Cutting Mat

I originally bought this mat for my mother-in-law who used it for her sewing. My wife also used one for her picture mat cutting. They work well with the rotary cutters and mat cutter. I find it extremely useful for woodworking when laying out projects, doing dry fits and glue ups, etc. I would think it might come in handy for veneer work and other projects where you might want a larger protected surface that won’t mar the finished product.

It is hard enough to stay flat and smooth yet soft enough to be protective. It is suppose to be “self-healing” when used with cutters. We haven’t done much cuttuing on this one but we see no cut marks. Regular wood glue like Titebond II scraped off easily. The grid lines give a quick reference for squareness during assembly and I found the 45 and 60 degree angle lines to be helpful.

It was very helpful in wrapping presents in gift paper. I could never cut those rolls straight…

They are rather expensive, but best of all it protected the top of my wife’s antique tilt-top table that I converted to a temporary work surface for wood projects—much to her chagrin.

-- Al H. - small shop, small projects...