I am carving some detailed maps into thin 3mm oak 300x200mm and struggling to hold the workpiece down. The carving cuts right through the piece so I end up with bits flying off, which inevitably damage the carving sometimes.
Anyone have any ingenious solutions I could try to help me out? I thought a vaccum table might help but i would lose suction as the carve progressed.
Tabs? Painters tape and CA glue? Carpet tape?
Plenty of topics if you search the forums.
And this is exactly when a vacuum table would be beneficial but also probably a bit overkill.
There is a material that goes over the vacuum table that allows for this. When I get a chance later I’ll post a link to it. In the mean time I’d use the painters tape trick.
For thin sheet stock I use masking tape on the underside of the material and on the waste board. Super glue used to bond the two layers of masking tape together. Work very well.
See this video;
This stuff works great.
XFasten Double Sided Carpet Tape, 2-Inch x 30 Yards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141L81GS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ylvxAbQGGW5YT
Great, thanks all. I’m not sure I can find superglue here in large amounts, so will try a few other double sided tapes first. Any UK cnc’ers that could recommend a superglue they use would be good…
That vac table product is pretty cool, but can only be used once if you cut into it, so not the cheapest solution! I still would like to get one someday though.
Modeller shops will have super glue (CA, Cyanoacrylate)
I find it www.biltema.no here in Norway, it is bound to be UK equivalent outlet.
Double sided tape is normally high tack, you dont want that. The glue is also often thich/sticky which can cause problems with gumming up the bit / cleaning the part afterwards.
Masking tape / glue work extremely well, medium/lower tack by design and the CA form a rigid bridge between the two layers. Easier to lift off the part, the tape will part more easily… win-win 
Cheers. Found 4x 50g CA glue on ebay for £10 which seems ok so I’ll give that a go.
CA glue and “kicker” is good, kicker is CA curing agent. Apply CA to one side, kicker to the other = instant bond when laminated.
I use the blue painters tape and Gorilla brand super glue. I’ve used this on super thin stock, acrylic, plywood, hardwood. I very rarely ever clamp anything down and never use tabs.
Try a shop for wood turners and ash for CA glue, they will have larger bottles for sure.
Same, also 0.6-2mm aly sheet. No tabs 
Never heard it called kicker before. Most companies call it activator or accelerator. Be careful when using this. It speeds up drying time immensely, almost immediately. Practice on a few scrap pieces before using it on what you really want to cut. Available in both liquid and spray. Here is an example;
There is also yellow painters tape, for very thin or delicate items.
There is a CA brand name “Zap”, I think they called their accelerator “Kicker”… IIRC 
Is this for real? Keeping it in the fridge will make it last longer? You learn something new everyday 
Have you tried taking it to the next level and putting it in the freezer?
I feel an experiment coming on
We have adhesives at work we store at -40 or colder. It’s not uncommon. Generally the goal is to keep the chemical reaction that hardens/cures it from happening and sometimes super cold does that.
Storage information should be available from the manufacturer.
Using frog tape for this?! very posh!
I’m in the far north of UK so my workshop is probably a bit colder than my fridge anyway.
I have had a small container of CA in my shop refrigerator for over 6 years and it still works fine. Take it out, use it and then put it back. The “thicker” CA I had did get too thick to be useful after about 4 years and the “thin” that I still use has gotten a little thicker but still very workable.
I think the “Kicker” handle came for one of the early CA brands - Zip. The accelerator was called Zip Kicker
