Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop buying pre-cut book board

Wasted about $40 on pre-cut sheets from a craft store before figuring out I could just buy a full sheet of binders board and cut it myself. Anyone else get nickled and dimed by pre-cut supplies?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscarwright18d ago

Hold on now, that $40 probably saved you from way more waste. Cutting your own board from a full sheet means you're stuck with scraps and uneven edges unless you have a giant ruler and a utility knife that's basically a samurai sword. I've ruined at least three full sheets trying to get perfect right angles for hardcovers, and my cuts always come out a quarter inch off on one side. Those pre-cut packs are a rip-off until you factor in the time you burn measuring and the sheer frustration of watching a fresh blade wander off your line. Paying for convenience is a fair trade when my custom cut looks like a toddler carved it with a butter knife.

matthew_baker16d ago

Looks like a toddler carved it with a butter knife" - yeah @oscarwright, that's basically how my first few attempts went too. I wasted a whole sheet because I thought I could freehand it. Now I use a cheap T-square and a brand new blade every time, and my corners are actually square. Pre-cut is fine for some people but man, that $40 adds up fast.

viola_cooper6218d ago

Isn't part of the craft getting better at the basics though, like measuring twice and cutting once? A sharp blade and a metal ruler make those perfect right angles way easier than you think.