Cutting Friendly Plastic - a corker of an idea!

Sunday, September 26, 2010 - Leave a Comment

One of the tools I find most helpful when I'm cutting strips of Friendly Plastic is a steel ruler. It's invaluable for cutting strips for techniques like Fracture and Fusion where straight lines are essential for creating a great looking mosaic. But sometimes, I find the ruler will slip across the slick surface of the plastic, which apart from being dangerous whilst cutting, can also leave you with unsightly slice marks across the middle of the strip. Not only is it wasteful but it's just plain frustrating.

To help overcome this, I use a cork-backed ruler which greatly reduces the amount of slipping and sliding of the ruler across the Friendly Plastic. The cork increases the grip making it much easier to cut. Most of my students don't have one so here's my solution - a DIY version and it's super easy and very inexpensive. I made up a bunch of these for class use and they work a treat.

So here's what we're trying to achieve: turning the bottom ruler into something that resembles the top ruler.

Here's what you'll need: strong double-sided tape, a sheet of thin cork, a steel ruler and a craft knife. I bought my rulers for $2 each at the dollar shop.

Cut a strip of cork slightly narrower than the width of your ruler using the craft knife.

Lay a length of double-sided tape along each of the long edges.

Remove the carrier from the tape.

Align the cork with the tape strips and press down securely.

And that's it - super easy and it can be done in just minutes!

The one on the left is the DIY version and on the right is the bought version.....

Not bad at all!

How much use and abuse it stands up to remains to be seen but it held up well for the workshop I taught yesterday. If the cork needs to be replaced down the track it shouldn't be too difficult.

Why not give it a go?!! It's quick, it's simple and it's effective.

'Til next time.....