I took a quilting class with a woman who was extremely scared of rotary cutters. Her husband bought a clear plastic thing that is supposed to protect outside corners in your house. It was several feet long and he cut it up and glued it to her rulers with a clear glue. I think at the time it was only about $1.00. Probably a lot more now but cheaper than buying new rulers. As I remember it had about one inch to glue and one inch to protect your fingers.
Pat

About a year ago I bought a pack of clear O-Lipfa Safety Shields that you stick on to your rulers. They came in a pack of 3 - different lengths. I have 1 on my most used long ruler. It also helps when you need to p/u your ruler. Just don't step on it...it hurts! :)

I have my large cutting mat on my sewing room floor (only spot big enough) & I leave my ruler on the floor sometimes & end up stepping on it.

I've seen rulers with the cutter actually attached and you push down on it with your palm. I've often thought it looks much safer than our regular cutters. I really like the idea of the clear plastic corner saver though. I think that would work really well.

Faye

Pat, the corner protector you mentioned sounds similar to the design of the safety shields I bought.

They have adhesive already on them (I hate dealing with glue) & they are very sturdy - same ruler plastic. The only problem with adding these to your rulers is that it's difficult to see under the shield for measurements (even though everything is clear) so be sure to glue it in a spot you don't think you'll need measurements for.

That is a really great idea using the corner protectors, I was trying to think of something to glue onto them that would not interfer with the clear line view, but I can see that corner protector working just fine. Most cuts would be block size and not narrow enough to interfer with the measuring area at the edge of the ruler. I have not seen the safety shield, but I will look into those also.

Thanks so much!

I have heard of some kind of wire mesh glove people can wear to protect the hand holding the ruler -- though I think that would really bug me.

I recently got one of those June Tailor Shape Cut Plus mats where you put your rotary cutter in the slots to cut -- I LOVE it, not because of safety so much as HOW FAST I can cut several pieces with it compared to just a regular ruler -- but it does seem like the blade would not easily "jump" out of the slot.

Here is a link that might be useful: shape cut plus ruler at Jo Anns.

I have one of the June Tailor strip cutters and adore it. I use it constantly. It's safe, and as you said, super fast. My only beef with it is that I do tend to get slivers cut out of it sometimes, especially when I use it a LOT at once, like when I did a log cabin quilt. But, it's definitely worth it.

aixia, do you mean slivers in the fabric, or the mat itself?

I have two rotary cutters and with the one I assumed would work best with this mat, I often had trouble getting the blade in right at the beginning of the slot, and it would cut into the mat, making a jagged edge which caused more snagging next time I tried to cut -- the situation was getting worse and worse.

SO I tried my other rotary cutter which is a self closing one. I thought it would be even HARDER to get in the slot 'cause the blad is against it's plastic guard until you press down-- but it worked FLAWLESSLY with it! Slides in simple and perfect every time and never snags!!!!

The one that DOES work GREAT with it looks like the one at the link below. I was surprised 'cause I don't like it as much with my regular ruler.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pressure sensitive rotary cutter

I bought a package of those stick on safety shields at Joannes last year and love them. They're just clear plastic angles. You cut them the length of your ruler & stick it on. No more sliced fingers. They're inexpensive too.