How to Cut a Cork With a Router

Router-cut cork to create custom items, like bulletin boards.

Dense, industrial-grade cork comes in many thicknesses for different kinds of projects. You can cut industrial cork into homemade jar and bottle stoppers, decorative cork boards and table trivets. The cork not only insulates, it also gives all of these projects a vintage, old-world feel. You can enhance that feel by routing the edges of your projects. Routers are simply handheld cutters with different bits for cutting decorative edges and straight, smooth edges. With a bit of practice, you can router-cut dense cork with ease.

Things You'll Need

• Dense cork
• Permanent marker
• C-clamps
• Bits: decorative, straight
• Router

Instructions

1. Place a piece of dense cork on a flat working surface. Draw your desired shape onto the cork with permanent marker. You may draw circles for stoppers, scrolled edging for cork boards or smooth geometric shapes for trivets.

2. Adjust the cork so about 1 inch of excess, beyond your drawn lines, hangs over the edge of the work surface.

3. Slide C-clamps over the cork and the edge of the work surface, turning the keys on the tops of the clamps to secure the cork in place.

4. Snap the proper bit into place. You may use either a decorative or straight bit for cork.

5. Place the router on the cork with the bit resting down against the edge of the cork. Move the router slowly over the cork in one continuous motion. If you need to stop routing, pull the router away from the cork and turn it off.

6. Create deep cuts by passing the router several times over the edges of the cork piece rather than using a larger bit. Trying to remove too much cork at once may scorch your work.

References

• Eco Supply Center: Fabrication Guide
• Family Handyman: Router Basics