Foam rubber is a great thing. Soft, comfortable and harmless. Most often, mattresses and stuffing for upholstered furniture are made from it. It is of varying degrees of stiffness and thickness. But no matter what its elasticity and thickness, it should be cut only with a knife. You will learn about how to cut foam rubber with a knife, and why this should be done only with this tool, from this article.
Bad Thin Wire Tips
It’s better not to listen to these tips. Even if the cutting of foam rubber takes place on the street, you run the risk of breathing dangerous toxins so that ruin your health at one time. The fact is that foam rubber is not ordinary plastic. To give it a foamy structure, various types of toxic impurities are added to the polymers, which are not at all dangerous in the usual frozen state and at room temperature, but instantly turn into the strongest poison with strong heating.
Yes, in production this material is cut by means of hot nichrome threads. But there, people work in protective clothing and respirators, or even are in a protected operator’s booth with an excellent hood. And since you are going to cut the foam at home, for the lack of such means of protection, you risk poisoning not only yourself, but also your loved ones.
Plus, this method is only suitable for straight slices. To make a figured one you still have to take a knife.
What is the problem with scissors?
The problem is that when cutting with scissors, the foam structure at the edges of the cut is broken. The edges are depressed and are no longer straightened to their original position. So scissors for even cutting will not work either.
We prepare tools for cutting foam rubber
So, how to cut foam rubber at home, so that the edges are as flat as possible and close to those obtained during production cutting? To do this, you will need to prepare the following tools and consumables:
- Actually, the foam itself, which we are going to cut.
- Lining under the foam, which we will cut. It’s clear that if we put it on linoleum or on the floor of the apartment, these materials will come to an end, since they will all be scratched by a knife. As a lining, it is best to use a sheet of plywood with cardboard laid on it, so that the tip of the knife does not blunt on solid plywood. Cardboard can be used by opening any cardboard box of a suitable size.
- It is desirable to have a knife from the category of construction. They are also called knives for cutting linoleum. He comes with a whole clip of removable blades, which in case of blunting can be changed. It is better to use a branded European, rather than a Chinese knife, since the "Chinese" have low-quality steel, and such a blade will become dull after the very first wiring.
- A ruler, or in the case of figure cutting, a template with a piece cut out of cardboard, along which we draw a line for the cut.
- Marker to draw a cut line.
Cutting instruction
If you follow the instructions in everything, your foam rubber will be cut perfectly. So, let's go:
- Since we decided to cut the foam rubber on the lining, and not on linoleum or parquet, the first thing we do is lay it. First plywood, then a sheet of cardboard.
- On top lay a layer of foam, which we want to cut. We make sure that the line of the future section falls on the lining.
- We take a ruler and, in accordance with the given dimensions, draw a line along which the future section will pass.
- We remove the ruler. If we cut along the ruler and squeezing it at the same time, the cut will be even, but the edge will be as depressed as in the case with scissors. If you decide to cut by a ruler, then in no case do not press on it.
- We take a knife, adjust the blade to the desired length and make a small incision on top of one side. Many people wonder how to cut thick foam so that even from the edge, in the place of the initial cut, it is even. In fact, there is no difference in how thick the foam itself is. The main thing is, after the first cut, insert the knife into the original cut line and make the first full cut, grabbing slightly both edges of the cut foam on both sides of the knife with your free hand. Then the cut will be perfect.
- In many articles, advisers recommend that you keep the knife upright. Rewritten from each other, without understanding. Do not listen to idiotic advice. On the contrary, you need to keep the knife at an angle to you. This plane of the knife blade should always be upright with respect to the ground. It can not be blocked either to the right or to the left, otherwise the edge on the cut will come out trapezoidal.
- Surely the first cut foam rubber will not cut through to the end. Patience. Nothing wrong. We push the edges of the cut, insert the knife and make another straight cut. Ultimately, the tip of the knife grates on the cardboard, and the task will be completed.
Good advice on how to cut foam so that the edge is perfect. If you feel that the knife began to make peculiar hooks during posting, it means that in some place the blade has become dull and, without cutting, begins to tear foam rubber, forming a strip of foam rubber burrs. In this case, immediately replace the blade with a new one. It’s best to do this without waiting for this to happen. They made five to six entries, changed the blade. They can then be used again for any other purpose, but for cutting foam they will already be unsuitable. A simple cutting of foam rubber with a knife is clearly shown in this video.
In conclusion about curly cutting
How to cut foam rubber evenly along curved lines? Here everything is the same as in the case of direct cutting. The only thing is that the angle of inclination of the knife to itself should be increased to the maximum, or the cut parts will be slightly “mowed” at the edges, as if you were not vertically holding the plane of the knife blade with respect to the plane of foam rubber. That's all. Nothing complicated. The main thing is to have patience and a company knife, and the edges of the cuts you will get as factory ones.