I made these large scratch boards for less than RM10 each out of old cardboard boxes and non-toxic wood glue.
473ml of Titebond original wood glue costs around RM30 from Ace Hardware. Looking back, I could have saved some money and glued them with homemade tapioca glue (tapioca flour boiled in water).
How did I manage to cut the cardboard so neatly without blistering my fingers? Well, I sent it to a professional paper cutter in a back lane workshop off Jalan Tun Sambathan in Brickfields. It's walking distance from KL Monorail station, and I remember passing by a shop selling meat as I entered the back lane.
There are several paper cutting workshops on the back lane but the first two or three workshops refused to cut cutboard in case it damaged their machines (their paper cutting machines were mostly for cutting up wedding cards and flyers).
Eventually, I found a workshop willing to do the job. There were two customers who were there before me. I watched the man cut up flyers for a local temple ceremony, and a few large pieces of coloured plain manila card with his large industrial paper cutter. My brain started estimating the cost of my job, as he collected RM10 for the few pieces of manila card he'd cut up. Hmm... RM30? RM50? I have enough cardboard to make 4 large scratch boards!
When it was my turn, the man asked me how I'd like the boxes cut. I explained that I'd like triangles and strips of rectangle to make scratch boards for my cats. The man smiled, and asked about my cats. While we chatted, I helped him collect the cardboard pieces that he'd cut from the machine. I even helped remove the huge staples from the box, so it wouldn't damage the machine. If the box size was different to the one he had previously cut, he would confirm the shapes again with me. It took about half an hour to cut all the boxes up.
My brain was thinking.... RM50 for all the effort. So I was pleasantly surprised when the man said "kira cincai... RM10"! I thanked him several times for his kindness, and said that my cats will enjoy scratching them very much :)
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