[chuckknigh]

Well, as we all know, holding down the wood that we want to cut, is a significant part of the puzzle. We've come up with all sorts of ways, including t-slot tables, MDF slatwall, holes drilled through the table, and even vacuum clamping.

I noticed something interesting on the woodcraft.com web site. It's a "router mat." Basically it's a heavy duty version of that non-slip drawer lining, and it supposedly won't allow wood placed on it, to move laterally. It's made to simplify hand-routing of edges on boards...roundover and ogee bits, that type of thing.

While I know this isn't a perfect solution, it might serve well for things like engraved signs. Just holding the wood down, and keeping it from shifting, might be enough?

The price is definitely right, too.

Has anyone tried using this stuff on their routers? It's definitely simple enough.

-- Chuck Knight

[Hobbiest]

If not for the play in them, it'd be fun to try out those mats that go in a tub. The kind with the suction cups on the bottom. Just superglue it to the work surface upside down! Prolly wouldn't work, just can't keep my idiotic thoughts to myself!

[kong]

I think the "sponginess" (spongeiness, spongeness?) of the mats may cause a problem. I have used them before for hand routing, but find that when you apply downward pressure, the wood sinks slightly into the mat. This would cause a problem with the z-axis settings. Nice idea though.

[Mr.Chips]

It is spongy that's how it grips the material. Part of it's holding power when using a router by hand depends on the downward pressure of the base of the router on the mat. Used in a CNC application that pressure won't be there only the downward pressure of the cutter on the material being cut.

Anyway for the low price of the mat it's worth a try. And if it doesn't work you can line your tool drawers with it.
Hager

[HomeCNC]

You won't have enough down ward force to hold the wood. Once the cnc cutter hits it's depth there is no more down pressure on the wood. I have used these mats in my wood shop. if you just sit a piece of wood on one and push your finger from the side you can move it with not much force. But if you set the weight of your hand held router on the wood and then try to push it you will see it holds much better.

The design of the mats are great for what they are used for. They not only hold the wood plank for hand routing but as said above they will flex in the down ward direction to help keep your router base flat against the wood. Have you ever been using your router to round over an edge and found that you let the router tilt off the base just a little? This then causes gouge in the side of the wood. I have found that the mat will allow the wood to tilt with the router a little to help with this problem.