Tool for accurate cutting of plastic strip??

[rtfoe]

For a straight strip I'll use a cutter and steel ruler and do just the same as Laurie suggested. But with repetitive lengths I use the guillotine which saved me a lot of time for my 1/700 scale wharf supports...





Cheers,
Richard

 

[BattleshipBob]

Thanks again all

Sound advice,

Have bought evergreen angle, ideal for mounting spare wheel brackets!!

 

[spanner570]

Best with out doubt & most accurate with a clean edge.

A thick edge steel rule. A Stanley knife with a new blade.

Laurie

Now that is a great idea.......wink, wink!

 

[Deleted member 5496]

Now that is a great idea.......wink, wink!

Oldest in the book Ron . Still used by one of the oldest model makers in the world. Wink wink

 

[spanner570]

It certainly is Laurie.
I mentioned it yesterday, but I forgot to mention your mention of the pressure on the blade/saw teeth, which is spot on.

I still have the scars on my thighs where I was clouted by a hand saw, expertly wielded by the bloke who was trying to teach me to be a joiner in '63

Thwack! "Look son, let the bl**dy saw do the work, that's what the bl**dy teeth are for!"

As you rightly point out, gently does it with a blade. Too much pressure and it will wobble off course.

Ron

 

[Deleted member 5496]

It certainly is Laurie.
I mentioned it yesterday, but I forgot to mention your mention of the pressure on the blade/saw teeth, which is spot on.

I still have the scars on my thighs where I was clouted by a hand saw, expertly wielded by the bloke who was trying to teach me to be a joiner in '63

Thwack! "Let the bl**dy saw do the work, that's what the bl**dy teeth are for!"

As you rightly point out, gently does it with a blade. Too much pressure and it will wobble off course.

Ron

Oh heck you did mention it & I missed it. Apologies. But there we go two experienced heads. Old of course. 82 on Sunday.

Laurie

 

[boatman]

WELL Laurie JUST in case i dont remember on sunday have a very happy birthday
from chris an jen

 

[Deleted member 5496]

It certainly is Laurie.
I mentioned it yesterday, but I forgot to mention your mention of the pressure on the blade/saw teeth, which is spot on.

I still have the scars on my thighs where I was clouted by a hand saw, expertly wielded by the bloke who was trying to teach me to be a joiner in '63

Thwack! "Let the bl**dy saw do the work, that's what the bl**dy teeth are for!"

As you rightly point out, gently does it with a blade. Too much pressure and it will wobble off course.

Ron

Matter of interest Ron. My father as said was a carpenter & joiner of the old brigade. I used to go with him to house building sites when about 14 during holidays. Did a few jobs airing cuboard slats etc. But at 3:30pm on a Friday with out fail the saw horse came out. Bend the teeth then file the teeth. Wow & lethal a weapon you would not know.

Next Chisels & plane blade. Honed with perfection in mind & they were sharp. Then he would strop the chisels & plane blades on his palm to remove any burrs.

Skirting no mitres he scribed one skirting over the other absolute fit. Could not get a razor blade in the joint on his architrave mitres. Joy to watch him work. The old fellow went a time ago & I miss the old blighter. A good dad.

Laurie

 

[Deleted member 5496]

WELL Laurie JUST in case i dont remember on sunday have a very happy birthday
from chris an jen

Oh that is very nice of you Chris & Jen. It will be a happy day with my eldest daughter's family. Great fun & of course with Pauline my wife next to me.

Always lots of laughter. 82 but I have my eyes on Capt. Tom 100. When I get there I will have to reassess the situation

Laurie

 

[JR]

I can see both points for and against buying in strip, but without a lot of work making a H beam would be impossible for many, also thicker sections, round and half round .
I rest my case.

 

[boatman]

I can see both points for and against buying in strip, but without a lot of work making a H beam would be impossible for many, also thicker sections, round and half round .
I rest my case.

I CONCEED to your judgement m'lud lol
chris

 

[JR]

I CONCEED to your judgement m'lud lol
chris

My fellow member of the Bar I thank you.

 

[Tim Marlow]

The square edge is where evergreen scores over the others. Their strip is dead square whereas companies like slaters seem to gillotine theirs, leading to distorted shapes. I have 40thou square from them that is parallelogram shaped rather than square. To be honest, I think I misunderstood Bob’s post, thinking he wanted a way to cut strip with a square end.....but I may be wrong, he may have wanted a method to cut square edged strip from sheet......

 

[rtfoe]

I learnt to cut hard boards during my apprentiship in the art room in an Ad agency...days on end cutting boards for finished artwork and presentations. Long gone are those days...the laptop has taken its place.
For my Hold Until Relieved bridge dio I made my i-beams from strip cos I didn't have access to Evergreen or Plastruct then.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[David Lovell]

Bob these crates and baskets if they were built in the field would have been practical not pretty, and the better ones were probably taken from place's like factories and farms and the such like ,as Racey says you can buy it in a magnitude of different shapes and sizes im sure even right angle stuff , Albion Alloys do brass rod ,brass strips ,sheets ,hollow fit tubes where each piece in the packet fits inside the other ,why don't you spend a couple of hours trolling the net id have thought you could buy a little selection of stuff that would see you out for less than the price of a cutter. Hope you haven't taken this as a lecture its not ment to be if it comes ready made im on it why buy two bits to make one when you can get the one in the first place keeping it simple keeps the fun in it. Dave

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Bob, its all relative. If you like building then make them and if you prefer ready made then get them off the shelf. Either way it meets your end goal. Most practical is if its a one off process that you will not attempt again then its a waste to get a guillotine cutter. I do use the guillotine but its for the most part something I purposely find an excuse to cut with it. The blade and ruler is always more handy for one off cuts.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[spanner570]

Matter of interest Ron. My father as said was a carpenter & joiner of the old brigade. I used to go with him to house building sites when about 14 during holidays. Did a few jobs airing cuboard slats etc. But at 3:30pm on a Friday with out fail the saw horse came out. Bend the teeth then file the teeth. Wow & lethal a weapon you would not know.

Next Chisels & plane blade. Honed with perfection in mind & they were sharp. Then he would strop the chisels & plane blades on his palm to remove any burrs.

Skirting no mitres he scribed one skirting over the other absolute fit. Could not get a razor blade in the joint on his architrave mitres. Joy to watch him work. The old fellow went a time ago & I miss the old blighter. A good dad.

Laurie

Ah, memories.
No such thing as a hard point saw back then. Setting (bending the teeth outwards to prevent the saw binding on the timber) then wedged in the saw horse to sharpen with a triangular file was one of the first things I learned. The trick was, when the saw was sharpened, a panel pin was laid along the teeth. The saw was tilted and the panel pin slid all along the 'V' formed by the tooth set until it fell off the end. This was the test to ensure everything was true and straight. Woe betide me if the thing got stuck or fell off half way along the saw!

I did(and still do) exactly the same with my plane and chisel blades. My left palm is still scarred like spaghetti Junction. Any major honing was done on a big stone wheel which was belt driven. I kid you not!.

Internal mitres on skirtings were just not allowed. I was taught "The correct way" - Butt and scribe.

Sorry Bob, got a bit carried away!

 

[BattleshipBob]

Very interesting feedback, many thanks to you all for taking the time.

Have got some evergreen strip as StuG crews made all sorts of field brackets. You can get some off the shelf but i think its not cost effective. I have rather a lot to build lol

Will add some homemade brackets on the Takom kit as much needed practice, i need it lol.