Cutting Surfaces

I have two self cutting mats but don’t like using them at all. I have a piece of clear glass that I have on my workbench. It’s great for cutting decals and wiping off spills. If a paint or glue spill dries hard it can be easily scraped off with a single edged blade.

For cutting pe I use a scrap bathroom wall tile as the cutting surface.

I have a cutting mat. I also have a piece of glass but haven't used it since I got the cutting mat, but it's still there if I find I need it for something.

Ahoy T.B. My general purpose surface is a self-healing mat, but when I need to cut tape for masking, i use a piece of plexiglass. I find it a little bit softer than glass and easier on blades. When the scratches begin to annoy me, I smoothe them with some 2000 grit sandpaper.

For a hard surface I use a 4 x 4 block of mdf.  I find it hard enough for cutting PE from sprue, stuff like that.

Same. I have a cutting matt. The top of my hobby bench is covered with an old stereo glass door. I also have the glass from a picture frame as my primry work area. Easy to scrape off dried glue, paint, putty, ets.. I do most of my tape cutting on the glass with a rounded tip xacto blade.

Ya Know, Neuman;

 Tis funny that you should say that. I still have the glass on top of my bench area I got from an old Stereo Stack. Remember those? Nice part?There's a little label imprinted in the glass indicating it is Tempered Glass .

In my line I have my manufacturers/ fabricators produce sets of four of 6"x6" aluminum plates painted various colors. I keep one, the onsite folks keep one, the architect keeps one and one goes back when approved for quality control. I have thousands of the things. They are usually natural aluminum on the back, and extremely useful. Generally though I work on a self healing mat or a piece of "masonite".

My NWSL "Chopper" has a masonite bed, but it's developed a slot where the blade comes down. I can't really figure out a way to fix that since it's all riveted together.

I have a broken piece of jalousie glass that I have used since high school.  The broken edge is so worn that it is no longer a hazard.  But the surface is really scratched up now, and the textured backside makes it hard to see the small stuff.  I should upgrade to a nice manufacturer's glass sample, since I work in an architectural office.  We also get lots of ceramic tile samples, so I should get one of those too for soldering, my next modeling adventure.

Like some of the rest of you, I have a mat, but never use it for cutting. I find that glass works really well for tape and sometimes PE, chipboard for general cutting, and like TB I really prefer Corian for most things. Mine came as cutoffs from a counter top fabricator; I'll wet sand them when they get scored and they're good as new. The two pieces I have are twenty years in service and still plenty thick. 

I remember those well. DIY stereo cabinets. I wonder how many of those old glass doors found another use years after the cabinet was gone?

I use a cutting mat, but also glass plate, too.  Mine are pieces salvaged from digital equipment-copiers, fax machines, scanners, etc.  I have a friend who recycles digital equipment, and he saved me those glass parts.

I use a piece of glass plate as a work surface for working with epoxy putties, too.