There used to be some chopper type cutters that not only cut down, but
sliced through the material. I wish I had one as I am sure they would do a
much better job. Slicing is better than chopping.



______________________________________________

J. Stephen (Steve) Sandifer

mailto:steve.sandifer@...

Home: 12027 Mulholland Drive, Meadows Place, TX 77477, 281-568-9918

Office: Southwest Central Church of Christ, 4011 W. Bellfort, Houston, TX
77025, 713-667-9417



From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of Jack
Burgess
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 9:14 AM
To: STMFC@...
Subject: RE: [STMFC] Straight Cuts using a NWSL Chopper





<I'm working on the excellent Boaz resin flatcar kits and wanted to get
<some feedback on making consistently straight cuts for the styrene
<channel material for the stake pockets. I use an NWSL Chopper and it
<seems no matter what I do, the blade deflects when I make a cut and the
<pieces are not straight. Is there some better technique or am I missing
<some procedure using the Chopper. This is a problem for me using both
<the older model with the hardboard base or the newer models with the
<plastic mat base.
<
<Thanks,
<
<Jerry Michels

I don't think that the blade is deflecting but that the thin styrene is
flexing. Think of the problem of cutting some HO 1x8s held vertically...as
the blade starts to cut, the strip flexes, resulting in a bad cut.

I'd cut with the base of the channel down (like I'd assuming that you're
doing) but with a piece of stripwood shoved into the space between the webs
to support the webs. You might need to glue a couple of pieces of stripwood
together to fit tightly or sand a thicker one. You could also put a larger
(such as an 8x8) piece of stripwood up against the fence of the chopper and
another on the outside of the channel and hold the combination tightly
together as you make your cut...the pieces of 8x8 stripwood would then
support both the outsides and insides of the channel webs. The combination
would keep the webs from flexing as you make your cut. I'd first try to make
a cut with the stripwood (outside supports and the piece inside) just short
of where you need to cut. If that supports the channel enough, then you
would be needlessly cutting the pieces of stripwood with each cut. If that
doesn't work and the channel is still flexing, then move the stripwood
pieces forward enough so that just the minimum stripwood is cut with each
chop.

Make sense?

Jack Burgess
Newark, CA