Suggetion on cutting plactic for kitbashers and scratchbuilders.

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Just a tip for rough cutting plastic models. I personaly do not like using a hobby knife and staight edge to cut the plastic. I prefer to use a 9" bandsaw with the small blade. It works fairly well, but watch what you are doing. You can mess up a model very quickly (learnt from experience). I was able to get my bandsaw for 150$ (cnd) at the Home Depot. Good Luck!

Duncan

2

Duncan:

I couldn’t agree with you more. When I was a kid I slipped using one of those snicker-snak tools on a wooden model. The point ended up between the second and third joint on my little finger of the left hand. Since that time I have never been able to flex that top joint. Must have severed the nerve.

Those things are super sharp and easy to mess up with. In my opinion they should never be handled by kids.

Darrell

3

When ever I cut anything my first thought is of my bandsaw. I also sliced up a finger badly using the razor blade things, but at least I had no lasting damage. Of course if you’re careless with the bandsaw it can take off a whole finger. The key idea here is safety first!

4

If the plastic is thin you can sharpen a pizza cutter a little and that works pretty good. The smaller the “wheel”, the more accurate it is. Only works for the this stuff though. Thicker stuff requires the saw.

5

Most likely you severed the tendon. The muscles that move the fingers are in the forearm, connected to those joints via tendons. If you still have feeling in the finger then the nerve is still intact.

6

I don’t see how a bandsaw could cut styrene as quickly or as neatly as it can be done with a steel ruler and a knife. A table saw, maybe - but even that isn’t going to be as fast or as neat, not to mention as safe.

One pass of the knife, a bit of pressure, and snap. Move on to the next cut. And I’d much rather nick my finger with an X-Acto #11 blade than with any powered saw!

7

I find the bandsaw can cut syrene as easier than the traditional ruler and knife because if you set the saw up right, you can be assured that the final product will be square. Also you can cut multiple peices the same size, thanks to the rip fence. To deal with the safety issue, if you are familiar with the machine and are not trying to cut to small of peices, there should be no problem.

Duncan

8

What I have been using with sheet styrene is the NWSL Duplicutter to hold the piece in place while I score the cut point, then it holds it in place to snap it off, neat and square. You can clean up the joints with the True Sander.

www.nwsl.com

And yes, I do have the Chopper, too.

9

Tom, I have been considering a Chopper, is it a good product? What is your opinion of it?

10

I found that the best way (at least for me) has been a straight ruler and a sharp blade. The trick is to make several passes, and then snap of that piece. This usually leaves a nice clean edge. And if it doesn’t it can be cleaned up with a file. A bandsaw seems too quick of a cutting tool. It can cause (friction) heat which can damage / warp the plastic.

11

I agree with the hobby knife and straight edge, but has anyone tried using a scroll saw for window openings[?]

12

I have thought about using a scroll saw for window openings. The problem is how are you going to get the blade into the window opening without cutting a line up the wall to the opening. I found that a wood mortising chisel and bit set on a drill press works fairly well. The only problem is that this is where you get a lot of friction, thus causing heat damage. The solution is simple however. Simply use a mortising chisel and bit that is smaller than the window opening, and file the rest of the opening away. It takes time, but works for me.

Further more, I have never had a problem with warped or damaged styrene do to friction caused by the bandsaw. Not that I would use the saw on scales smaller than HO. But for larger scales it works fine and produces a high level of quality cuts.

Duncan

13

Duncan, all scroll saw blades are removeable, simply drill a hole in window area, insert blade and reattach blade. I haven’t tried it but sounds very do-able. I think I will experiment

14

Greetings Railroaders,

You might want to try my method. You can go to your local hardware store and purchase a scoring tool used for cement goard. It has a blade with a small curved shank and it is by far the savest for cuting styrene, glass, or plexiglas. I use a metal ruler and score the material I want to cut and snap. With a little practice you don’t have to sand the edge. Mirror to large for my layout score, snap, and set in place.If you happen to get a finger to close not to worry for it should not cut you.
If your wife is into sewing as mine is you can borrow her small rotery sissors. But a word of caution don’t let her find out. The blade is normally to dull to cut fabric after cutting a couple pieces of plastic.
Thought I would share this with you.
Happy Railroading[8D]
Neal

15

I just finished doing a window opening on a scrap peice of styrene with a scroll saw as suggested. I found that you must go slowly and pay attention to the line when free handing the cut. Overall the cut was succesful, but a little sanding was needed to make the window square. The problem could be fixed however if you clamped a staight peice of wood on the table of the saw, and moved it to adapt to the different distances needed on each side of the window. This only works on small wall sections, so large walls , from say a factory, would not work with the “fence” in place. The time needed to cut and file one window was about 5-10 minutes, but with practice, the time could be cut down.

Duncan

16

The Chopper comes in three different versions. I assume the one I have is the Chopper I since it was the only version available when I bought it. The Chopper II seems more substantial with the metal base and the replacable cutting mat. Choppers I and 3 come with a masonite base, and the blade will cut a slot there over time, allowing the blade to sort of crush some of the wood due to lack of support below. I filled mine in with a putty then sanded it off and it seems to be back to original condition. For a view of Chopper 1 and 3:

http://www.nwsl.com/Catalog/cat2-01-v0404.pdf

It’s a great tool, but remember, it’s only designed to cut strip wood and styrene. Most people I’ve heard complain about it were trying to cut wire, or even some metals with it.

17

Dancan, Thanks for your experience with the scroll saw, I think I too may give it a try with clamped stops.

18

I read somewhere that when you score styrene, you should turn the blade around, using the tip to make the first pass, THEN use the knife edge side to make the final pass. You can use less pressure on the second pass. I also saw a hand protector (glove) made from chain mail (the same stuff that they used under knights coats of armor) that is supposed to prevent cuts.