Cutting mat maintenance?

Mine seem to get beat up fairly fast. I mean they continue to self heal if I cut on them, but they get kind of filthy and spilled extra thin does them no favors. How do folks maintain them? And is there a version that doesn’t stick to polystyrene if you get extra thin on both?

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Isn’t that alcohol abuse and maybe hear me out, less IPA might lead to less other spills on the mat.

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I only half looked at that first picture with the extra thin and thought you’d built it it’s own WWI no man’s land diorama for it to sit in.

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Don’t worry, it’s “patina” :sunglasses:

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Hi
A quick fix is to tape 2 square bottles together, certainly reduces knockability :wink:
Or buy one of the 3D printed holders. or make a frame in Balsa around the base.

Cheers
Andrew T

I use the Tamiya foam holder, works good enough for me. No (knock on wood) spills to date.

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Paint_and_Construction/foam-square-holder-for-40ml-bottle/TAM00087202/product.php?kw=87202

The one I need to make is for the microsol/microset bottles. I knock those over more often.

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What about considering a downsized concrete wine bottle cooler ?

All you need is this :wink:

al12ks1ej-3700018120208-visuel_produit_base-3700018120208

H.P.

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That would get more dangerous the emptier the bottle got. Might hit the hole to hard or miss it all together.

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Shameless plug here. But I just got into 3d printing and I have been building stands for almost anything on my bench as practice. If anyone is looking for something custom PM me and let’s chat. I am kicking the idea about making a whole line up of my own stand designs. So if there are guys out there looking for stuff that they would like to have built to buy. Hit me up. I would think most small stands would only be 5 - 10 bucks plus shipping or possibly kit trades!
Haha






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If you happen to know anyone in the offset printing industry, see if you can score some old printer blankets. They don’t exactly self heal, but you wont cut all the way through them with an exacto-unless you’re pressing really hard

I have cut up some smaller ones for building in the living room while I watch TV-Yes, the wife allows it.

They are a good alternative in a pinch.

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Organization on a workbench??

The nerve of this guy!!! :grinning: :grinning:

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Oh you should see my garage. I would be redeemed very fast on my disorganized manner!

I have been in this hobby for probably 6 or 7 years and have acquired so much tools and supplies I have a hard time using my stuff effectively. By effectively I mean when I need something I can’t find it in a timely manner so I go without. I am really trying to design everything to use some kinda universal base/tray/stand that I can build to work with somekinda toolbox or cabinet storage. In a perfect world I would like to remove whatever I need on a tray‐stand, use it, have everything I need on the tray then slide it back inside it storage. I know that’s asking alot but a guy can dream can’t I.

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I understand, the struggle is real. Anything off the shelf seems either way to big and too small to work effectively and that is just tools and supplies. I don’t build as fast as you or one at a time so I need storage for many in progress builds.

I was thinking all my tools could be on my type of toolbox rack, paints on another, and styrene, brass, and other stock in another type of storage. But I would like to build it moduler so you just buy what you need but somehow it would all work together. I don’t think it’s to crazy of a thing to come up with.

I now am looking at modeling tool sets to come up with a master set of good tool that I use and make one master tool set and go from there.

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That is some serious power right there.

As for the nightmare (awesome video), get a smaller mat and just start stacking them as you need a new one. Problem solved.

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Sorry I didn’t mean to side track the topic. Here’s a little different option for bench mats… I just changed over my cutting Matt to a silicone work Matt and I now use a smaller cutting mat when I need to cut something. The silicone mat works great for clean up and has great texture to keep stuff from rolling around and bouncing off. But it is NOT a cutting Matt in any way. The one I got has some molded in compartments that have came in very useful. Not sure I will go back to a normal cutting mat again.

https://www.amazon.com/Kaisi-Insulation-Silicone-Position-Soldering/dp/B07DGVRYL3/ref=sxin_22_b2b_sx_ibs_v3_mobile?crid=LDOS3TYV3BR5&cv_ct_cx=silicone+mat+soldering&keywords=silicone+mat+soldering&pd_rd_i=B07DGVRYL3&pd_rd_r=8abb9b3c-48a7-4035-91bd-64927de702bc&pd_rd_w=8eNg1&pd_rd_wg=13ZWw&pf_rd_p=019a50ca-80d8-4247-b36a-a1606588019a&pf_rd_r=6J4D6VTDPSJQ66Z2N70E&qid=1637706147&sprefix=silicone+mat+so%2Caps%2C365&sr=1-2-176daafc-d602-46a7-a07f-c84e12bf407c

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Oh, I should have thought of that! I have a gun cleaning mat that looks exactly like that - with little compartments for small screws and such. That would actually be perfect as a work surface with a smaller cutting mat to the side.

Easy to clean? With alcohol or something like that?

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These are awesome man! I would be in on some probably! I have a really bad habit of turning my table from an organized work area to a disaster zone fast. Having organizers like these would help me put things back when I take them out

I have just been using mine for about 1 month now and I just spray it with Windex and cleans very easy. even when I get over spray on it , it just washes off with hot water. I haven’t spilled any solvent on it yet but I think its pretty safe as fair as that goes. I really like the edge feature that keeps things from rolling off it. Plus mine has the little boxes on the sides that come in handy when I am building stuff and need to keep parts in order. i am not sure it will last for years and years but it was only 16 bucks.

So I did some looking around today and I think i might have found something that will work for my toolbox storage. Home depot sell these Dewalt 2.0 Tough boxes that I use at work and there really well made for the price. I bought this one on sale today for 19 bucks.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-Tough-System-2-0-6-Compartment-Small-Parts-Organizer-DWST08020/313818239?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=Shopping-VF-F_D29A-G-D29A-Multi-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA_LIA-2153902-WF-MinorAppl_Minor_Appliances_Special_Buys&cm_mmc=Shopping-VF-F_D29A-G-D29A-Multi-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA_LIA-2153902-WF-MinorAppl_Minor_Appliances_Special_Buys-71700000042813121-58700004539894749-92700067474701002&gclid=CjwKCAiA4veMBhAMEiwAU4XRrwin5PztxUVJOXsCyFgx4LPSjxRTTpdpKr3GUUy6YLWmZQfz4Xwr9xoCCykQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

So my plans is it to remove the yellow bins on the inside and 3D print new trays that will fit inside this toolbox. It looks like I could fit all my tools in this small box plus extra room. I am planning on printing 9 ea trays that will stack inside and will nest together when there inside the storage box. what I like is Dewalt sells a few different styles of these boxes that all hook together for easy transport and they all use the standard foot print inside, so that makes it easy to design modular trays so all the trays should fit all the tray in all the different boxes.

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