Given the level of interest in jigsaw puzzle making, I’m surprised there isn’t a Proofgrade material chosen for this purpose… chosen for appropriate thickness, consistent cutting, minimal edge charring, easy photo adhering (or better yet, comes with adhesive with peel-off cover), safe for children. Is this a reasonable suggestion?
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I think you are talking about med draftboard. It has always worked great for me.
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I’ve been avoiding draftboard and MDF because the Compact Filter instructions say that it eats up the life of the filter. But maybe I should give it another look.
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If you want to work primarily with Draftboard (or medium Proofgrade plywood), you’re likely going to need to come up with another venting solution.
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If you want to work primarily with Draftboard (or medium Proofgrade plywood), you’re likely going to need to come up with another venting solution.
Or find a better material for the purpose, which was the point of the original question. I know there have been a lot of suggestions in the forums — because everybody is spending a lot of time trying to figure it out for themselves, and figure out where to get supplies, rather than having a pre-tested proofgrade option.
I use Chipboard, and it’s about the same as every puzzle I’ve ever seen - but it does char. Commercial puzzles are die-stamped, not laser cut. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, there are members here who do.
Why doesn’t GF sell it? Who knows. They don’t sell Bamboo cutting boards, either…
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Do a search for @jbmanning5’s posts. He’s a professional puzzle-maker who’s been around since the start, and has shared a lot of valuable information here in the forum.
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Yeah, I think he uses some hard-to-find Eska board. I’ve seen a lot of comments in the forums talking about chipboard, but I just have the feeling there must be better material out there.
I would use acrylic (no char!) except that the sharp corners wouldn’t do for children.
I once tried it with some white matboard of unknown composition, which worked really well. Edges didn’t char (they were yellowed), and the material was strong enough to work while soft enough to be safe. But as I don’t know what the material was, I can’t reproduce it. If it was polystyrene, I’m probably lucky it didn’t catch fire.
Old time puzzles were die cut out of extra heavy weight cardstock, which you can source that from your local Hobby Lobby or Michaels.
I have done some puzzles from this material and once you dial in the settings you can kiss cut with barely any edge singe. I recommend @evansd2
I prefer the Eska board for several reasons but didn’t start out with it. I used chipboard from various suppliers before that. Dick Blick carries a large selection of thicknesses and has (had?) free shipping over $35. I then went to a local paper supplier and that stuff worked pretty well.
Then that supplier switched to a different mill supplier and then density was much higher (weighed a lot more!) and it was tough to cut.
Then I sourced out the Eska board. It didn’t make sense financially until I started ordering half pallet or more at a time.
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