Cheap non-sticky material for test cuts?

[jmas 119]

I have an odd problem. I have about 200 tracings made with paper and pencil that I'm digitizing so I can cut them with a Craft Robo Pro.

 

The material they will eventually be cut out of is expensive, and they're odd shapes and really hard to measure so once everything is digitized I'd like to cut all 200 and lay the cuts on top of the paper tracings to see if the cuts are the right size, then adjust any that are off. This isn't a single job, I've been cutting them by hand from the tracings for a long time and digitizing them has been a long project, so it's worth taking the time to test cut all of them. That way I'll know that I can cut them with a single click in the future and they'll come out right.

 

I'm wondering what material would be good for this. I have a roll of Greenstar but it wouldn't work because vinyl is sticky and I don't want it to stick to the paper. I could put transfer tape on the sticky side but that seems like a pain and a waste of tape. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't suppose it would be possible to turn the Greenstar upside down and cut the backing without going through the vinyl would it?

 

I guess paper is the next option but I don't have any experience cutting paper. The Craft Robo Pro came with a plastic sheet that I think you're supposed to use as backing if your material doesn't have a backing, but I really hate the thought of loading 200 sheets of paper on that. Is there anything cheap that comes in a roll that can be cut directly? The advertisements for the RoboPro say it will cut "craft paper with backing" but I can't figure out what that is.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

if you don't use something sticky you will need a carrier sheet so you don't cut into you cutting strip - just brainstorming

[security802 686]

 

see if this helps

[Jay2703 704]

Could you use a pen and draw it on paper? 

[Go-C Graphics 856]

You could mirror and cut regular vinyl and then put it upside down on the paper with the sticky side up

[OWJones 1,981]

Could you use a pen and draw it on paper? 

 

That is going to be your best option if your cutter came with a pen/holder - going to be cheaper, too.

[smokeybearfan 87]

Could you cut it out of file folders or cheap construction paper both are cheap.

A cut and paste below

Why do I need a carrier sheet for cutting paper and card stock?
A carrier sheet is for cutting anything that doesn't have a release liner. Vinyl cutters are typically designed to cut only media (vinyl) with a release liner. The cutter blade cuts through the top layer of the vinyl and adhesive but does not cut all the way through penetrating the liner. If the blade were to cut through the liner, eventually there would be damage to the Teflon strip. The strip would become scarred and uneven and there would no longer be a flat surface under the vinyl. This would make the depth of the cuts inconsistent.

Yet obviously, to cut paper and card stock, the blade must cut all the way through the material. To accomplish this without damaging the teflon strip, the Craft ROBO Pro needs to be used with the patented Graphtec carrier sheet. The user places paper or card stock on the carrier sheet (which is coated with a low tack adhesive) to hold it in place. This enables the user to cut without damaging or scarring the cutter protection strip.

[jmas 119]

You could mirror and cut regular vinyl and then put it upside down on the paper with the sticky side up

 

I don't know why I didn't think of that. It will be tedious to go through and flip them all, but it shouldn''t be too hard.

 

Thanks for the other ideas. I don't like the carrier sheet because I don't want to load 200 sheets of paper on it. A long carrier sheet would be better but I don't have room for it where my cutter is at and it would be in the way anywhere else. If I used a pen I'd still have to cut out all of them to compare them to the tracings, or if you meant have the pen draw over the tracings, I'd have to make 200 copies so I don't lose my tracings, then load all 200 one at a time.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

select - mirror - click - done  - not hard to flip them