Cutting Dibond and Foamex, advice and views plese?

[David Wilde]

I have one of these. Rarely use it now however. It cuts through dibond easily enough but it doesn’t guarantee a clean edge I’m afraid.

Its not so much the saw itself its that it is difficult to keep perfectly straight even with the guide rail.

[Carl Morton]

Thanks for the reply David, how do you cut Dibond these days?

[Simon Worrall]

Dibond
Ruler.
Stanley or similar knife.
4 passes.
Snap off over edge of table.
Plane rough edge with hand plane.
Lovely clean edges.

[Carl Morton]

quote Simon Worrall:

Dibond
Ruler.
Stanley or similar knife.
4 passes.
Snap off over edge of table.
Plane rough edge with hand plane.
Lovely clean edges.

Thanks Simon, I’m gonna give this a go.

[David Stevenson]

Carl we bought a signsaw pro and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tool create a mess like it. Even with the vacuum attached everything still ends up covered. The rail that it runs down is also a pain as it drastically reduces the depth it can cut. Its basically a standard plunge saw with a rail. You can buy a different version online for a fraction of price. https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8658272 … IrEALw_wcB

It’s amazing how easy dibond cuts when you score it gently with a blade then snap it on the edge of a table. The material used for folded signs however is impossible to cut like that you need to keep scoring until your through. We’ve a keencut evolution 2, and SteelTrak both of which do an excellent job with the SteelTrak been the more versatile of the 2.

[David Stevenson]

quote Simon Worrall:

Dibond
Ruler.
Stanley or similar knife.
4 passes.
Snap off over edge of table.
Plane rough edge with hand plane.
Lovely clean edges.

Hi Simon, you mentioned scoring the dibond 4 times. Try doing it once with light pressure then snapping it. We may be using different brands but with ours if I do it this way it prevents the ridge at the edge and snaps really easy leaving a perfect edge. Some time on the edge there appears to be what looks like strands of plastic. This burns of instantly with a heat gun

[Luke Culpin]

We have x2 metal guillotines, one really old one that is about 900mm wide and a more modern one at 2000mm wide. Anything above that I score the back of the sheet and snap.

The old smaller guillotine is amazing when you’ve got loads of small signs to do, we can breeze through them so quickly! You can find these old guillotines for £200/£400!

We print 8×4 sheets full, trim them to smaller sections on the big guillotine, then onto the smaller one after!

[Carl Morton]

quote Luke Culpin:

We have x2 metal guillotines, one really old one that is about 900mm wide and a more modern one at 2000mm wide. Anything above that I score the back of the sheet and snap.

The old smaller guillotine is amazing when you’ve got loads of small signs to do, we can breeze through them so quickly! You can find these old guillotines for £200/£400!

We print 8×4 sheets full, trim them to smaller sections on the big guillotine, then onto the smaller one after!

Hi Luke
Another great option, I’ll look into this too

[Chris Wilson]

[quote="David Stevenson"]

The material used for folded signs however is impossible to cut like that you need to keep scoring until your through. /quote]

What are using David? Where using skybond and every now and again ibond and can’t say I have seen any difference between that and the lite stuff? Same technique.

[David Stevenson]

quote Chris Wilson:

quote David Stevenson:

The material used for folded signs however is impossible to cut like that you need to keep scoring until your through. /quote]

What are using David? Where using skybond and every now and again ibond and can’t say I have seen any difference between that and the lite stuff? Same technique.

I’m not sure what brand it is Chris I’d need to check when I’m back in work on Monday. We brought in a few sheets when our supplier was out of stock of sky bond. The core is a cream colour rather than black. Refuses to snap no matter how much you try to bend it!

[Kevin Mahoney]

We bought a festool composite milling machine a couple of years ago along with the vacuum & 4.5mtr guide rail. Phenomenal piece of equipment & gives a factory edge. I’m buying the circular saw now to cut as well as v groove. Not cheap, but German so just works properly

[Chris Wilson]

quote David Stevenson:

quote Chris Wilson:

quote David Stevenson:

The material used for folded signs however is impossible to cut like that you need to keep scoring until your through. /quote]

What are using David? Where using skybond and every now and again ibond and can’t say I have seen any difference between that and the lite stuff? Same technique.

I’m not sure what brand it is Chris I’d need to check when I’m back in work on Monday. We brought in a few sheets when our supplier was out of stock of sky bond. The core is a cream colour rather than black. Refuses to snap no matter how much you try to bend it!

Hmmm I wonder if it’s better for sign trays then. Less flex if core is stronger perhaps.

[Carl Morton]

I tried the scoring method this morning and it worked a treat with both hoarding and ibond from Amari. I also used a plane on the edge at a slight angle and it gave a great finish.