Modeling Bench Tip

MattSix wrote:

I ditched the Xacto years ago. Too many near misses! Now I use the retractable hobby knives made by Kobalt. The knife is square, so it can't roll around. Whenever you need a sharp new blade, just snap off the old one!

A seabee afraid of Xactos?  Come on I heard Seabees do not mind a little pain here and there:)  There are only two knids of peole those who are Bees and those wanting to be a Bee!

Gymbo-59 wrote:

You could use the triangular-shaped pencil grips. You might need to roll some tape around it to get a snug fit. ...or you could wear a pant of football pants with thigh pads. LOL.

You mean like this

When my daughter was learning to print she wouldn't hold onto the pencil properly so the school gave us some soft rubber "thingys" that slip over a wooden pencil with grooves for the fingers holding a pencil properly.  After choosing the one that worked best for her, the rest have found their way over my X-acto knives - keeps them from rolling and provides a non-slip grip that is comfortable.

Im glad you like it bud!

Its actually a play on an avatar that has been making the rounds of the 'net for years.

As I get it, it is actually an anonymous, chunky young GIRL from somewhere in Russia, just going spastic - were talking giddy and jumping in glee. No one really knows why, or even who she is/was, except that, yes... she's real. As it has grown, people paste all sorts of things over her face now, from Bono to the Darth Vader image you see.

I even have one, a quartet of her with instruments - as a band! It's one of those weird urban legend things that just seem to tickle our collective fancy.

dahut wrote:

I use many different blades on the bench and I've tried the retractable, break off ones, too. I dont think they are right for every task but they do work for some things. I find that I reach more and more for the Xacto "range" of blades with the medium sized, separate handle. Then I have many different shapes at my disposal and they can be resharpened. But as they say, whatever floats your boat.

I may have said this before elsewhere......but in case I didn't......I cannot keep from breaking up when I see your Darth Dance weilding the toy light sabres! LMAO!

I use many different blades on the bench and I've tried the retractable, break off ones, too. I dont think they are right for every task but they do work for some things. I find that I reach more and more for the Xacto "range" of blades with the medium sized, separate handle. Then I have many different shapes at my disposal and they can be resharpened.

But as they say, whatever floats your boat.

I ditched the Xacto years ago. Too many near misses!

Now I use the retractable hobby knives made by Kobalt.

The knife is square, so it can't roll around. Whenever you need a sharp new blade, just snap off the old one!

Oh Jim Barton! Too much info!

But after reading all replies here.....I HAVE taped some sprue to X-Acto handles. My bench top is plate glass and stuff will roll as the bench begins to bend with the house. 

I've also had an X-acto knife in my thigh. I use the X-acto kinves with the tapered plastic handle. They don't seem to roll as much and I've found them comfortable to work with. I leveled my workbench and then made it tilt very slightly towards the back. Hardly anything rolls off anymore.

I used a 4' level when I built my bench! Things don't roll off, but I have found a small part stuck to my forearm at bedtime!

I lay the knife down so that it's perpendicular to the workbench edge. I have a large workbench plus stuff at the end of the bench, so the knife can't fall to the floor. Even so, if I put the knife down for more than a few seconds, I slip the original protective cover back over the blade. I especially try to do this when I model outside or in motel rooms where the work surfaces are very small.

I store all of my X-Acto knives in a piece of foam block by sticking the blade in first with the handle up.  This keeps the knives handy but the blade protected.

I worked for many years in a biomedical research lab. A fellow post-doc was also in the habit of 'snapping the legs together" when something was dropped/spilled. Until he spilled a vial of radioactive phosphorus (P32), used to tag molecules 20 years ago. First thing he did, before we started the decontamination, was to run with a geiger counter to his fiance (now wife) working in another lab, to show her how "hot" his groin area was.....

They had 3 boys, not one of them a mutant ;)

My Spaniel who has decided his proper place when I'm working is at the side of my desk  has had a couple of lucky escapes when a dislodged scalpel has missed his nose by fractions.

I now ensure that anything sharp or heavy is always kept well to back of the work area.

Open paint jars....small parts.....coffee, soda or cocktails.....one's forearms can adversely effect the location of any of these!

Put THINGS aside! 

Ditto. I once (that was all it took) put my leg out to stop a newly purchased dental pick from hitting the floor. Yes indeed, it did not hit the floor. It was sticking out of my lower leg waving up at me as if to say "Hey thanks for leaning into the plate and taking this one for the team. is what poured out of my mouth for a bit after that. Now I am more than willing to go out and buy a new cheap pick.

Cheers

Dave