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I'm topping an office desk with Vyco (an Alvin product which has few competitors e.g. Borco). The material is a 1/16th inch thick, very tough, and flexible. They advertise that scissors work; but in my practice that results in a very uneven cut. It's also insanely expensive.

Will a flush-trim bit on a router work? I have visions of too much heat blobbing the cut into a melted mess.

I can report that both a flush-trim bit and a 3/8" quarter-round work extremly well. It does appear as tho the vinyl melts; but it also appears that only the removed portions are hot enough. The effluent does tend to stick to itself and glom itself into a sort of fuzzy mess; but it brushes off easily. There was no noticible smell from the heated vinyl (the plywood substrate gave off a nasty formaldehyde oder).

All edges were securely fastened down with 1" 3M double-sided polyester tape; and all the bits used were very sharp high-end bits.

Very pleased with the result and recommend a router to anyone.

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I've used that material before and cut it with a sharp razor blade and a clamped straightedge. I didn't use scissors because like you said, there's really no way to get a good clean cut.

I agree that something like a router will generate too much heat, and could just not cut it at all because of it's rubbery flexibility.

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  • knife and straightedge has much less setup/cleanup required. I used spray adhesive to avoid tape ripples since I intended to draw on mine.
    – davidjmcclelland
    Jul 6, 2022 at 22:48

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