Hot knife fabric cutting

[Ramblinrev]

Thanks, I have a soldering iron already so might give that a try. There's a video out there that shows flattening the tip to make a cutter. I have really good scissors but cutting ripstop, it looks like I chewed it off!

If you are cutting properly with good sharp scissors you should not have that result. Excellent shears that need to be sharpened will give that kind of result. When cutting ripstop it can be tricky to "glide" the scissors effectively. IOW open the scissors and slide them along to make the cut. The ripstop threads can wreak havoc with that technique. At least for me.

At the risk of starting another heated conversation... shears are extremely difficult to sharpen at home. You can a lot of damage in a very short time. My mechanic charges ~$3 for a pair of scissors. A cheap price to pay for keeping a $90 pair of shears in good shape.

[nacra533]

At the risk of starting another heated conversation... shears are extremely difficult to sharpen at home. You can a lot of damage in a very short time. My mechanic charges ~$3 for a pair of scissors. A cheap price to pay for keeping a $90 pair of shears in good shape.

I agree with Rev. I am skilled at sharpening all sorts of things used in woodworking. I have a low speed dry grinder, a Tormek wet grinder, water stones, powdered abrasive, and about everything else needed to sharpen something. For $3 a pair, it's not worth putting water in the Tormek.

Check with your local barbers, they usually use a sharpening service that's either mobile or offers a very quick turn around. Unfortunately for me, none near me have a quick turn around.