I see that on a lot of benches people have a green self healing cutting mat. Or at least I think that is what they are called from my 2 mintue search on google. currently I just have two mats on my wooden work bench that I do all of my work on. I do my cutting, scraping, and sanding away from it so it won’t get stuck on the towel which is a slight pain but really all i am doing is turning and not facing the bench. I don’t actually have a seperate station. My question is: Why does everyone have the green mat and what is it’s primary and beneficial use? Thanks everyone in advance. I know I ask a lot of basic beginner questions but you have all been very kind in answering and supportive which really makes me love this hobby even more.
I finally bought one of those mats a year ago after 51 years of building.
Does it help?, Yeah, I guess so. It keeps my tabletop from getting damaged to a point and it helps me keep everything in one place somewhat.
Is it self healing? No, I see every cut I made.
Do I like it? Yep.
Can I do without it? Yep.
Would I buy one again? Yeah, if I had a spare $20 looking to be spent and I didn’t need it for paint or other items.
Don’t worry about your questions PB, it’s good to knoe there are people picking the hobby up and we all had the same thoughts and questions.
Steve
I’ve had my green mat for years. My workbench is a large folding table with a hard surface. Cutting directly on the table would ruin the table and ruin the X-acto knives. I would never give up my green mat.
I’m like Steve, yep, have two of them, one at home and the other here at the shop. Keeps knife nicks off the formica tops. They will show cuts, but I usually will flip it over and only cut on one side. I like 'em for building frames on kits that all the frame pieces are separate, lets me square everything up when glueing. Next time in HL, take a look, they carry two or three sizes. Not one of the necessary things but nice to have at times.
I will take a look the next time I am out shopping. Who has the best price on them or is it pretty much the same everywhere?
Before the mat I used one of those thin flexable cutting boards you can get from a dollar store to do my cutting…I think I got it from a dollar store, but they are inexpensive either way.
Pretty much the same but at HL you can use the 40% off coupon.
Most of the cutting I do is taking pieces of the sprue or cleaning up pieces which is mostly done while holding everything. Is that the kind of cutting you are referring to? I guess it would be nice to have something to cut on instead of a towel on top of a wooden bench.
Any cutting I do on the mat is PE and making strips of masking tape. On occasion I’ll trim very small pieces on the mat using the flat rubber surface to hold the piece. Pretty much everything else is done in my hands shaving with and xacto. I cut the pieces off the spure with cutters.
The self healing mats have several benefits,
It keeps your blades sharper longer.
It keeps your cutting surface smooth since you are not scratching/cutting into a surface that does not “heal”.
The printed on grid and rulers come in very handy for cutting masking tape.
It does not leave any residue on masking tape.
Your blade does not slip when cutting unlike cutting on glass.
They last for years.
I would also recommend a glass surface to cut on as well. It does not have to be large. A sheet of glass from an picture frame approx the size of a sheet of paper will do.
Cutting on a glass surface will allow for more precise cuts when using templates such as circle templates or similar. The glass will dull your blade faster. Your blade can slip mid cut so you have to take care and go slower. Also you can create a light box that your glass can sit on so you can allow light to pass through for all sorts of cutting needs where you need to see through your cutting medium.
I do a lot of scratchbuilding, so I really like the grid printed on it for generally keeping things square. I go through one a year. My latest one, I spilled a bottle of thinner on it and its all warped. Need a new one.
Yep, i think they really do help. I recently got a new one and opted for a large one, 36x24 inches. But i also have a small one i use for cutting labels and i can keep that clean.
I also have a large sheet of clear plastic on top so i don’t get glue or paint on the mat.
My [2cnts]. I use the green mat for almost everything as was said above. I also have a small round glass cutting board ( ~ 12") that I got at Giant food store for a couple of bucks that I use for cutting masking tape strips for seat belts and canopy strips. I also use it when working with CA glue. Put a puddle on the glass and use a dental pick to transfer to parts. When the remaining CA hardens, just pop it off with a chisel blade. Same thing goes for hand painting small items. Put a drop on the glass instead of working from the bottle. When it dries, scrape off with chisel blade.
Jim [cptn]
Flat steel electrical backplates for cutting works fine for me, printed cutting pads too distracting.
Years ago bought 100-pack no-name No.11 blades, exceptional quality steel, got lotta use out of the 100 blades. X-Acto steel just suffices; wish I knew who’d made those no-names!
My mat is blue.
I got a white mat online that covers most of my desk. I think the name is something like cutting mats online or something similar. As I recall, they will do custom sizes. I like the contrast with white for most of my plastic parts.
It makes my bench look cool.
[snStpd] [:P]
Truth told, I do have one, but it’s under a sheet of 1/4" glass…so it really isn’t doing anything other than looking cool! The grid does come in handy from time to time though. Having worked on various surfaces over the years…I do not see myself ever using anything other than glass.
Spring 1984 bought a rust-colored COSCO table, used & abused it off & on for modeling till 2008, tossed it, bought another similar one. In October 2015 disposed of it, bought a 30-1/2 inch x 6-foot center fold table from Walmart, one white-faced Masonite wall siding sheet from Home Depot to protect the table. To “protect” the Masonite sheet from paint spills use heavy-duty brown wrapping paper kept down with masking tape.
I also like light surfaces to see kit parts though brown wrapping paper helps in picking out clear parts particularly those that like to wander, placing blue-color pait drip cloth underneath the table has helped in finding stray parts well as catching paint drips.
Aha !
I too have that ubutiqous green Mat . Mine is five years old and almost looks unused .
I got it because I needed something gentler on my blades than Tempered glass .
T.B.