very small miter cuts

It's always helpful to cut long, and then sand to dimension. Choppers, miter boxes etc. always seem to have some amount of blade wobble.

Here are my two saws. There's no maker on them, I bought them maybe 20 years ago. They are keepers.

UMM USA offers a micro miter box

Its made to be used with the JLC razor saw blades,  but any of the fine saw blades will work.

I've yet to meet a UMM USA tool I didn't fall in love with.

Didn't know about the mini mitre-box. Thanks, Ed.

I've had the x-acto mitre box for decades. It works but it's not the greatest. It's too big, basically. And the x-acto saw blades are far too coarse.

GM, what you have there look like the origional Zona saw, the current ones have replacable blades which are attached to the handle with a bolt and a wing nut and are much stronger than the Exacto saws.  The Zona saw is the only one I now use and recommend.

What you have are Woodcrafter's Zona Saws .    Tanker - Builder    P.S. I have three of differing blade depths .

Doug Larp

Hi, 

I'd like to make miter cuts, or at least clean right angle cuts in acrylic beams that are about 1x1 cm.  I've seen the x-acto miter box, but hear that the blades are not the best.  Any ideas?  Using a miter box w/ a hack saw blade?  Something else?  Thanks.

I have X-Acto's miter box, but I'm not sure about the blades you mention, because there weren't any that came with the box.  I do have three different sizes of their razor saws, and they work just fine for cutting.

If I had to cut 1 cm square acrylic stock, I could certainly do it with my X-Acto tools.

The only issue I have with their miter box is that the walls are too high for the depth of the one blade.  In that case, I use a piece of luan cut to fit in the box, as a raised base.

I usually use a piece of scrap wood in the box, anyway, to protect the blade when it cuts through the stock.  I also will use small blocks of wood to hold pieces in place against the wall/fence, while I cut.  I just find it makes it easier for me to cut that way.

Hope that helps, best regards,

Brad

I like those choppers, but as mentioned, they do have some wobble. I built my own, and it wobbles too!  I now have a better design and will be building the new version soon.  I think the idea is good, and it would be nice if a commercial product with a little more beef were available.

I'm a big fan of the good ol' Northwest Short Line "Chopper" and "True Sander" ( http://www.nwsl.com/uploads/chap1_TOOLS_09-15.pdf ).

i can't say I've noticed the wobble problem Don mentioned, perhaps because I scarcely ever chop anything more than 1/32" thick. But the potential for wobble is there, all right.

A few years ago I got an e-mail from Northwest Short Line (I guess they'd gotten my address because I'd bought something from Walthers), telling me that MicroMark had stolen the NWSL designs and was marketing cheaper copies. NWSL asked modelers to refrain from buying the MicroMark products.

I'm going to comply with that request - though I'll still buy other stuff from MicroMark. The company sells so many other good tools and other products that I figure a full-scale boycott would hurt me worse.

The Chopper does a nice job with small miters. I do suggest replacing the little plastic angle guides with a small pair of draftsman's triangles, though. The latter are longer and beefier, and more likely to get you consistent angles. You can pick up a pair of small ones for less than $10.00 - and they'll come in handy for all sorts of other jobs.

I'm also a big fan of Zona saws, which are the best of that sort of saw I've found. They're also among the biggest bargains in modeling: http://www.micromark.com/4-in-1-zona-saw-set,8293.html .

For bigger jobs, I like the set of small Japanese saws I bought from Lee Valley: http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=58686&cat=1,42884 .

Japanese saws take a little practice, but once you're used to them they work beautifully. The big differences from western saws are that the Japanese ones cut on the pull stroke, and the teeth are filed in a different, more sophisticated pattern. Since the Japanese saw blade is under tension when it's cutting, it can be thinner, and require less force. Try one; you'll like it.

I found two sources of wobble in my first homebuilt chopper, and have heard that some of the commercial ones have the same problems.  First, the single edge blades do bend under stress.  My new one will have the blade sandwiched between two pieces of aluminum instead of screwed to one.  Second, the pivot on the blade-carrying arm was not strong enough- I will put in a beefier pivot on the new one.

I do put stress on it- I have cut 1/4 inch wood, eighth inch styrene.  Encapsulating the blade on both sides with less cantilever will mean I must reduce the thickness of the stock it will cut, but that will be the trade for better accuracy.

Don,  Would you consider posting a picture of your cutter when you finish building it.  If so , I will keep an eye out for it in the tools section.  Thanks.                   gk

I'd like to see that too.

Years ago I showed off my NWSL Chopper at a club meeting, and one of the other members built his own version. For the blade he used an Xacto chisel blade (a wide one), which is single-beveled. (A razor blade, of course, is double-beveled.) Makes sense - though I haven't found the thickness of the razor blade to be a significant problem.

jtilley

I'd like to see that too.

Years ago I showed off my NWSL Chopper at a club meeting, and one of the other members built his own version. For the blade he used an Xacto chisel blade (a wide one), which is single-beveled. (A razor blade, of course, is double-beveled.) Makes sense - though I haven't found the thickness of the razor blade to be a significant problem.

 

Boy, that seems like a great idea.  I like the single bevel, probably more accurate.  And those X-acto blades are, I believe, a bit thicker than SE razor blades- maybe could be clamped single side!  I'll have to look at modifying my design!