Making extra work" is exactly what my buddy Dave did for years with drywall sanding. He'd press so hard the paper would tear, then have to patch and re-sand everything.

Honestly, I was using snips on thin aluminum flashing for ages and my hands would cramp up something awful. I picked up a cheap electric shear and it cut through that stuff like butter, no regrets.

Took me years to learn that lesson myself with a rental property I should've sold way earlier.

My neighbor did the exact same thing last summer on a little garden wall. He's got that same YouTube know-it-all confidence and he buttered up eight bricks at once under the hot July sun. By the time he got to number seven, the mortar was all crusty and flaky and wouldn't stick right. He ended up having to chisel the whole row off and start fresh the next morning when it was cooler. It's a hard lesson but once you learn it you never make that mistake again.

Yeah but here's the thing nobody's talking about, uma_williams, that plotter jam probably saved you from realizing vellum curls like crazy once you peel it off the backing.