What material do people use when they want to test cut a part, without using the expensive finish material?
I need some cheap 2" (or 1") thick material, 48" x 96" or 60" x 60" sheet size.
Styrofoam might work… or it might explode into a zillion static balls.
Gluing up a big OSB panel doesn’t seem like the best option.
MDF is a candidate but still not really that cheap. Plus, without special ordering it, I’d likely end up using 3/4" thickness and have to laminate three sheets together to get at least 2" thick (which wastes money).
The pink foam has worked well for me. I helped a friend make vacuum forms for bent plywood. The contour cuts were nice and fast, 1" step-downs, 150 ipm, 18K rpm, climb-cut with a half-inch straight bit. There are probably better feeds and speeds, but it worked and the finish on the cuts was good. My dust collection wasn’t up to the task, so I did have to clean up staticky pieces and pink dust, but it wasn’t too bad. Fortunately I remembered to change the bag on the dust collector before starting.
I would have to ask myself because its test cuts why so big? So can you reduce the size to get the same affect?
I get on my local Craigslist and check the FREE section. I have absolutely no issue with cutting up materials like old fence boards, construction lumber scrap, or old pieces of Ikea furniture that was destined for the landfill anyway. I’ve found some very decent materials there (I picked up 16 solid cherry cabinet doors once,) but for the most part it’s just free scrap or old furniture that’s headed for the landfill if nobody picks it up. Perfect for test cuts.
@JeffsDesign Ultimately, I want to make the part in 2" thick hardwood. The piece will be stacked and offset material to make a taller block for the rotary. So I want to test the staggered/offset blockiness design with the test piece. But if the test material is 3/4" thick, it isn’t going to hit 2" easily. A 3/4 + 3/4 + 1/2" glue-up is a lot more work just for a test piece which I could very quickly botch up and need to re-make.
@Stephen I’ll try the 2" EPS or XPS foam. That’s a better bet than styrofoam, and it comes in 4’x8’ sheets. Thanks for the recommendation.