Styrene Cutting

[Horrorshow]

Spring is near and I’m tackling an ambitious project involving major cuts to the body and chassis. I have recently purchased a saw and a Dremel. Would appreciate some tips to using these tools. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

[NOBLNG]

The razor saw I mostly use for making square cuts on Evergreen stock in a mitre box.

 

It could be used for long straight cuts like a chop or section job, but I prefer to score the line with a panel scriber then finish the cut with a photo etch saw.

The dremel hopefully has a low enough speed that it will not melt the plastic. The abrasive discs I believe will just clog up. For cutting you may need something like saw blades.

I mostly use my rotary tool with sanding drums and burrs for shaping. You can always practice on a scrap body especially with the dremel. A slip up with it can quickly do a lot of damage…and not just to the plastic.😬

Edited March 11 by NOBLNG

[Ace-Garageguy]

Keep the Dremel speeds down when cutting plastic, or it will melt and clog the cutters. 

Keeping a bar of something like Ivory soap on the bench and running your cutting bits in it occasionally may help the bits to not get clogged with melted plastic.

 

[rattle can man]

In addition to the saw and Dremel tool you have, there are also several different saw blades for standard X-Acto handles. And there are also photo etch blades for the same handles. I keep some of each on hand for smaller cuts.  Photoetch saw blades remove less material than standard blades, but they do bend easier.

[NOBLNG]

Also, since most rotary tools don’t have an awful lot of torque, multiple light passes are usually better than trying to take too much material out in one pass.

[Bugatti Fan]

Even the lowest speeds of a Dremel might be a bit fierce for plastic. If the Dremel could be plugged into a speed reduction device it might be able to reduce the revs right down to a suitable speed.

I think for accurate cutting the various fine hand saws would give much better control than using a Dremel or similar that might prove a bit cumbersome for this type of work.

Don't get me wrong. The Dremel is a superb tool as I have one with some of their sccessories. But it's horses for courses and in this instance I would be going down the razor saw route. The Dremel would come into its own if building a rusted out vehicle using burrs from the inside to create where the dust is breaking through.

 

Edited March 11 by Bugatti Fan

[bobss396]

I have one of those choppers I bought from Evergreen, it makes decent repeatable cuts in thin plastic.

I have a couple of miter boxes and razor saws.

Lately, I'll rough cut plastic or anything else, hold it in a small vise and file it flush. The ends are very square.

If I have to make repeated cuts, I make up a stop for the vise. Just taped in place does it. I can hold +/- .005" very easily.

Anything real close, I have the Bridgeport mill in the garage.

[NOBLNG]

2 hours ago, bobss396 said:

Anything real close, I have the Bridgeport mill in the garage.

That’s cheating!😳

[Mike 1017]

I have had success with this for fine cuts. Shop around and you can find these.

Micro Miter Box Super Value Package – Micro-Mark

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Even the lowest speeds of a Dremel might be a bit fierce for plastic. If the Dremel could be plugged into a speed reduction device it might be able to reduce the revs right down to a suitable speed.

I think for accurate cutting the various fine hand saws would give much better control than using a Dremel or similar that might prove a bit cumbersome for this type of work.

Don't get me wrong. The Dremel is a superb tool as I have one with some of their sccessories. But it's horses for courses and in this instance I would be going down the razor saw route. The Dremel would come into its own if building a rusted out vehicle using burrs from the inside to create where the dust is breaking through.

 

All true, but I very frequently use a cutoff wheel in my 40-year-old corded variable-speed Dremel for rough cuts.

Like most tools, it takes some getting used to, but I find it to be one of the most useful tools I have...

[Rick L]

That harmless looking Dremel tool has created some interesting industrial accidents. A fellow model maker was cutting into a handheld polystyrene tube with the spring steel saw blade and instead of cutting through, it cut into, then grabbed and spun around the tube then around his thumb. YIKES! Throughout the model shop. Bloodiest mess we’d ever seen.

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, Rick L said:

That harmless looking Dremel tool has created some interesting industrial accidents. A fellow model maker was cutting into a handheld polystyrene tube with the spring steel saw blade and instead of cutting through, it cut into, then grabbed and spun around the tube then around his thumb. YIKES! Throughout the model shop. Bloodiest mess we’d ever seen.

Those “industrial accidents” were not created by the Dremel. They were created by careless operators. The tools function is entirely predictable. I have had minor injuries over the years and I don’t blame the tools.

Edit: Lack of proper PPE falls under “careless operators”.

Edited March 11 by NOBLNG

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Those “industrial accidents” were not created by the Dremel. They were created by careless operators. The tools function is entirely predictable. I have had minor injuries over the years and I don’t blame the tools.

Yup.

In over 7 decades on the planet, to date I have not yet been attacked by any tool or other imamate inanimate object. - 5 pts for spelling

 

 

Edited March 11 by Ace-Garageguy

[Jim Dodson]

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yup.

In over 7 decades on the planet, to date I have not yet been attacked by any tool or other imamate object.

 

 

Except by the Spelling Nazis, right Bill. LOL inanimate

all in jest 

[Rick L]

7 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Those “industrial accidents” were not created by the Dremel. They were created by careless operators. The tools function is entirely predictable. I have had minor injuries over the years and I don’t blame the tools.

Edit: Lack of proper PPE falls under “careless operators”.

Agreed. His apprenticeship didn’t last long. 😆

[Horrorshow]

Thanks to everyone who provided advice, tips, lessons, safety alerts and spelling corrections. My project involves cutting the entire chassis and body, therefore I decided to forget the Dremel and use the saw.

Thanks again everyone!

[Brutalform]

12 hours ago, Mike 1017 said:

I have had success with this for fine cuts. Shop around and you can find these.

Micro Miter Box Super Value Package – Micro-Mark

You beat me to posting this Mike. I have a regular mitre and saw, but rarely use it. This MicroMark saw I can not live without. 

[NOBLNG]

Yeah, this mitre box has slots that are too wide for my liking. I use it a lot with my razor saw, but have to hold the saw flush to one side or I get a slightly crooked cut.😕 I’ve been meaning to modify it somehow but just never got around to it yet.

[NOBLNG]

I really like these sawblades. They make a nice aluminum handle for them, but I just trimmed the shank a touch so they would fit a regular exacto handle. They are like a photo etch blade but far more sturdy.

Edited March 12 by NOBLNG

[peteski]

44 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

I really like these sawblades. They make a nice aluminum handle for them, but I just trimmed the shank a touch so they would fit a regular exacto handle. They are like a photo etch blade but far more sturdy.

These are likely also photoetched but just from a thicker metal.

[Belugawrx]

10 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I have not yet been attacked by any tool or other  inanimate object. 

I worked in a cabinet making (millwork shop) for 4 tears, and I watched the newbie actually look at his spinning laminate router (20,000 rpm), and stick his finger into the base plate and shear off his index finger....wanted to pick off a piece of contact cement.....duuuuh ...yep!

[Bugatti Fan]

A Dremel tool of similar can cause a lot of personal injury used incorrectly.  misused

As for industrial machinery. Lethal if misused !

For those who do not know the 'Bridgeport in the Garage' referred to in an earlier post is an industrial milling machine.

[stitchdup]

5 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Yeah, this mitre box has slots that are too wide for my liking. I use it a lot with my razor saw, but have to hold the saw flush to one side or I get a slightly crooked cut.😕 I’ve been meaning to modify it somehow but just never got around to it yet.

i had the same issue with mine. a couple strips o hard plastic soon fixed it

[Bugatti Fan]

There are special mitre cutting boxes available that are designed for tools with extra fine thin blades.

Dspiae might be a source for such a tool set.

Edited March 12 by Bugatti Fan

[bobss396]

18 hours ago, Rick L said:

That harmless looking Dremel tool has created some interesting industrial accidents. A fellow model maker was cutting into a handheld polystyrene tube with the spring steel saw blade and instead of cutting through, it cut into, then grabbed and spun around the tube then around his thumb. YIKES! Throughout the model shop. Bloodiest mess we’d ever seen.

I saw someone do that where I worked, only with cutting steel tubing on a big DoAll band saw. Stuff like that had to be held in a small vise.

It was a heck of a bloody mess. We had a nurse in the building, she took one look and sent him to an industrial care facility to be patched up. This was a holdover from the Fairchild Republic days.