Abstract: A blanking cutter cuts out a dumbbell-shaped test piece from a sheet of rubber, plastic, vinyl, polyethylene, paper, or the like. The dumbbell-shaped test piece has wider opposite ends and a narrower intermediate strip portion joined thereto along curves. The blanking cutter has a base, a plurality of flexible shearing blades, and a plurality of presser plates which clamp the shearing blades against the sides of the base. The shearing blades fully surround the outer profile of the base and have respective cutting edges projecting beyond the base and the presser plates.