A cheap, fast-cutting material to emulate ply?

[Daniel Reetz]

I'm prototyping a large, complicated object (a collapsible scanner) and my final material will be "1/4"" ply (actually ~5mm baltic birch).

My problem is as follows:

Birch is expensive and takes a long time to cut with my Zing 24. I need a material that's a similar thickness (0.19 - 0.2"), but which cuts quickly and, ideally, is cheap.

Cardboard won't work.

Any ideas?

[Dan Hintz]

What about foam-core posterboard? Cheap in quantity, can be stacked for thickness, cuts like butter, can be painted with good coverage on a single coat, etc. If you need strength, you'll need to consider something more like acrylic.

[Daniel Reetz]

Can't believe I didn't think of foam-core. Is the core polystyrene?

I'll have to look around and see if I can get it in .2" thickness. That would be almost too perfect.

[Martin Boekers]

Dan,

There is a more non-flexible board available.

The brand name is Gator Board, I'm sure others have their version of it
also. It's basically like Foam Core but with a stiffer backing.


I got this off of Laser Alliance LLC web site;

Foam Core, Gator Board
Foam core Gator board have polystyrene core. They can be cut easily but the foam layer melts more than the facing paper, causing concave edges.

Marty

[Daniel Reetz]

Thanks, Dan and Martin.

I bought some foam-core at Wal*Mart (ugh). It was covered with thin paper. I also found a sheet of some stiffer foam-core material in my workshop -- does this look like Gatorboard to you?

The left is Baltic Birch, Middle is Mystery Material, Right is Wal*Core.

[Adam Orton]

Hi, I'm working on a scanner for iPhones, keeping it within 12x24 dimensions so I can use my laser (of course). Though I have not tried it I am going to use Coroplast (spelling) and if I remember it was pretty cheap. It kinda looks like cardboard but it's made from plastic..

[Daniel Reetz]

Hey Adam,

I have some Coroplast laying around from campaign signs. If I get a chance, I'll try cutting some tonight just to see how it goes.

Do you have your own laser, or are you working through Ponoko? I saw your ScanDock product back in April or something, when I put my DIY Book Scanner instructable online. Now I, too, am working on a laserable model (http://www.diybookscanner.org).

[Rodne Gold]

Coroplast is not laser friendly and neither does it cut well and cos of it's design can catch alight real quick. Air assist often makes things worse when cutting this

Careful of some sign foams , they are pvc... check data sheets.

You could use low density fibreboard which is close to your birch but should cycle at about 1/2 or a bit more than 1/2 the time of the birch. The kerf and scorching should be about the same at the birch ply will have.

[Daniel Reetz]

Does Low Density Fiberboard have a tradename I can search for? Google is not particularly helpful, and I don't think I've seen it in local stores like Home Depot, though I've seen plenty of MDF and similar.