Just in from a secret laboratory, where arcane and possibly suspect skills are used, we have the results of the great Rotary Cutting Mat stabilization project. Listed below is a description of the items and process.
- rotary cutting mat, given to me for free. (the best kind for experimentation, and not particularly liked by this tester for style reasons).
- 3/8" plywood scrap slightly larger that needed. This is what I had and is not necessarily desirable, or recommended. It is also regular plywood. What would be recommended is furniture grade plywood, as it is stable because of the larger number of cores that provide stability. Also, if you want to make it so that you can attach a handle then you would want to use 3/4" thick instead of 3/8". It does add to the weight, but if you are not going to carry it around it would be more desirable. Again, it is what I had; I did claim arcane and suspect skills right when we started.
- Super 77 industrial strength glue in a spry can. This stuff will stick anything to anything, or if not, I haven't come across the things that it won't stick together. Again, it is what I had and use regularly. there are undoubtedly, other products, of a similar nature, and I am sure they will work.
- Felt, used for backing. I use this stuff by the bolt for backing any number of things that are mounted to plywood. I like the way it finishes off a project and it provides a nice surface to place against other things of a more delicate nature, like good furniture, or your lap. If it finally gives out you can just tear it off and reapply some more. I use Dritz Fabric spray for mounting it and that is available at Joanne's, or other quilty places. You could use the above adhesive spray to mount it also, but it will stick and not be as easily removable if needed.
Here is the process.
Spray the back of the cutting mat and the surface of the plywood, with the 77 super adhesive spray . Position the mat over the plywood and lay one side onto the plywood and lower the mat so that it comes into contact with the plywood and then put pressure all over the surface of the mat to make sure you adhere the 2 surfaces. Now, if you wisely made the plywood larger than the mat surface, you just cut off the excess plywood surrounding the mat. Use a power saw or hand saw, whatever you have, and feel comfortable using. The mat I used had rounded corners and I had to round off the corner of the plywood. I have a power tool that makes short work of that, but you can use a file or even sandpaper, and an electric sander if you want to spend enough time on it. Lastly, spray the back and the felt, which is cut larger than the plywood back, and apply to the back, smoothing out any wrinkles. Then after it dries, trim off the overhang of felt backing, with scissors, and stand back and view the successful completion of another astounding contribution to the world of quilting. Well, ok, it just might not be astounding, but it might me an improvement on bendy cutting mats.
Important addendum:
If you really want to do a bang up job on this project, You could varnish all sides of the plywood, including the edges, to seal it and make it more stable. On the smaller cutting mats it might not be necessary, but the larger the mat, the greater the need to maintain stability. In the interest of screwball science, I chose to omit that element, but would recommend it for something you might want to keep and use outside. The mat I used for this project was 16" x 21" and might be larger that would be used as a portable cutting mat.
This concludes this tutorial, and comes with a disclaimer of responsibility, as to what will happen to you if you engage in the use of power tools or toxic chemicals in enclosed spaces. I does not guarantee success, but should provide you with a good chance of achieving it.
Good luck, the link below shows you the three steps in the process,