How do you cut sound insulation neatly

[BruceK]

DIY going wrong here.

Replacing my engine hatch sound proofing. Started cutting the first foam panel and made a complete hash of it. Stanley blade too short and also tears the closed cell foam. Scalpel blades too flexible and dont make a straight cut. Insulation cutting knife causes the rubber? plastic? polymeric layer to tear unevenly. Gave up in disgust before I ruined another sheet.

What did you use to make a clean cut?

https://www.asap-supplies.com/sound...nsulation-and-noise-deadening-products-801434

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Bread knife?

 

[BruceK]

I'll give that a go. :encouragement:

 

[Andromeda9866]

Also try electric meat knife with the fine blade in works a treat on foam

 

[Montemar]

I used a serrated bread knife on exactly the same material. Mark it up and cut holding knife at right angles to sheet.
I found the foil tended to de-laminate and had to be re-stuck.

 

[PCUK]

Electric carving knife or fine blade in jigsaw.

 

[Boat2016]

I only found one way to cut it neatly and that’s with a bandsaw.

 

[Seastoke]

buy a flybridge

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

If you use a knife then you must make many shallow cuts.
Or score the foil then use a wood saw (combined rip and cross cut), ok it makes a bit of a mess (on the floor) but does the job.

 

[matthewriches]

We normally use a bandsaw as this doesn’t do an “upcut”. I have successfully used a scalloped breadknife and also hacksaw blade, only cutting on the cut stroke then not dragging back.

 

[BruceK]

Thanks guys. I dont have a bandsaw but that does sound like it will do the trick. I'll add the Admirals' electric carving knife to the tool bag when she's not looking and try that to

buy a flybridge

You dont give up do you? No, I dont want your boat. I'm sure somebody will love it, just not me :encouragement:

 

[sarabande]

Try one of the Japanese draw-saws from e.g Axminster. Use it on a single pull towards you.

https://knowledge.axminster.co.uk/japanese-saw/

Goes through foam and covering very neatly.

 

[tico]

Hint..... when cut to size, seal the edges with aluminium tape. Finishes it off a treat and prevents any oil absorption on the edges

 

[Seastoke]

Thanks guys. I dont have a bandsaw but that does sound like it will do the trick. I'll add the Admirals' electric carving knife to the tool bag when she's not looking and try that to



You dont give up do you? No, I dont want your boat. I'm sure somebody will love it, just not me :encouragement:

eerm excuse me but she has to go to a good home .

 

[Jonmendez]

A decent hand wood saw with no back bone and reasonably fine teeth will do the trick, just go slowly!

eerm excuse me but she has to go to a good home .

 

[Dazzajohm]

I've just done this myself with exactly the same stuff from ASAP. Used an electric jigsaw and worked perfectly.

 

[prv]

I believe I just used a knife, the type with a snap-off segmented blade, extended far enough to reach through the whole depth. Pulling it with the blade at a shallow angle instead of vertical helped it cut cleanly rather than tear.

That said, the aluminium tape over the joints, corners, and edges will cover a degree of roughness - certainly you don’t want to be leaving these areas unfinished.

Pete

 

[wongaero]

Concave stanley knife blades seemed to give a cleaner cut than the standard straight ones.
www.google.co.uk/search?q=stanley+c...&ved=0ahUKEwiJhuSZ8vbZAhWqBcAKHTsHCNMQgTYIhAM

Repeated shallow-angle and gentle scoring strokes seem to work nicely too rather than brute force!

 

[ashtead]

Electric carving knife works well on memory foam but haven't tried on engine foam so interested to hear the OPs thoughts on the various different solutions reported ?

 

[penberth3]

I've just done this myself with exactly the same stuff from ASAP. Used an electric jigsaw and worked perfectly.

Might not be easy to find, but you can get knife blades for jig saws.

For thicker foam, upholsterers use a special type of cutter, something between a jig saw and an electric carving knife which cuts 100mm or more. Certainly too expensive for a few odd jobs.