Foam rubber is a great thing. Soft, comfortable and harmless. Most often, mattresses and stuffing for upholstered furniture are made from it. It comes in different degrees of hardness and thickness. But regardless of what elasticity and thickness it has, it should only be cut with a knife. You will learn how to cut foam rubber with a knife, and why this should be done only with this tool, from this article.
Bad advice about thin wire
It's better not to listen to this advice. Even if the cutting of foam rubber takes place on the street, you run the risk of inhaling the most dangerous toxins so that you ruin your he alth in one moment. The thing is that foam rubber is not ordinary plastic. To give it a foamy structure, various kinds of toxic impurities are added to the polymers, which are completely harmless in the usual frozen state and at room temperature, but instantly turn into the strongest poison when strongly heated.
Yes, in production this material is cut with hot nichromethreads. But there, people work in protective clothing and respirators, or even stay in a protected operator's booth with excellent ventilation. And since you are going to cut the foam rubber at home, in the absence of such means of protection, you risk poisoning not only yourself, but also your loved ones.
Plus, this method is only suitable for straight cuts. To make curly, you still have to take up the knife.
What's the problem with scissors?
The problem is that when cutting with scissors, the structure of the foam rubber along the edges of the cut is broken. The edges are pressed in and no longer straighten to their original position. So scissors for even cutting will not work either.
Preparing tools for cutting foam rubber
So, how to cut foam rubber at home so that the edges are as smooth and as close as possible to those obtained during production cutting? To do this, you will need to prepare the following tools and supplies:
- Actually, the foam itself, which we are going to cut.
- Lining under the foam rubber, which we will cut. It is clear that if we lay it out on linoleum or on the parquet of an apartment, these very 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 dull on hard plywood. Cardboard can be used by flattening any suitable size cardboard box.
- It is desirable to have a knife from the category of construction. They are also called cutting knives.linoleum. It comes with a whole clip of removable blades, which can be changed in case of dullness. It is better to use a branded European rather than a Chinese knife, since the steel of the "Chinese" is of poor quality, and such a blade will become dull after the first wire.
- A ruler or, in the case of curly cutting, a template with a template cut out of cardboard, along which we will draw a line for the cut.
- Marker to draw the cutting line.
Cutting instructions
If you follow the instructions in everything, your foam will cut perfectly. So let's go:
- Since we decided to cut the foam rubber on a lining, and not on linoleum or parquet, we first lay it. First plywood, then a sheet of cardboard.
- On top we lay a layer of foam rubber that we want to cut. We make sure that the line of the future cut falls on the lining.
- Take a ruler and, in accordance with the given dimensions, draw a line along which the future cut will pass.
- Remove the ruler. If we cut along the ruler while also pressing it down, then the cut will turn out to be even, but the edge will be as depressed as in the case of scissors. If you decide to cut along the ruler, then in no case put pressure on it.
- Take a knife, adjust the blade to the desired length and make a small incision over one side. Many are wondering how to cut thick foam rubber so that even from the edge, at the site of the original cut, it is even. Actually there is nothe difference is how thick the foam itself is. The main thing after the first cut is to insert the knife into the original cut line and make the first full cut, lightly grabbing both edges of the cut foam rubber on both sides of the knife with your free hand. Then the cut will be perfect.
- In many articles, advisers recommend that you always hold the knife vertically. They copy each other without understanding. Don't listen to idiotic advice. The knife, on the other hand, should be held at an angle to you. This plane of the knife blade must always be vertical to the ground. It can not be filled up either to the right or to the left, otherwise the edge on the cut will come out trapezoidal.
- Surely the first cut will not cut through the foam to the end. Patience. It's OK. We push the edges of the cut, insert the knife and make another even cut. Eventually the tip of the knife will scrape against 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 has begun to make some kind of hooks during wiring, it means that in some place the blade has become dull and, without cutting through, it begins to tear the foam rubber, forming a strip of foam rubber burrs. In this case, you should immediately change the blade to a new one. It's best to do this without waiting for it to happen. Made five - six postings, changed the blade. They can then be used again for any other purpose, but they will no longer be suitable for cutting foam rubber. A simple cut 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 straight cutting. The only thing is that the angle of inclination of the knife towards you should be increased to the maximum, otherwise the cut parts will “mow” a little along the edges, as if you held the knife blade plane non-vertically with respect to the foam rubber plane. That's all. Nothing complicated. The main thing is to have patience and a branded knife, and the edges of the cuts will turn out like factory ones.
