Not Exactly theBest Forum But...

An X-Acto #11 blade with the balsa on a hard flat surface & use a steel rule as a cutting guide. Press lightly & make 2-3 passes to cut through. Be especially careful when cutting cross grain.

And when cutting cross grain, be sure to cut through all the balsa, don't try to snap it.

I agree with Rick about the #11 X-acto.
I used to build Estes rockets as a kid.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by rjkplasticmod An X-Acto #11 blade with the balsa on a hard flat surface & use a steel rule as a cutting guide. Press lightly & make 2-3 passes to cut through. Be especially careful when cutting cross grain.

That is how I used to do it. One little trick I used was to push a pin through at the tips of the piece to be cut out then I would score the corner lightly before flipping it back over to cut it out. I hated to have the tip of a fin chip off and this will prevent it. What great memories I sure loved to build and launch those as a kid. Our school had a program in the summer where we would build and fly rockets. Do they do stuff like that for kids now days?

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