Can someone explain to the advantage of cutting the foam core at 45 degree angle versus following the instructions and cutting it straight.

I have seen posts about cutting a double 45 and it seems to me if I did that the pieces would not match up. Is the double 45 for walls?

Keith

I cut all my foamcore abotu 70 degrees from straight up and down. With the underside being the shorter side. That way when I put things next to each other, any imperfection in how straight up and down I held my blade causes my tiles to not align properly.

By cutting at an angle you create less side to side surface contact when joining pieces. Less side to side surface means less chance of imperfections that would prevent a clean seal between the edges.

When you cut at angle you create an upside down V shape joining area like this:

__________
___/\____



See? Nice tight fit. Try joining two straight edges that you have cut and compare. You will be surprised by the difference.

Yup, that is the way of it. Straight cut tiles can create gaps when you line them up next to each other, while angled cuts are much more forgiving. I don't angle at a full 45 degrees (I don't think) - just a little bit of an angle is enough.