Learn cut vinyl with a hand tool.
Vinyl is a weather-resistant material often used in house siding and other products that need to hold up to tough weather and environmental conditions. Vinyl can be purchased in rolls, sheets, and prefabricated shapes. Many types of tools can cut through vinyl, including specialized saws and other electric-driven tools. If you want to cut vinyl with a hand tool, box cutters and tin shears both work well.
Instructions
Draw a Straight Line
1. Hold the ruler flat against the vinyl. Make sure that the ruler is straight. This will be your cutting guide, so if the ruler is crooked, then your cut will be crooked as well.
2. Draw a line on the vinyl with your pencil, using the edge of the ruler as a guide. The line should be only as long as the area that you plan to cut.
3. Remove the ruler from the vinyl and put down the pencil.
Utility Knife
4. Pop up the blade on the utility knife by pushing up the plastic lever on the side of the utility knife.
5. Place the razor edge of the blade at the top of the line that you previously drew with your pencil. Be sure to hold the vinyl with your other hand so that it doesn't slide away while you're cutting it.
6. Apply pressure down on the utility knife and follow the guideline that you drew previously.
7. Grab the vinyl with both hands and bend the sides of the vinyl in opposite directions so that it tears where the guideline was.
Tin Shears
8. Grab the tin shears with your hand and open the blades by moving the handle loops in different directions.
9. Insert the edge of the vinyl between the blades. The line that you previously drew should line up with the edge of the blades.
10. Clamp your fingers together into a closed position so that the handle loops move toward each other. The blades will cut through the vinyl.
11. Continue cutting along the line until you completely cut through the vinyl.
