Table Setting for Kites
For cutting webbing and rope a cutting blade gun really makes short work of it. I use a small board to press against.
A roller cutting blade from I bought at JoAnn Fabrics is all I use to cut Ripstop and monofilm. The second thing you need is a nice 2" wide 48" long aluminum ruler for a straight edge. This rule is like 1/8" thick so it works well when you run the blade along side it. The rolling blade lasts a very long time. These come in a lot of sizes and your better off to buy a big one like in the picture!
On this kite all the edges are inside the tubes and hems are double folded so a hot knife is not really necessary.
I use to use card board for pattern templates but found 7.0 mil monofilm works so much better. It's stiffer and the plastic gets a lot of static electricity in it. That makes it almost sticky on the Ripstop On big patterns I can roll it up a lot smaller also then I ever could with card board for long storage.
A number 2 pencil is what I use to mark around pattern corners for cut lines. You can erase latter if need be but normally try to cut just inside the line. .
My cutting surface is a green sewing cutting matte I bought at Office Max then cut into three pieces. It works extremely well and I highly recommend that investment.