Cutting rubber tiles

[gcotterl]

What is a quick and easy way to cut 5/8" thick rubber tiles made from recycled car tires?

(I have about 60 tiles to cut. A utility knife will take forever).

[Sjouke Burry]

We just cut up an awful lot of tiles.

We used a "decoupeerzaag", (dutch) or according to google, a jigsaw.

[hrhofmann]

Try a regular circular saw.

[ChairMan]

In news: [e-mail], gcotterl spewed forth:

why not a Guillotine Paper Cutter

[Steve B]

Make a little jig. What you want to do is bend the tile slightly. Put the tile in the jig and tighten the clamps to bend it slightly. Score with a SHARP utility knife slightly so that the cut in the tile is bent, and opens slightly. Make your second cut using a straight edge, or the piece you have made your jig out of. The second cut will be right in the first, and the bending action of the jig will make it cut very easily by spreading the cut wider as you cut deeper.

I'd make a jig like this:

Cut a piece of plywood oversize. Make three 1x3's with one hole drilled one inch in from each end. The sizes of these things will depend on the size of the tiles you are using. Cut a 2x4 on edge to get a slight angle, about 200 degrees.. Attach the two pieces of plywood to make a bent work surface. You are making a slightly bent work area to clamp down a tile, then clamp down the part you want to cut off so that the bending action will allow you to keep the cut open. It should take about four slices to cut through each tile.

If you have ever cut conveyor belt, you know how hard that is. Some of it is 1/2" or better, and some of it has reinforcing webbing. This is the fast way to cut heavy industrial conveyor belt made of some VERY tough rubber. It should work on your softer rubber tiles.

The angle of your breakover should be about 200 degrees. So, if you look at a 200 degree angle from the side, you would be looking at the side of your jig, with two clamps on the big side, and one on the small side. Use long carriage bolts and wingnuts to hold the 1 x 3's tight against the tiles.

It's very simple, although it sounds a little complicated. If you can't grasp this, reply, and I'll draw it, and take a picture and post on flickr.

HTH

Steve

Heart surgery pending?

Heart Surgery Survival Guide

[gcotterl]

A pic would be great!

[ChairMan]

I've cut 1/4" plywood with mine, rubber should shear easily

[aemeijers]

Wood cuts easier than rubber. The bend-to-cut idea will work- I have used similar cutting techniques before- but it will be slow. I'd set up a jig with some 2x and plywood and use a saw. Projects like this are what HF blades are for.

[gcotterl]

:

The tiles are not made from recycled steel-belted tires.

What are "HF blades"?

[Steve B]

A pic would be great!

Just drawings, but it should give you the idea of the thing. You can make the middle clamp out of metal, or just use a metal ruler for a cutting guide. A metal clamp, like a piece of square steel tubing would be safer, give you a straight cut, and wouldn't get cut by the blade.

Steve

[jw]

Never heard of such a thing, but it sounds like the cattle mats us farmers use in animal stalls. I've cut the stall mats with a saber saw. Takes a long time, but it works. It should be easier to cut a

12" time than a 4x8 foot sheet that weights several hundred pounds. These cattle mats are also about 5/8" thick. Probably the same stuff. Just curious why you want that on the floor? Is it black like the cow mats?

[gcotterl]

Now I see what you're describing. I'll give it a try and post my results.

Thanks.

[gcotterl]

The tiles are 18" square.

[gcotterl]

Now I see what you're describing. I'll give it a try and post my results.

The tiles are 18" square.

The tiles are not made from recycled steel-belted tires.

What are "HF blades"?

[aemeijers]

Harbor Freight- purveyors of disposable tools and cheap supplies.

[mm]

High-Fallutin'

or History Foremost

or Harbor Freight.

[mm]

It's amazing how much sharper a sharp blad is than a used blade.

BTW, I understand cutting paper with scissors will dull them because something in paper is abrasive. That you can ruin sewing scissors and hair scissors by cutting paper with them.

Are there any other materials which dull blades faster than average, faster than they seem like they would, judging from hardness or my ability to tear them apart, for example?

[krw]

suggests the use of either a break-tip knife or a sabre saw. A good[*] sabre saw would be my choice for 60 tiles. A circular saw with a fence might work well, too.

[*] crappy ones can't cut straight even if you wanted a wavy edge.

[DanG]

Use a carpet knife like this:

[Joe]

Did something similar to 1/2" thick conveyor belting (with laminated cords). Used an angle grinder with an abrasive blade (on edge, naturally). Somewhat slow, but easy and rather smelly. IIRC, 75 lineal feet or so took two of us less than half an hour.

Joe