In the early workings of my very disorganized shop of late, I've been using a sewing cutting mat on top of a table to trim up decals.
I've had glass for many years on top of tables, and have found, I'm really liking the mat! The decals don't slide around which is a huge bonus, and the premask tags it pretty well.
Anyone have a link to a merchant here or a link to who carries the mats cut to size preference in Canada?
I miss many aspects of the glass top though. Cleaning the surface for one. How do you keep the cutting mats clean? Also, do they come in more colors than the standard green?
posted
Donna...I got my white/translucent cutting mat from a local independent sign supplier in London. They come in 4'x8' size and have the grid lines. I didn't need a 4x8 so he cut one in half and sold me a 2'x8' and sold the other half to another shop.
The supplier's name is Matrix Graphic Supply, and although I'm sure that he could sell you one the shipping might be steep. Check with your local suppliers, they must have a source.
Had mine for over 10 years now and if it ever gets to the point of needing replacing, I'll just flip it over and use the back side!
I believe I paid about $100 for my 2x8.
[ September 25, 2005, 01:54 PM: Message edited by: Dave Grundy ]
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
A trick to cleaning and smoothing a cutting mat....get a nice straight sharply cut piece of plexi ot polycarbonate...and scrape the mat using the plexi held vertically!
[ September 25, 2005, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Si Allen ]
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posted
We had a 2x6 ft sheet of heavy plate glass on the cutting table for years until it got broken.
I went down to the glass shop to get a replacement and was staggered at the price just for the glass. Then there was the cost of having the sharp edges ground off. A bit beyond what I was prepared to pay at the time.
So a "temporary" solution was found. I cut an old polycarbonate sign face down to size. It's still there after several years! Hasn't even been turned over or sanded down yet !!!!
Works fine, and acto blades last longer than on glass.
posted
lol ! i've just built a new bench, 12ft x 2'6" from 4x2, underlit, with a tempered glass top (2 piece) with white transluscent underneath, glass cost about £125 ($200 US) which i dint think bad,
will have see how it goes against the knife blades, but as the original postee says, it's easy to clean ! also made it so the top can angle up at the rear by around 30 degs, dunno why i did that but i'm sure it'll come in handy one day !
posted
Donna, I bought mine from Express Sign Products in Pincher Creek Alberta. 1-800-461-1722. Delivery by bus is only $9.00 and usually next day delivery.....and I've had my 4'x 8' mat for 8 years...and love it. It is a foggy transparent with grid lines....I hope things go well in your new place.
-------------------- Susan Banasky Source Signs Nanaimo, British Columbia sourcesigns@shaw.ca
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Rapid PS: Take a look around this site. They carry a wide variety of office equipment and furniture, art supplies, large format printers and peripherals, many that you may never have known of before. A huge site with a lot of stuff that applies to signmaking.
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