Cutting surface

[Leslie slaughter]

What is the cutting surface used on work tables? It is gray and has a stiff but rubbery
Consistency? It's 1/2" to 1 " thick.

[Bert Weiss]

Leslie

I like to use indoor outdoor carpet. MIne is gray, but not as thick as you describe. Often you can get a remnant for little or no cost. Along with the carpet, I use one of my favorite tools called a Fluppi (google it) This is the sweeper used in table cloth restaurants to remove bread crumbs from the table. It works great for glass chips and other scratch making objects.

Another approach is to use astroturf or a thicker pile carpet. The idea here is that the shards fall down in to the carpet and not scratch, but you have to vacuum it to get them out.

Some people use a Morton grid, or some other source of square holed plastic grid material. Here the shards fall down and don't scratch. You can remove the grid to clean up.

The #1 rule for a cutting surface is that it must not be concave.

[Morganica]

I'm not sure about a grey, rubbery substance that's 1/2 to 1 inch thick for a cutting surface, unless it's neoprene (like the kind of stuff they use in wetsuits). I've used self-healing mat for cutting; you can find it at any store that sells drafting and art supplies, usually. Sometimes quilt or sewing shops have it, too.

I personally really dislike cutting glass on carpet--the shards tend to embed in the carpet. At some point I will run my arm/hand/wrist/whatever over them and wish I hadn't. I cut shapes on a glass light table so I can see what I'm doing. I'm carefully running the scores with the glass off the table anyway and if I need to press the cut (rarely), I put the glass on a folded towel. When I'm making straight cuts, I work on a grid, similar to a Morton cutting system grid, from the fluorescent light section of the hardware store.

[Tony Smith]

I use the Olfa cutting mats. Available at Michael's and A.C.Moore.

Tony

[Marty]

old hardwood door
plywood
masonite
homesote
sheets of newspaper
Sintra (google it)
thin-rubber-stuff-that-you-put-under-the-rug-so-it-doesn't-slip
old towels

but not carpet, never carpet!

[Bert Weiss]

The carpet I use is an indoor outdoor grade and has no pile. It is like heavy felt. It is easy to clean and does not hold on to shards at all. It is a padding and tends to scratch glass the least. I can't imagine doing it any other way, given all the choices.

[Valerie Adams]

I use a piece of 4x8' soundboard that's about $15 at Home Depot. I can use it for a couple years before flipping it and getting a few more years out of the other side.

[lmartine]

Hi,

This maybe the thick rubbery material that you are referring to:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Envirotile-2 ... b7eE9jl6qg

May be a more costly alternative depending on the size of the surface to be covered.

Lucie

[Rick Wilton]

I bought a these from Costco and have it on my cutting table.



Won't scratch the glass and will hold months of glass chips.