PD26 part 9: In the Thick of It

Did a quick test with the thin 22pt chipboard paper I just ordered. First run cut through the board fine but the pieces were rough. I ran a second test switching to a different mat (less sticky), swapped to a fresh blade and added one more cut layer. That one came out clean. This is definitely the right material but I want it thicker.

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So I tried ordering another chipboard but instead of physically thicker it was denser, more like a thin wood. I don't feel safe running it through our cutter so I'm going to shelve it until we upgrade our equipment. Focusing on materials at hand for comparison, I want the gray cardboard one but twice as deep. Googling "gray board" I learned the gray one is "book board" usually used for bookbinding. The other is a chipboard. I then ordered some of 80pt book board figuring I can revert to the first one if this doesn't work out. It arrived but it's too thick for the cutter to read/load. I tried searching for a middle depth (around 50pt) but I'm not finding it 8.5 x 11, at least not in small quantity. I'm starting to worry about being stuck with an inventory of unusable boards (like I'm currently amassing) so I'm going to slow down on the testing and work with the 22pt.

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I've been working on making a set with the 22pt. It is so touchy with the rough edges. Swapping to fresh mats helps and I paused the cutter repeatedly to make sure the blade was clean. I have one that I had to stop bc it was coming off the mat. It's less frustrating than the laminate bubbles but still not green light for sales. I do want to have these but I think I'm going to circle back. Get the magnets launched and then retest these. I'm thinking when we can upgrade the cutter that all this will be a non-issue.