Tips for cutting a straight line

[HungLow]

+1 on the soldering gun, it seals the edges nicely too. I have a cheap one, 30 watt stick and just block sanded the tip to small knife.

[Hegone]

Good question. I was also wondering how everyone cut a straight line. I had not thought of the soldering iron. I will have to try that!

[jwright]

I have a couple of ~6" wide X 4 ft - hardboard (1/4") panels - you can get them cut (use to be for free) from a 2'X4' sheet at Home Depot.
I have a 1" X 1/16" by 4 ft Aluminum bar that is close enough to straight (also from HD) and for longer lines I have a 6+ft piece of hanging shelf something.
A cheaper pencil-type soldering iron from sears (comes with 3 tips) works great, no need for the gun type. It cuts straighter and easier than drawing lines with a fabric pencil - I would say it is worth it even if only doing 1 quilt or tarp. I use a roller cutter for small tasks, but the heat sealed edge from the soldering iron is really nice

[cjayflo]

Thanks for the great tips! I have my 4' level but the stuff is 5' across! That coupled with left handed shears has made for an interesting hammock and stuff sack. The tarp is next and I want it to be much better looking and correct. After reading I remembered I had a piece of 1/8" mdf sitting in the garage that I cut for my wife to make puzzles on. That should make a great backer for the hot knife.

[sr1355]

Lasers work well... JK, straight edge and rotary cutter work great if you have the cutting surface. We use laser square to make sure all main fabric cuts as true 90deg. Large cutting table for large pieces of fabric but that might not be practical for everyone.

You could use concrete floor and very sharp scissors. Sharp scissors will slide through RS Nylon with just a bit of back tension on fabric.

[Hototo]

For short lengths, I use a rotary cutter. (Mine is a Fiskars, available just about everywhere.) For long lengths, I snap a guide line with a chalk line first. Then make sure to hold the fabric a bit taut as you cut. Hope this helps!

That is a cool little cutter, saving that link...

I use an aluminum door threshold from my old front door. Its 96" long and has a groove right down the center that my razor blade fit perfectly into.