Cutting Latex Strips?

[Albannach cuileag]

Latex is a great material for forming abdomens of all sorts and is usually supplied in sheet form or precut strips. The precut strips are fine if you are tying flies that require 3 & 4 mm wide strips and if you want finer than that you resort to cutting from the latex sheet.

How often when you are cutting it does the edge drag with the blade, no matter how careful you are? Well here is a little tip that can get you perfect edges every time as long as your cutting blade is sharp!

Before you put your cutting edge guide over the latex sheet , cover the area you want to cut a strip from with sellotape, put your cutting guide over it and press as normal when cutting the strip. You should get the strip to cut clean now and not drag with the blade making rags on what should be a straight edge.

Now you can get those 1.5mm strips a lot easier.

[Stuart_B]

What sort of blade are you using ? Would a single edged razor blade help.You can buy them on Ebay for next to nothing .I got 10 for £1.50 recently and are they sharp!!

[buzzr]

Clever....

[Albannach cuileag]

Originally Posted by molley

What sort of blade are you using ? Would a single edged razor blade help.You can buy them on Ebay for next to nothing .I got 10 for £1.50 recently and are they sharp!!

I tend to use scalpels as they are handy for a lot of other things when tying.