Having Issues With The Bricks...

To create the brick pattern, I have been using this 4ml MDF stencil that I had laser cut. To create the pattern on the foam, I use a rubber mallet to gently bash the wood into the foam. However, this has soon started to show issues with damaging the wood, Chipping it away and breaking the stencil slowly. I was able to complete one panel of Kapa-Line Foam board before it was unusable.

I spoke with Sean a technician who suggested I use acrylic instead. I thought this could work very well as it maybe somewhat stronger than the wood. Again this didn't go to plan... where I had used the laser cutter to cut out the shape of the stencil, the thinness of the lines has allowed the heat to warp the lines. This has made my stencil uneven and will not match up perfectly when pressing my pattern. I have also found that this acrylic has started to crack under the pressure of the rubber mallet.

In the image below, you can see what using the warped acrylic has created on the foam.

To fix this as an issue. I went back to using the wood method, however add a back panel of 6 ml MDF to create a hard structure to support the whole of the template. I am hoping this will be enough support to stop the template from becoming damaged again, allowing it to be used continuously.