Cutting rubber

[bob buttons (Unregistered Guest)]

has anyone every cut thin rubber with their bot? im talking 1/16 to 1/4 thick sheet rubber. what kind of bit works i have had no luck so far just pulls the rubber apart. thanks

[cnc_works]

I just faced the same challenge. Needed to cut some gaskets out of rubber that was probably .08" or so. I tried sticking it down with double sticky, 0 flute and regular 2 flute 1/8" bits, varying speeds and feeds. Even tried sticking it to a substrate (mdf) and freezing it. Everything just tore through the rubber. I ended up cutting a couple of matching mdf patterns, sandwiching the rubber in between and cutting it by hand with a razor knife.

Now I suppose some sharp cookie on the forum will come up with a suggestion that makes me regret not posing the same question to everyone.

Donn

[simon]

Hey Bob
Is there any possibility of casting the rubber shapes from liquid latex? Pouring latex onto a horizontal surface gives a controllably thin sheet of very strong rubber - the shapes can be cut from something easier to cut, and then waxed for easy release.
Simon

[rookie432]

Bob,

Does it have to be rubber? All Star adhesives has gasketing material that cuts with a router bit . Just a suggestion.

Bill

[Andy (Unregistered Guest)]

I cut 0.80 magnetised rubber all the time. A router bit is not the way to go as all you do is tear up the material.

Best thing to use is a heavy duty vinyl cutting blade- roland do a variant for thicker materials.

The little lee attachment is a good choice although there are other, cheaper ways of going about this project.