scribing

Thanks for you help and suggestions. 'Preciate it...

The Olfa P cutter and a six inch steel rule work for me. On curved area's try a 3/8th wide strip of 20 thou plastic card or old credit card or Dymo tape. Also the back of a craft knife blade can be good for light scribing jobs, just don't push down on the blade with your finger!!

I asked my dentist for some old tools and he handed my about 20 old picks of various sizes. Ya never know untill ya ask. I've also heard of using electrical tape as a guide in curved areas. I'm going to try it on a kitbash I'm working on.

I've got an old dental tool that looks surprisingly similar to the BMF or Squadron scriber. I noticed a 'tip' on the FSM homepage last month that suggested using a 'fish-hook' sharpener to clean it up every now and then. I bought a little one for a few bucks and I am amazed how much sharper it is now!!

Murray

I have the BMF scriber that works pretty well, but the best tool I have is an old dentists probe the is ground down to a small hook and sharpened.

Bare Metal Foil makes a wonderful scriber that removes a small sliver of plastic leaving a nice recessed panel line. I dont have their wed addy, but it shouldent be hard to find.

i use a carbide tipped scriber from the ole hardware store...it's worked great for me so far but i do have the best luck when i use a guide of some kind (like renarts mentions above). I read somewhere that you can cut a thin cheap tape measure into segments to use as guides so i did this and it works like a charm

merideth

I use Squadron's scribing tool. I also have a set of jewelers scribes that work great and some chasing etches. (these latter are not for the squemish and unless you do any type of etching or jewelry work and are familiar with them I would not reccomend them as you push rather than pull like squadrons scribing tool) The tool itself and its technique rely on the sharp edges of the tip and sides. It bites into the plastic and pulls out a furrow. If you drop this or it gets dull, just go out and spend the $8 for a new one. Working with dull or damaged tools is more trouble and the time investment is not worth the frugality nor are the results as good. (If you have ever done woodworking, a sharp chisel or tool is less dangerous than a dull one. And performs beautifuly)

Use a straight edge where possible. I have a few pieces of flexible aluminum or steel that make great guides, contour with shapes and make nice straight lines. I think squadron also offers a metal template for scribing that has different shapes and is flexible.

The scriber does not take alot of effort and if you let the tool do the work it will provide some good results.

In a pinch I have also used the back side of the tip of a #11x-acto blade.

Mike