Hiya all,

I was wondering what kind of tools i should use when working with resin and PE parts. Ive just recently started some kits that include resin and PE and i encountered some problems. First of all it took me about 2 hours to cut 5 resin pieces of their sprue with my modeling knife and another hour to clean them up
I then glued the pieces together as instructed and began cutting the PE parts. Problem with them is, that the cutting leaves some metal of the sprue on the parts and those spots are so tiny that i can barely remove them.
How should i handle this? Is there an easier tool i can use for the resin? Should i use a knife for PE parts?

Thanks,

Dolf

Hi Thor,
Here's a couple of suggestions you can try:
I use my Dremel tool to grind off the resin casting plugs. It's a lot quicker than cutting it off with a knife. Be sure to wear a respirator or a dust mask at least. You don't want to breath that resin dust into your lungs. When I do this, I also clamp the end of the hose from my shop vac to my tabletop. Then I do my grinding over top of this. It helps pull about 95% of the dust out of the air.
Also, on large pieces, I don't waste time trying to grind and sand mating surfaces perfectly flat. I grind a slight depression to within 1/32" of the outer edge. Then I can sand the rest of it as needed. I find It's much easier this way.
I use my Dremel to help clean up my PE as well. After I cut the part off the fret, I'll grind off the little nub with a diamond grinding bit. It doesn't have teeth on it. Rather, it's a rough surface that takes the excess brass off quite nicely. Just be careful. It takes some practice.
I hope this helps

You need a razor saw to cut this. Your hobby shop should have one or get saw blades for your x-acto. It's a good idea to wear a mask while cutting this and vacuum up the dust as soon as possible. It's not the healthiest material in the world to inhale.




There are specific tools forcutting PE, however, you can use a sharp x-acto blade. It's a good idea to attach the PE fret to masking tape and attach that to a wood block if you are going to use a knife. A curved x-acto blade, rather than our trusty #11 will do well.

I cut all my PE on a ceramic tile. But be very careful not to slip so use sellotape or scotch tape to hold it down as a precaution.
You can buy small surgical scissors or use a hobby knife, it matters not which.
If you go to this site you'll get lots of info.
http://www.historex-agents.co.uk/ look for "Tips for modellers"

Well, it was a good thing to ask you people about this, cause i already had the feeling i was doing something wrong, but couldnt figure out what it was
Some very usefull tips ! Thanks everyone!

Dolf

When dealing with PE, and Martin touched on this a little, I cut the piece off the sprue with a knife leaving a good deal of sprue attached. After that I use a pair of scissors to cut off extra metal. If I don't cut close enough, I get out my set of Swiss files and file off the extra very carefully. Occasionally this causes the etch to bend, but not to fear, I have a fix for that too. I recently picked up the Etch-Mate (which is God's gift to the world of PE and I'd HIGHLY reccomend it) and what I do with bent pieces is flatten them as best I can bare handed, then I lift the 'press' on my Etch-Mate, slide the offending piece under it, and tighten down on it. Voila!!! Flat piece of PE.

I have a PE cutter by Xuron. Some of the best money I ever spent. Cuts the pieces off with no little bits hanging on that need to be sanded off.

I'm new to PE, but I can't imagine how I'd do it without an Etch Mate. Makes getting consistent bends a snap. Also a set of micro files is a must for the extra sprue you will inevitably leave behind. Other than that, as mentioned before, a new set of No. 11 X-acto blades.

Something else I found useful is a set of tweezers I picked up in New Orleans and were made in Pakistan. They're tip are sharp as needles and they have no teeth. Very useful for those 1/35 scale boltheads and such.

I see tweezers as a double edged sword...they help you get small pieces where they belong, but they also have the nasty habit of helping to feed the carpet monster. I will agree though, a good pair of tweezers is essential.

Don't try to cut PE with an x-acto. It is too hard to conveniently cut it, so you'll be tempted to use force. Next thing, you'll find the x-acto inserted in your thigh muscle all the way to the hil. I know from experience.
When using cutting / sawing tools, NEVER use force. If you need force, that means you uses the wrong tool and you'll likely get hurt sooner or later. (I almost sound like my late grandpa here )

I've used nothing but an X-acto to cut my PE -- seems to work well and most of the time if I cut it carefully, I don't have to deal with any nubs. I have noticed that the harder the surface I cut the PE on, the harder it is to cut as well. I tried a metal plate but this was just hard on the blade. I use my wife's plastic cutting board for the PE and it seems to give just enough that the knife slices it clean. I also cut at a slight angle back towards the piece and this action eliminates any sign of a nub, so long as I'm paying enough attention. It requires very little force too. Now I've ony used Royal PE, and these dont include side skirts or fenders. The thickest pieces are the horizontal side boards that run down the sides of Jagdpanthers. But the X-acto was more than sufficient for this.

Are you talking about heavier PE GeneralFailure?

When working with PE. I use a straight razor blade (the ones fornd in the widgit scrapers) for removing the piece from the sprue. Place the tip of the blade by the attachment and push down like a paper cutting motion and it should cut right through it. Make sure you tape it down or it can become a projectile. I use a piece of glass from old picture frames to do the cutting on. The tape holds well and gives a great hard surface for the blade to go thru the etch. Plus it is cheap
If you don't have an Etch mate yet you can also use the razor blades to bend the piece the way you need to, it is tricky but it does in a pinch.. Sanding the stubs off i secure an emery board or sanding stick down with two sided tape and run the etch the length of the stick. It easier to hold just the piece than both. Plus it protects the piece from breaking or sanding to much off.
Hope this helps.

I work with a lot of Resin accessories like packs and equiptment. The best way I've found to remove the access is one of the motor driven Grinders that mounts to a bench. It has a grey grinding wheel and I carefully remove the sprue using my hands to hold it . I've used grinding wheels on the dremel tool and it's way to slow. You can find these grinders fairly inexpensively and they're worth the money. The main problem is the dust , so I wear a filtered mask to keep it out of my lungs and safety glasses to keep it out of my eyes.

As far as PE I use an exacto and I lay it on a piece of the white poly cutting board material that I have on my bench. It's hard but also rough enough to keep my blade from slipping.

Hope something here helps.

Don Porter

On top of what the other guys correctly said before, in my view the most important tool to work with such stuff is... a hoge amount of patience!!!