Cutting 6" diameter hole in 3/4" rubber mat

[dalmatiangirl61]

Its been 24+ hours, what worked?

 

[Bill D]

I will not know for a week or more. I am moving and I found my smaller hole saws and arbors. I think I have a hole saw of the correct diameter but I have to find it. I will see if I can buy a narrow blade for my oscilating cutter to make short chord cuts to form a circle.
Bill D

 

[Strostkovy]

I will not know for a week or more. I am moving and I found my smaller hole saws and arbors. I think I have a hole saw of the correct diameter but I have to find it. I will see if I can buy a narrow blade for my oscilating cutter to make short chord cuts to form a circle.
Bill D

I hear hexagons are also a nice shape

 

[Bill D]

It will end up being a N-gon by the time I get it to fit. I suppose any gaps will fill up with chips and dust so it will look like a close fit regardless.
Bill D

 

[rons]

To go under I need to cut two six inch diameter holes for the lathe feet pads. I was thinking hole saw or jig saw. Mat is too big and heavy to use a flycutter in the drillpress.

I have used pipes with a sharp inside surface bevel. The pipe section is chucked into a drill press.
At medium speed it passes straight thru with nice smooth surface finish. I can do small jobs using
a 6" Kurt vise with a wood back stop.

On your job I would buy a 6" galvanized pipe nipple 4 inches or longer and a end cap.
Remove the thread on one side of the nipple and sharpen the inside edge with a taper to a sharp edge.
Drill a hole in the center of the cap and weld or bolt on a 1/2" diameter bar about 6" long.
Screw on the cap. Chuck end of bar in drill press. Now you can go through some rubber
Use a plywood base underneath the rubber mat when making the cut.

 

[D Nelson]

I have used pipes with a sharp inside surface bevel. The pipe section is chucked into a drill press.
At medium speed it passes straight thru with nice smooth surface finish.

On your job I would buy a 6" galvanized pipe nipple 1-2 inches long and a end cap.
Remove the thread on one side of the nipple and sharpen the inside edge.
Drill a hole in the center of the cap and weld or bolt on a 1/2" bar about 6" long.
Screw on the cap. Chuck end of bar in drill press. Now you can go through some rubber
Use a plywood base underneath the rubber mat when making the cut.

Grind a piece of 6 inch pipe and pound it thru the Matt
Don

 

[EmGo]

I padded the wheelhouse floor on the tug with horse mats. Cut the annoyingness of the 6-71 quite a bit ... a sabre saw worked well to cut the mats. Metal blade worked better than a wood blade. You'd think the coarser blade would work better but at least for me, opposite was true. Circle might not be as pretty as a hole saw but it's easier and faster.

 

[rons]

Grind a piece of 6 inch pipe and pound it thru the Matt
Don

Matt would report you to the Poooolice... But Mat would not.

Pounding would contribute to the edge deforming. Tried it before. Pressing and spinning works better. Especially for the soft metal at the edge of a pipe.

 

[metalmagpie]

I have cut a fair amount of horse stall rubber i.e. tough rubber sheets about 3/4" thick. I use wavy blades on a jigsaw. Start with a drilled hole and spiral out to your hole layout line. It won't take long with the right blade. Anything but the right blade is a complete misery. IIRC I used Bosch T313 blades like these:
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-2608635187-Jigsaw-Blade-T313/dp/B000R5LTGC

 

[idacal]

Hole saws work well, i cut a lot of 1” thick rubber and 1/2 conveyor belt. but 6” stuff i just sharpen up a piece of 6” steel casing and use the press usually do about 16 pieces befor i need to regrind the edge. Jig saw for bigger circles and the coarsest blade you can find. I used to use a gasket cutter prettier cut but thats a lot of work.

 

[deltap]

Start a slot with a utility knife. Grind the teeth off an old sawsall blade to a knife edge. Cuts like butter.

 

[implmex]

Hi All:
What about waterjet?
Cheers

Marcus
www.implant-mechanix.com
www.vancouverwireedm.com