Cutters; HDPE vs Wood

[Carl]

I noticed when cutting soap, there are 2 different options. You can get a cutter where the loaf sits on top of a piece of HDPE or you can get one where it just sits on top of a nice piece of wood (while you make the cut)

What's the advantage of one of these cutters vs. the other?

I've been using a wooden miter box style cutter now for a while and I'm wondering what I'm missing out on by not having one of those ones where the loaf sits on top of HDPE.

 

[atiz]

I would not think there is a big advantage of one over the other. Mine is a repurposed metal miter box, I use it with some freezer paper and it works great. As long as you can cut straight lines with it, either one should be as good as any
(Maybe I would think otherwise if I had to cut dozens of bars at the same time.)

 

[earlene]

Cleaning HDPE won't warp it like wood.

 

[shunt2011]

Warping is the biggest problem. My husband made my first multi-bar cutter out of wood. After about 2 years it had warped terribly. So then I invested in actually a metal one with HDPE cutting platform and it's been amazing. I've had it for several years, never broke a wire and no warping, plus easy to clean. I can put it over the sink and wash it down with a bit of soapy water to get the soap out of the grooves. I use a small tiny bottle brush to clean between the groove then wipe it down.

 

[DeeAnna]

I have a single wire Bud (Haffner) cutter. It has a Baltic birch (plywood) cutting arm and a solid oak frame. The table, fence, and stop -- all parts that the soap touches -- are HDPE. I think Bud makes this cutter out of metal and HDPE nowadays, but the wood/HDPE combo works perfectly fine.

I use a damp dishcloth to wash the plastic parts that get a little messy. The wood parts seldom need any cleaning, but when they do, a damp rag works fine for them, but I get them dried off promptly.

I do like HDPE for parts that will come in contact with soap. Other parts can be wood or metal, however.