in flexible web material by penetrating the material at a point of tangency between an anvil and a cutting edge and progressively moving the point of contact along the entire edge of a knife as shown in fig1 the lower housing 14 includes a plate 74 having an apperature 76 which may be circular or of a configuration similar to the configuration of the knife such as shown in fig6 b and 7b in any event the apperature 76 is sufficiently large to provide clearance for upward projection of the knife toward and in contact with the anvil in response to the actuation of the linear actuator 52 since it is contemplated that the web 16 would be held in tension during its progress over the cutting apparatus 10 raising of the knife 70 would slightly increase the tension of the web when contact of the anvil 40 is made however as the point of contact between the anvil 40 and the knife edge 72 progresses around the entire periphery of the knife edge 72 some relaxation and tension would occur as the cutting point progresses around the sharpened edge 72 fig2 illustrates one type of thermoplastic bag commonly referred to as a 34 sinus top bag 34 which is generally identified by the numeral 78 it will be observed that the bag 78 is provided with hand receiving holes 80 in each of the opposed panels not shown and that the holes 80 are located adjacent the curvilinear or top.