Amazon warrior
New member
Does anyone else find it a pita? And does anyone have any helpful (and cheap!) suggestions as to how I can do it better?
Cutting foamcore
- Thread starter Amazon warrior
- Start date
Amazon warrior
New member
Ok. I haven\'t been trying to cut all in one go, at least, but it\'s knackered my blades real quick. They\'re rather small (cutting edge is only a little wider than the foamcore), I suspect I need larger ones. Fortunately, the pieces are going to be covered in putty so they don\'t need to be beautiful, but it would be nice if they were tidy.
airhead
Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
sorry, there is almost no way around going through a ton of blades if you are cutting paper products (top & bottom of the foamcore).
Wallpaperer I know uses one blade per cut on wallpaper. The tips get dulled and will drag and tear the next piece of paper.
You are looking at similar issues here. Around a meter of cut is about what you can expect from a blade.
***
Couple of tricks:
On a cut off (straight line all the way across), cut the paper. Turn the foamcore over. Bend backwards. The foam will \'break\' where the cut is. Now all you have to do is cut the other paper. This will not always leave a \'clean\' edge of foam. But for terrain bases it is fine.
If you have something matted in a picture frame, you might notice that they cut the matt board or foamcore at an angle. Just hold the blade at a 45 degree angle as you are cutting this will give a nice tapered edge to base pieces where you are trying to minimize the thickness of the foam core.
Wallpaperer I know uses one blade per cut on wallpaper. The tips get dulled and will drag and tear the next piece of paper.
You are looking at similar issues here. Around a meter of cut is about what you can expect from a blade.
***
Couple of tricks:
On a cut off (straight line all the way across), cut the paper. Turn the foamcore over. Bend backwards. The foam will \'break\' where the cut is. Now all you have to do is cut the other paper. This will not always leave a \'clean\' edge of foam. But for terrain bases it is fine.
If you have something matted in a picture frame, you might notice that they cut the matt board or foamcore at an angle. Just hold the blade at a 45 degree angle as you are cutting this will give a nice tapered edge to base pieces where you are trying to minimize the thickness of the foam core.
Amazon warrior
New member
Yeah, I remember my mum absolutely forbidding me to use her special dress-making scissors to cut paper because it would blunt them. Good tips, thanks!
Amazon warrior
New member
Errr... yes? Looks like this:
D
donga666
Guest
As has been stated before...
New blades and lots of them. When I cut foam-board / foam-core I have a stack of new blades on one side and an empty tin for the blunt ones. Thats why Exacto knifes were developed for quick change over.
Three passes with the blade, but never perpendicular to the cutting mat. Always at a 30-45 deg angle.
New blades and lots of them. When I cut foam-board / foam-core I have a stack of new blades on one side and an empty tin for the blunt ones. Thats why Exacto knifes were developed for quick change over.
Three passes with the blade, but never perpendicular to the cutting mat. Always at a 30-45 deg angle.
Einion
New member
Okie dokie. In that case - as someone who\'s cut more paper and board than the average five people put together 
- I\'d recommend one of these as the paper-cutting tool of choice:
All careful cutting recommendations are to let the blade do all the work, press gently, make multiple passes. Each one of those snap-off blades is therefore the equivalent of ten or more no. 11s because it\'s the corner that does the cutting, not the edge.
You do have to snap off the end regularly but you don\'t need to after every cut, trust me.
My preference is for a steel rule although I\'ve worked with people who preferred wood or Perspex.
Einion
- I\'d recommend one of these as the paper-cutting tool of choice:
All careful cutting recommendations are to let the blade do all the work, press gently, make multiple passes. Each one of those snap-off blades is therefore the equivalent of ten or more no. 11s because it\'s the corner that does the cutting, not the edge.
You do have to snap off the end regularly but you don\'t need to after every cut, trust me.
My preference is for a steel rule although I\'ve worked with people who preferred wood or Perspex.
Einion
jerry kurl
New member
Why not just use a decent quality stanley knife the blades are reversible and also very cheap - screwfix sells a box of about a 100 for a couple of quid also as the edge dulls (aslong as its not nicked) you can hone them with a flat diamond blade sharpener with a couple of strokes. Also the handles are very very safe (the snap of style blade handles always seem incredibly brittle to me)
Chris
Chris
Einion
New member
Stanley knives are great for cutting some things, but the thickness of the blade can make for more drag on thicker materials. Expanded polystyrene has a tendency to grab, although waxing the blade might help.
Sharpening is a good idea, but most people simply wouldn\'t be able to return a blade to the kind of sharpness it had from the factory.
Einion
Sharpening is a good idea, but most people simply wouldn\'t be able to return a blade to the kind of sharpness it had from the factory.
The handles should be fine. The blades can of course snap during use if you\'re heavy-handed or not careful about sideways movement.
Einion
Amazon warrior
New member
Thanks for the thoughts! I was wondering if there was a special technique, but I see it is in fact more about using that supply of patience that I don\'t have! I shall see if I can invest in one of those slidey blade knives. Not this w/end, tho. It\'s a public holiday, so everything will be shut.
freakinacage
Well-known member
yeah me neither. if anyone knows where i can get some?!!
btw tescos do a crappy cheap set of hobby knives for a quid (about 5 random knives) and they are currently b.o.g.o.f.
they aint top quality but are great for this sort of thing
also, anyone got any ideas on how do cut a decent 45 degree angle in the depth of it so it looks like this (ish)?
======/ /======
its for big bits so a standard mitre box won\'t work
freakinacage
Well-known member
i think that\'s what i want. basically i use the foam for building houses (the main flat surface is the wall) and i want to have decent corners without on of the cross sections showing.
am i making sense?
am i making sense?
Amazon warrior
New member
Yup- you put two 45 deg. edges together to get a 90 deg. corner with a nice neat edge. Yes? Dunno about how to cut nice 45 deg. angles, tho, I struggle with 90 deg ones!
freakinacage
Well-known member
aye thats it. thank you at last someone who has a better grasp of the english language!!
Amazon warrior
New member
You\'re welcome!
