Terrain from insulation board - Part 2

Cutting methods

With the tools I showed in the last post, these are the techniques I am using to cut the foam insulation board into the shapes and sizes I need.

As the saying goes, measure twice and cut once.

After everything is measured and the lines are marked I just follow the lines with the blade of the utility knife, no need to go all the way through the board.

With the 1 inch thick foam insulation board the utility knife easily cuts half way through which is one of the reasons I buy that thickness.  Then it's easy to snap along the cut.

This is a similar technique that is used to cut drywall (sheet rock), foam core board, and of course styrene sheet.

To cut a corner section out of a large board, I first cut with the hacksaw blade along the shorter line.

Then using the utility knife I scribe along the longer line and then snap it by bending.

Any curved cuts can be done with the hacksaw blade.  Being a narrow blade it's not hard to curve it a it is moved along.

I like to cut and lay out several layers before gluing anything in place.  With a more complicated layout sometimes it can be helpful to label the pieces with a marker pen for placement and orientation.