Cutting Shingles


 


Shingles Home
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Scissors
Razor Saw
EZ Cutter

Q: What do I need to cut dollhouse shingles? I have tried scissors I have at home as well as a rotary cutter but nothing works.

A: I use regular no-name scissors from the variety store for most shingle cutting.

I do not expect scissors to give me two perfect (un-broken) sides of the shingle – If I am cutting ‘starter’ shingles (1/4 of a shingle), I expect to get something that will glue together as I am applying it to the roof, and it will not be perfect but will nevertheless do its job of lifting the bottom of the first course of full shingles.  I can often get two larger shingles in a square cut, though.  In an angled cut the ‘down-grain’ piece will nearly always be good and the ‘up-grain’ piece will nearly always split, but for ‘fill-in’ pieces in a valley, the split side can sometimes be used anyway. 

To get two un-broken sides reliably, I use an X-Acto style razor saw.
Slideshows support but do not replace the instructions
Wanda says: "I was struggling cutting the Valley shingles. I am a quilter. A rotary cutter and quilter’s ruler on a cutting board was my answer! Finished cutting all in less than 10 minutes!!" 
Gary: Can anyone else weigh in on this? I have a sewing mat but no rotary cutter. Is there a difference in sharpness of the cutter, in cutting board vs. mat?