon.com/AUTOTOOLHOME...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I'd just be buying them, as my time has value.

Also, it looks like they sell ceramic ones for the smaller (45mm) cutters... I'd imagine you could find a 60mm one as well, and they should last a good bit longer.

dragracer1260 · Nov 11, 2019

At work we sharpen these on a machine that rotates the blade slowly, against a large spinning carbide wheel while having coolant run over the edge.
They are sharpened one edge at a time and stainless steel is the worse to try and get a edge on.
Would be impossible to do it by hand as the blade needs to rotate at least 10 times before it show an edge.
Nick

What's the best way to sharpen a rotary cutter disc?

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