Sprue Cutter from Zoukei-Mura

Phil,

I use the ZM cutter the same way. as you do  What surprised me about the God Hand cutter was that the cut surface looked almost polished.  There was no evidence of scrape or crush damage at all.  I don't know if the polished finish of the tool itself has something to do with the cleanliness of the cut.  My friend builds Gundam kits and for those that don't paint the main components, the clean cut is a Godsend (pun intended).  For those of us who paint all their models, it means less divot filling, which is also great.

Even though the Ho-229 is one of my all time favorite aircraft, I didn't line up to get the ZM kit at Telford.  I did walk by to marvel at the crowd around the booth though!  A friend who was also there got the Ho-229 just days before we left for Jolly Olde, so I got to fondle the parts.

I picked mine up at Telford last year as well. I like them but only use them in small parts and tight places where they work great. I have Xuron and some really cheap ones for big jobs where I know "proper" sprue cutters would struggle. They all have their place I think.

Real G wonder if you where in the same que as me for the HO229, if so have a look at the ZM site as I can see myself on their pictures form the show

Phil

Hello!

First thing - a good tool isn't cheap. While you can get the work done with cheaper tools, you usually need to put in more work. I like working with expensive cutters, it just feels nice.

Then - these tools are fragile. If you abuse them by cutting hard wire, cutting of some big chunk or just dropping them on a tiled floor - you will ruin them. Gotta be careful.

And I'd be careful buying tools in modelling stores - you often get the stuff overpriced. Most notorious are the paint brushes here - you get better stuff cheaper in the art supply stores. Likewise you can get better cutters in the electronics stores. Cutters designed to cut thin copper wire are also perfect for sprue.

I hope it helps - thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

I have a very old set of nippers for cutting electronic component leads that I use.  They have been quite modified though.  The edges that come together have been sharpened almost razor sharp.  They will "skin" a thin layer off of plastic or skin (if I am not careful) .

They slice through the parts connectors on sprues quite nicely and aren't quite as fragile as the new ZM nipper seem to be, and will cut cleanly through even those triangular or tapered sprue connects.

Here I used them to clip off an incorrect locating pin on a part.  

I almost never get a new tool that doesn't need to be tweaked, modified or redone so that it will work the way I think it should.  

Nathan T

Think thats high, Look up God Hands sprue cutters from Japan. $65. Very nicely made, and single cut only. I thought that was interesting. Way too darn expensive though...see it on Youtube.

 

A friend came over last night with a God's Hand sprue cutter, and it easily outperformed my Volks cutter.  The cut it makes looks like it was pared down with a sharp X-Acto.  Physically, it looks like the Volks cutter, but has a shorter jaw.  I'll be checking it out when I can get my hands on one of my own.

pilotjohn

Maybe I am in the minority, but I have four tools for cutting pieces from sprues:

1. X-Acto knife

2.  Regular nail clippers that have a curved edge which is great for wheels and rims and curved parts.

3.  Cuticle clippers (basically the same as nail clippers but with a smaller straight edge) for straight cuts.

4.  The yellow handled "nippers" from the Hobby Lobby set that is being talked about in another thread here.

All told less than $40 for all of them if I remember and you have different options.

I use larger wire type cutters to cut the sprue close to the part so I only have maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 and inch to deal with and the use one of my four.  The only time that doesn't work is if I am cutting very delicate parts that would bend if cutting a large piece of the sprue.

John

John,

        Like you, I use an X-Acto knife (I have one of their three handle sets) and a pair of small dykes that I picked up at Harbor Freight for a couple of dollars.  And like you, I'll cut off a section of the sprue with the part and then trim it from that smaller piece of sprue.

        And so far I can’t say that using this system that I really haven’t had a problem.

I'll put those on the list of things to buy if I win the big lottery or a long lost relative/friend leaves me a fortune!

Sometimes I'm left with a large sprue tree that just has a few parts left on it. I like to reduce clutter in the box and get rid of these big trees but still leave these few pieces attached. For these big chunks of sprue I just use a pair of regular ole wire cutters (side-bitters, dykes, diagonals, or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods).

I've learned to leave small or delicate parts attached to sprue until I'm ready for them. I'm sure small parts removed from the tree have gone missing because I thought they were "debris" and tossed them in the trash.

The Tamiya cutters I have is so finely shaped and sharp that I don't need any other cutting tool for getting parts off the sprue. Flush cut every time. Worth its weight in gold. I have a more basic Xuron cutter and there are places on the sprue where its too thick and wide, but the Tamiya cutter gets in there easily and wont' damage the part.

Maybe I am in the minority, but I have four tools for cutting pieces from sprues:

1. X-Acto knife

2.  Regular nail clippers that have a curved edge which is great for wheels and rims and curved parts.

3.  Cuticle clippers (basically the same as nail clippers but with a smaller straight edge) for straight cuts.

4.  The yellow handled "nippers" from the Hobby Lobby set that is being talked about in another thread here.

All told less than $40 for all of them if I remember and you have different options.

I use larger wire type cutters to cut the sprue close to the part so I only have maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 and inch to deal with and the use one of my four.  The only time that doesn't work is if I am cutting very delicate parts that would bend if cutting a large piece of the sprue.

John

Oh I agree, 40 bucks ain't nothing for a good sprue cutter. It is used quite often. I just thought it was interesting that the God Hand brand is a single cut, and the only sprue cutter out there that is made that way. Seems that the reviewer on You tube agreed that the single cut was a little more superior to a double cut such as Tamiya or Xuron. But worth 65-70 bucks? No.

Nathan T

Think thats high, Look up God Hands sprue cutters from Japan. $65. Very nicely made, and single cut only. I thought that was interesting. Way too darn expensive though...see it on Youtube.

"God Hands"?  Um, I have the "Mere Mortal Hands", and it works just dandy!  BTW, the higher end Xuron cutters go into the $20 and up range, so $38 isn't too outrageous.

Having used the Pro Zetsu cutter for a while now, I can say with certainty that I am happy with my purchase.  I used to use an alcohol burner and an old Xacto blade as a makeshift heat knife, and there are times that it will still be used, but now most of my delicate cutting will be with the Pro Zetsu.

If someone else makes super skinny sprue cutters that cost less, by all means check them out - you won't be disappointed with what you can do with them.

Think thats high, Look up God Hands sprue cutters from Japan. $65. Very nicely made, and single cut only. I thought that was interesting. Way too darn expensive though...see it on Youtube.

The most expensive sprue cutter in history.  If they lower the price to around $15, they'll make a bigger profit by selling more.  

Think I'll stick with my xurons, those look nice though

I've often thought about getting an extra pair of PE cutters to use for sprue cutting, to help solve many of the issues listed above.  I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet, but there are some times I have to fight the urge to get out my primary PE cutters for parts with short sprues.  

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

     I have three sprue cutters .One is a small pair of flush face cutters from Hobby - Lobby .I also have another pair from them with a modified blade set that works well too .The third .Well , I modified a pair of cutters I got from the Hardware store , Long jaws thinned down carefully for this work  .

      Whole trick in modifying a tool is not to let it get hot in the grinding process . The last one is about twelve years old now .Sharp as the day I bought them .

Crazy.. LOL!

$ 36.00 ?  nuts !

Linkie:

volksusastore.com/.../index.php

The information on the site says not to use this tool on heavy sprue gates, and I can see why.  I keep several cutters in varying conditions and use the old worn one for the heavy destructo work, saving the newer and sharper cutters for trimming.