Cutting felt

[denver]

I've been cutting parts out of 1/4" plywood for one of my customers. After I cut the parts they glue felt to one side and hand trim to fit. They recently asked if it would be possible for them to deliver sheets of plywood with the felt already attached. That way the parts could be cut once and be complete. The felt they use is pretty dense and either 1/4" thick or 1/2" thick. It doesn't seem like the kind of material that could be cut with a router, but if anyone has any helpful suggestions I would be happy to hear about them.

Thanks,

Denver

[dana_swift]

If it were me, I would tell my customer to provide me some sample material and I would try it.

"An experiment is worth a thousand expert opinions" -- Ken Winter

I would expect it to cut similar to foam which is very low density also.

Let us know how it goes-

D

[billp]

http://www.shopbottools.com/arch/TheEdge07Spring.pdf

[bleeth]

Dana is right about the experimenting first. Felt fibers are usually pretty short so a larger diameter bit to avoid having them wrap around it like drilling through a carpet does to a drill bit if you do it wrong would probably be the best bet.

[blackhawk]

Denver - It sounds like worse case the plywood + felt would be 3/4" thick. What if you stacked two pieces together (felt to felt) for a 1-1/2" thickness and cut two sheets at once? You could nail or screw them together in the scrap areas. With the felt sandwiched, hopefully it would cut better. Maybe cut 1" deep on the first pass (1/4" plywood + 1/2" felt + 1/2" felt) to get through all the felt, then make a final cut to cut through the bottom piece of plywood.

[coach]

Denver, I used 1/2" felt and bought it die cut to the shape required.
If it is a large production job and you supply the felt it may be worth looking in to.

Are you making tamp shoes?

[knedert]

Plywood splinters in the felt material...

:eek:

[twelchPTM]

I have never had any good results trying to use a spinning bit in any application with fiber or cloth involved but I wonder if a custom draw knife with a lrge blade might cut a clean edge in the felt before using the bit to cut the plywood?

[shoeshine]

When I had a similar project I worked out a deal with a guy in town with a laser. Once I had the parts drawn up, I provided the same drawing to the laser guy and presto, matching pieces. The other benefit of the laser is that it sort of heat sealed the edges of the fabric so there were no stray fibers hanging.