Foam inserts are often used in packaging because of their ability to protect different things, such as electrical components and sensitive plastics. If you order some of these inserts and end up needing to cut them, you may want to follow these protocols.
Practice Cutting on Smaller Pieces
It can greatly help you out if you practice cutting small pieces before working with a lot of foam inserts. You'll get a better understanding of the foam insert's properties and how the cutting tool responds to them. Just make sure you use a small quantity of material as to not be wasteful.
You can order smaller pieces to test your cutting tools and abilities. Then, once you feel comfortable about making cuts and going in certain directions, you can work with larger foam inserts and not have to worry about cutting them incorrectly. This will help cut down on the amount of foam insert materials you waste.
Make Sure Surface is Flat
In order to cut precisely, you need to make sure your cutting surface is as even as possible when working with foam inserts. You need to lay this material down on a flat surface so that when you go to cut your piece of foam, you go over the right sections and get refined results.
Inspect your cutting surface and make adjustments if necessary. There are special cutting boards you can buy too if you want to really prepare for foam insert cutting. Once you have the appropriate surface, it will be a lot easier to cut this material in different ways.
Use a Serrated Blade
The cutting instrument that you use on foam inserts is going to make a huge difference in how you're able to cut and the results you get once cutting concludes. You can do yourself a huge favor by using a serrated blade.
This blade will be sharp, making it easy to cut foam inserts without exerting a lot of energy and force. You don't want a dull blade or heavy force because the foam inserts could bunch up and really affect how you're able to cut them. Just make sure the serrated blade is truly sharp and maintain its sharpness throughout foam insert cutting.
After ordering foam inserts to use for protecting a particular product, you may need to customize it with cutting. If you use the right tools and prepare accordingly, you can cut foam insert to where it's the perfect size to support your particular products or materials.