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Tip for cutting wool in the Winter....

2/19/2020

12 Comments

 
It was incredibly dry today and I was just cutting some kits and when I reached for the hand cream, I thought.... gee I should post this trick. 
​
When you are cutting wool with your machine, sometimes the strips stick to the blade and roll under the wheel and back up the inside.   Sometimes you try to dig them out and maybe reverse the handle to back up and retrieve it, but then you end up butchering the strips.  It keeps happening over and over and you get a bit flustered.  All you want to do is cut fast and get hooking! 

Sometimes the strips are sticking and you try blowing hot air on it and flick it off the wheel but it just keeps wanting to wrap around the blade.  Cutting takes forever!  Dry winter days are the culprit and even worse, if you've just pulled your wool out of the dryer with a static charge running though it, cutting is almost impossible.  Frustrating?  Tell us about it!  At the studio we cut more wool than most and let me tell you, static cling is aggravating!   And then after the wool is cut it keeps sticking to your hands as you try to lay it out straight on the table to tie into a bundle.  Yup...we've all been there and will be again, time after time.  Oh joy!  If only someone could invent a way to stop this madness!!  

The answer is so simple you'll kick yourself for not thinking of.  Before you start to cut, get out a bottle of hand cream and add the teeniest bit on the wrist of the hand that cranks the handle. Don’t get it on that hand as it will slip and slide as you turn the handle and you don’t want a buildup of hand cream there.   Now with your fingers of the hand that touches the wool as it feeds through the blade, rub them well into the dob of cream...the palm doesn't matter as it doesn’t touch the wool.  I guarantee, the wool will feed straight through without any static charge build-up!  

Your hand is the culprit.  It is probably dry and as the wool passes under your fingers it causes friction and creates a static charge, like walking along a carpet and shuffling your feet. When the charged wool touches the blade, it wants to stick to the metal. No matter what cutter you use this tip will work.  
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Wool tends to bunch and stick to the cutter blades when there is a static buildup from the dry air of winter or if taken from the dryer. 
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A dob of hand cream on the wrist of the hand that turns the handle.  
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Rub the fingers of the hand that will hold the wool in the hand cream. 
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Press down on the wool with your fingers, firm enough to keep the wool running smoothly but loosely enough that the wool can be pulled beneath it into the cutting blade rotation.   You can see that the cut strips coming out of the blades is straight and not sticking or bunching.  
12 Comments
Barbara MacPherson
2/21/2020 06:00:46 pm

Excellent piece on static. Thanks for the hint.

Reply
Patsy
2/21/2020 07:32:32 pm

Great tip. Thanks

Reply
Lucy Harris
2/21/2020 07:33:02 pm

Might also try rubbing a dryer sheet across the wool before you begin to cut.

Reply
Christine
2/21/2020 07:33:25 pm

I personally can’t use those sheets because of the chemicals in them. Have you tried them to reduce static?

Reply
Lucy Harris
2/21/2020 07:34:03 pm

I use them on my stockinged legs under skirts that want to cling and it seems to really work. Have not tried it with cutting wool as I have never experienced the situation you described when cutting. Just an idea. Don't know if it would work or not.

Reply
Jennifer
2/21/2020 07:34:23 pm

Thanks for the tip.

Reply
Rhoda
2/21/2020 07:34:42 pm

Great info!

Reply
Dorothy Techentin
2/22/2020 04:50:37 am

Thaks loads for this very helpful tip!! I'll be using this information!!!

Reply
Lil
2/23/2020 03:51:19 am

Thanks so much for the great tip

Reply
Erin McKenna.
2/23/2020 07:43:04 am

Excellent tip, I will try this!

Reply
Brigitte
2/23/2020 10:20:17 am

Brilliant tip. Thank you

Reply
Sheila Greig
2/28/2020 08:14:47 am

thankyou.i learned something new!

Reply



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