is there a way to keep basswood cuts square to produce tight joints?

[karle]

my NW Shortline chopper cuts are not square to downward direction of the cut (handle pivot screw is tight) and miter box is better but still needs filing. what is the trick to nice square cuts that produce tight joints?I am talking about small square pieces of basswood strip say 3/32 inch square. With many trestle bents left to go there must be a way to make nice square joints short of something like the northwest short line sander. thanks

[rrinker]

Chopper is still probably your best bet. To help keep the blade square, try a wide piece of styrene(3-4x as wide as the wood you are cutting) and maybe 2-3x as thick. Ot better, not that I think about it, 2 pieces, exch about 2x in both dimensions as the wood you are cutting. Clam these, one againstt heb back fence of the Chopper, and one the thicknedd or a little more (doesn't need a tight fit) so the wood you are cutrting gets fed between the two larger pieces of plastic. CAREFULLY cut a vertical cut through the plastic witht he same type of blad as the Chopper. The kerf in these plastic pieces now will serve as a guide to hold the blade vertical as it meets the wood - lower the handle gently to start the blade in the slot, as if you force it, eventually you will shave the slot wider and wider and get slop again. Once it is in the slots and resting on the wood to cut, now press it down and cut off the wood.

 Maybe this will work? Just thought of it off the top of my head as a way to make a blade fixture to keep the Chopper blade lined up - effectively a miter box for the Chopper.

                 --Randy

[mlehman]

karle,

If you're talking the original chopper, it does have it's limits. The newer, improved version with the cast metal base is better. In any case, you didn'ty say anything about checking the blade for sharpness. A new blade tends to improve performance.

It's been awhile since I used my original one, but it should do OK on 3/32" if your blade is sharp IIRC. The chopper tends to work best with relatively thin cross section cuts, though, and the newer version is definitely better in this area. If you need precision, the sander is the way to go if the miter box doesn't solve things for you with what you have on hand.

I often use a file to help with more precise fitting wood joints.

[ndbprr]

You can cut a little oversize and make a wood jig with a bottom and side at a 90 degree angle. Glue a piece of sandpaper to a block and sand the end of the piece square to the jig or get an Atlas miter box and saw.

[zstripe]

About the only way, You will get a square cut with the basswood bents, is to have a small table saw, jig saw with fence or precision miter box. The chopper II, although good, will always give You a taper cut, due to the way the blade is tapered, been there done that. Built quite a few Campbell wood trestle kits and found the best was a miter box, time consuming, but the most accurate in the long run.

Have Fun! 

Frank

[John Busby]

I have never used one of the chopper's mentioned

But I have been able to get good results with a razor saw and miter box made for use with a razor saw.

When doing this kind of work having a small sanding block or an emmery boardhandy is usefull for dealing with any minor imperfections.

regards John

[BroadwayLion]

LION uses rasor saw. But then, LIONS are not critical of their own work.

 

ROAR

[wickman]

I use  a chopper  but still find for any wood  with some thickness  to it I end up with  some  off  90 degree  cuts.

[reklein]

I like the razor saw and miter box Idea, but I wonder if using the heaviest single edge blade in the chopper might help.   Bill in Idaho

 

[E-L man tom]

The razor saw and miter box is the way to go. I prefer it on anything that is wood, of any size (over approximately 0.2" square) for building HO scale structures. On the other hand, if you're cutting say, scale 4 x 8's, the Chopper is the way to go on that. And, as has also been said here before, a sanding block or emery board is almost always in order for getting rid of the rough spots

[karle]

Thanks to all who took the time to respond. I guess I'll just have to take my time (dang it!) and I will try some of your kind suggestions. I have to agree that proably a powered hobby saw is the only way to get square cuts on the first cut...... but that is not in my budget. Thanks again.

[Medina1128]

There are a couple of tools that I use for producing square cuts in, not only, basswood, but styrene, as well. One is a thin-beam square, and the other is a strip cutter. They're both available from Micro-Mark.

Thin-beam square

Strip cutter

 

[zstripe]

Marion,

That is really not what the OP means. You are not going to get a square flush cut from a blade...the scribed side You are cutting through with the blade is going to be slightly wider than the bottom or underside of the piece You just cut. Cut another piece the same way, scribed side up and piece them together, there will be a slight gap where the cut was made, on the other side, the plain side, the cuts will almost match perfectly, due to the taper of the blade. I learned that back in the 50's when I built  wood ships plank by plank and you can not have that gap. The only way I know of is a shear cut or hand saw, jig,scroll, Table saw, the blades are not tapered. The same thing occurs in sheet plastic. He wants to try to get away from dressing the cut after He cuts it, like sanding it square so they fit flush on all four sides. I have similar tools like You show...but gotta be at least 50 yrs old. still do the job.

Take Care! 

Frank

[CandOsteam]

karle

my NW Shortline chopper cuts are not square to downward direction of the cut (handle pivot screw is tight) and miter box is better but still needs filing. what is the trick to nice square cuts that produce tight joints?I am talking about small square pieces of basswood strip say 3/32 inch square. With many trestle bents left to go there must be a way to make nice square joints short of something like the northwest short line sander. thanks

 

karle,

I have the original NWSL Chopper and trying to understand your issue. A poster mentioned to use a sharp blade to get better cuts.  You should not need much pressure on the down stroke to get a precise cut that is square in both directions (hopes this makes sense).

If the blade is sharp:  Is there a groove worn into the surface where the blade makes contact with the board?  Mine started to make rough cuts with a new blade because of this groove wear.  To fix, I slipped a very thin tin shim stock under the aluminum guide to cover the wear.  Presto!  Accurate, square cuts again.  Can you post a picture of the cut and of the chopper so we can better diagnose your problem?

Joel

[rrebell]

karle

my NW Shortline chopper cuts are not square to downward direction of the cut (handle pivot screw is tight) and miter box is better but still needs filing. what is the trick to nice square cuts that produce tight joints?I am talking about small square pieces of basswood strip say 3/32 inch square. With many trestle bents left to go there must be a way to make nice square joints short of something like the northwest short line sander. thanks

 

Yes there is but it is expencive (like over $200), it is called the Shay Miter. It is more work as to get realy square ends you have a peice to block the end of the peice you are cutting off so I only use this when square ends are really needed.