Fabric cutting table

[John Upton]

My sister likes to sew. She likes these fabric cutting table like she seen in fabric stores. They have a metal
U channel that you run the scissors thru. I know how to rout a straight groove across the table.

How is the metal secured ? Glue or just a tight press fit ? Never seen any fasteners on the one I saw.
Thanks

[Chris Padilla]

I don't see why one couldn't have both: a snug fit glued in with epoxy.

[John Schweikert]

Has she ever tried an Olfa rotary cutter? Those things are impressive and can be used right on the fabric surface and any flat table top. I use one now for cutting fiberglass cloth both on and off my boat build.

But to answer the main question, you could screw in the U channel in similar fashion to Kreg/Incra/Bench Dog tracks used on router tables and more. The screws head are flush at the base of the track.

[Steve Mellott]

John:

My wife is an avid quilter and I built her a cutting table. It has a flat top (without a channel). She uses a rotary cutter with a self healing cutting mat - the mat seems to last forever and can be bought in most fabric stores. It gives her a lot of flexibility - horizontal, vertical and angled cuts. I also built a cutting table for the quilt shop where she works. This limits you to vertical cuts - which a quilt shop does, cutting fabric off a bolt. The metal channel is screwed into a channel you make with a router.

[Loren Woirhaye]

I built a sewing layout table once. We used homasote on top of plywood. It was real easy to stick pins anywhere. For cutting we used a rotary cutter and mat.

[Lee Schierer]

They have a metal U channel that you run the scissors thru. I know how to rout a straight groove across the table.

How is the metal secured ? Glue or just a tight press fit ? Never seen any fasteners on the one I saw.
Thanks

The Aluminum extruded T-channel used for hold downs on various jigs and fixtures should work. Hold it down with counter sunk flat head screws.

[Brian W Smith]

+1 on Steve's self healing cutting mat............but it isn't the wifes,haha.Someone gave me a 2'x3',we drilled a couple holes in the corners and hang it up on the end a cabinet in the shop.It's amazing how often it gets used.

Twds OP,if you glue/epoxy......it's NOT coming off.

[Dave Richards]

If your sister wants the cutting guide instead of using the roller cutter and mat, you could glue it in with a thin bead of silicone. The scissors might catch on screw heads. Those channels are generally rather shallow and narrower than T-track.

I designed a cutting table for a seamstress in North Carolina. It was a fun project and turned out quite nicely.