The Chopper

[trainman1964]

I am considering purchasing the Chopper by NW Shortline to help construct a set of stairs for one of my DPM buildings I am constructing.

What are some other uses that you have used the Chopper for?

[chutton01]

Kind of an odd question - the Chopper cuts thin, stiff material; I use it to mostly chop thin wood strip and styrene strip & rod (I find it starts to leave an angled edge when you cut items over .030 thick , even if you follow the instructions and keep the material a bit loose).  You can probably cut stiff cardboard (not very wide - width of a razor blade on the Chopper II that I have - with spiffy metal base & green 'self-healing' mat) and maybe very thin brass wire (although doing that enough times will ruin the blade).  Maybe bare metal foil still attached to it's backing (although actually I use an Xacto chisel blade for that, and for the very thin brass wire).
Brittle stuff like microscope slide cover glass (for modeling windows panes) I can't image cutting w/ a Chopper, but I'm sure over the 3 decades these things have been out someone has figured out how to do so...

[gmcrail]

Wood deck for a flat car; handiest gadget going for repetitive cuts

[cedarwoodron]

I have used small cutters similar to the chopper in my industrial arts classes, but they are used for very soft balsa wood strips and not much else. A thin single edge razor blade, even with a reinforced piece along the top, still flexes when attempting to cut more durable wood, or thicker balsa. Given the price, I decided to use several small squares of hardboard (like Masonite) and an aluminum L-shaped metal guide to create an alignment surface that allows me to use a Zona Tools saw or Xacto saws (or even the old reliable Atlas saw) to cut ALL materials with precision. Save your money, be intelligently frugal and make a tool or jig yourself, the way many hobby builders have done. My thoughts, Cedarwoodron

[NP2626]

I've had one for 20 plus years and think it's a great tool, worth every penny it cost and would buy another without hesitation, if something happened to the one I have, which I dount will happen.  I find uses for it fairly regularly.

[jerryl]

If you do ANY scratch building you NEED one. Or as stated before, make your own.  I found on heavier wood or plastic, cut about 1/2 way thru & turn it over & finish the cut. You will have an almost straight cut.

[bogp40]

As said, it is a great tool, especially when numerous sized pieces are required. You mention that you're interested for the ease of building stairs, it will be quite helpful for the railings and decking, but this won't help w/ any cutting of the stair stringers. Most kits will have those pre-cut anyway. It will only work well w/ smaller Balsa and thin strip Basswood.

[dti406]

I used mine to scratchbuild some Superior Doors for a Reading Autoparts car, can make the duplicate cuts in thin plastic strips that I used to make the doors.

Also used it to make the same length plastic rods for plug doors on some of the freight cars.

Rick J

[dknelson]

For thicker materials I at least can use it to make "starter" cuts -- again its chief virtue is the ability to make repetitive cuts of the same size with more consistency than you can usually obtain with a measure and cut routine, assuming you have the patience.

One thing about the Chopper is true about any hobby knife -- a fresh blade is the secret to success.

BTW following a tip in MR or RMC, forget which, a small block of wood glued to the deck of the chopper, serves as a sort of stopper for the end of the handle.  The effect is you can cut through the material at hand, but not into the deck.  The major problem with the original chopper is the tendency to create a groove in the deck where the blade hits again and again. 

Dave Nelson

[cowman]

Welcome to the forums.  Looks like you've been with us a while, just hiding in the wings and learning.  Smart idea.  But your comments are welcome also.

Scratch built an unloading platform, it was a savior when cutting all the planks for the deck.  If you are going to do much scratch building or modifying that will require multiple pieces the same size, you will love it. 

Have only used mine on thin wood, LHS doesn't carry much plastic.

Might not be the best tool for notching your stringers, but for the tread and railings it would be very useful.

Good luck,

Richard