Has anyone on here used micromark’s deluxe miterbox with included zona brand razor saw with 32 tpi saw blade? the item number in their catalog is #83277. I am thinking of using it to do some cutting on two of my MDC 50 foot HO scale combine kits, to get an 8 window combine. to make a straight cut through the bodies, is that a 90 degree cut? i looked online at online protractor and shows 90 degrees as straight cut. just am making sure i have all the needed facts before i head into this project.
Yes, cuttting parts of of a car body to lengthen or shorten it requires 90 degree cuts.
I just have a plain metal X-Acto miter box, doesn;t have all the fancy hold downs and stuff that that one does, but it’s worked well so far. What you need is something deep - deeper than the width of the car. The one I have wouldn;t work for cutting an HO box car in half because the car would stick up above the slots to guide the saw. Plus the cut would have to go deeper than the blade depth on the miter saw.
Your best bet, without spending a fortune on tools, might be to carefully mark the cut line all the way around, then cut it, maybe 2 or 3 cuts, with the razor saw, sticking well to the scrap side - don’t try to cut it exactly to the line freehand. Do try to be as close to verticla as you can, not making angle cuts. Once done, the end may not be even all around, but the next step is to either use a hobby-size disk sander, or a piece of sandpaper on a truly flat surface, to carefully sand to the lines, making it nice and square and to the correct length.
–Randy
Making diagonal cuts would work but, unless necessary, I wouldn’t try it. Only if window or other feature arrangements made 90 degree cuts impossible.
I don’t know about the miter box…but the Zona saw is surely a keeper. Advertised as the sharpest saw’s made. I only use a commercial made miter box for non-precision cuts. I made my own quite some time ago with cabinet grade Oak, that the guide is just as wide as the blade is thick, no chance for bad cuts. I do a lot of scratching/kit bashing and it’s great when You don’t have to dress a cut, by sanding or filing.
The trailer in this pic’ is a Herpa 27ft with swing doors…I cut the swing doors off and put A-Line roll-up doors on it. The chassis inrear was also lowered, because it sat too high, all without having to sand or file.
Some of the other’s…I did the same thing to and more in the works:
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
Frank, can we see a picture of your oak miter box?
Caboose:
I have the MicroMark mitre box and have used it quite a lot. It is good for small work but I would not recommend it for larger work like you have in mind. By itself, the saw comes in very handy for a lot of free hand work.
Joe