Digger-RCU

I came up with a new trick when I was building the S.S.
I have never liked any of the ways that i have used to cut wood accurately around a cut out paper pattern.

The pieces for the cool turtledeck had to be cut out accurately, and I did not have a second copy at the time.

I layed the template sheet over the wood and traced it with this spikey wheel thing that came out of my wifes sewing drawer. She calls it a "Pattern tracer." Imagine that.

It poked through the paper and left little indentions on the wood. The pattern sheet was not destroyed, and I just cut the wood on the perferated line I had made.

I thought it worked nicely.

Here's a picture.

What do y'all think?

Digger

XJet

That's an old trick we used to use *years* ago when working from plans. Except we'd use a pin and ***** through the plan onto the wood beneath at regular intervals.

Works great!

skaliwag

My Feedback: (1)

Me too.. but now we have ..... "the Technology"

ffkiwi

I think they call these things 'pounce wheels' and you used to be able to buy them from Micromark-worth checking their website-they may still have them.

'ffkiwi'

digital_trucker

Thus the wheel gets reinvented....good tip to mention though, in this age of ARFs.

skaliwag

My Feedback: (1)

I bet they are cheaper at the Sewing Store.
Proberbly buy them by the dozen there.

build light

I have seen this in one of the magazine "tips and tricks" years ago. Glad if you like it it has been rediscovered. I doubt its use will ever go out of style as long as we use paper for plans and balsa to build with. Also works well on sheet foam whether it be the fanfold or other types.

I bet if you kept your eyes peeled you might find these at a 99 cent store or Doller Tree. Also at garage sales if you find other sewing paraphenalia present.

I believe the magazine article also suggested to bevel each side of the "disc" to a sharper point with a grinder. Not too sharp mind you!

Another thought is to use a copy of the plan as a pattern and use one of those razor cutting wheels to just go ahead and do some of the cutting, so long as the curves aren't to tight. For straight cuts i bet it would be a breeze.

Robert

old git

I have a vague recollection of the POUNCE being a Pad? used to transfer French Chalk Powder through the holes in a perforated pattern, maybe for Tailoring?

Or maybe it was something entirely different.




old git - - - - aka John L.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

It dates back many, many centuries. For example, artisans would hold a perforated pattern against the wall and hit it with a pouch filled with charcoal powder. This would leave a dotted outline on the wall. They would then go over these dotted lines with a charcoal stick making corrections and adding more details. Then, they would begin the process of applying the fresco. The process is still used in painting stage scenery.

David

chevy43

Who has rolling knife disks and holders? Seems like it would work better for a lot of things than a regular hobby knife.

propjobbill

That's a good trick if you are only going to use it once per pattern. If you do it alot you will find it will cut out your pattern out of the plans

lildiesel

How about a high quality pizza cutting wheel? The small size is usually 2 1/2 inches, but there might be smaller ones out there that could cut smaller curved lines. The one's on a card at the grocery store are useless, go were they sell real cutlery.

I've also seen disc knives used to cut fiber board and wallboard, but they are fairly large as well. If all else fails, rob the cutting disks out of a small tubing cutter and make your own handle.

build light

There are a number of rotary cutters in different diameters by different makers:
http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/CTGY/rotary-cutter

Smaller diameter cutters will follow smaller radii curves better than larger ones but the larger dia. ones I think would stay sharper longer.
Then there are the specialty blades like an "S" that create special effects.

Never used one myself, but been tempted to buy one to play with just to see how well it could be used in our hobby.
Many of these are used in cutting mats for framing pictures and art.

Robert

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

This "pounce wheel" technique is also used in the sign and other industries. A steel backboard and a metal pencil that has electric pulses perferates the paper pattern. put the [pattern where you need it and then a chalk bag is rubbed over the holes to make a copy onto that surface. I use the Olfa cutters and cutting pads for monokote and even 2 mil coro cutting.

tangerine-jack

Right on, you've rediscovered an old method. I was using that pattern wheel in the late '70s on my rubber free flighters. Still use it today for RC, only I photocopy the sections of the plans that require shape formings so I don't damage the originals. If you were at the reedie race in '06 and looked in my flight box you would have seen my trusty red pattern wheel.

Funny, I thought this was how everyone did it? So how are you susposed to do it?

small_rcer

I don't know how you are "supposed" to do it, but I use a photo copy of the part glued on to the wood, with a few dabs from a glue stick.

Jim

propjobbill

I do have one of the cutting wheels like shown in this post about 2" size. What I have found is it works great for is laying out covering material. I roll it along and it makes a strait cut. For me it is easier than an knife blade.

KidEpoxy

I would imagine it wouldnt be too hard to make your own 1-1.5" cutter wheel,

1/8 Fender washer with some file lovin', <Telecaster or Stratocaster dont matter >
chucked in a drill for True'ing against the sidewalk curb,
followed by the whetstone...
a few 1/8 std washers CA'ed to that to stop axlewobble
and a bolt axle to a handle

chevy43

A washer is way too soft to make a cutting wheel from.

build light

Yeah but all of us know someone who wants to do something with "found" materials and they think it will be just as good as the manufactured items.

The washer idea could work but unless you have some good experiance with making a good edge you will probably have done a lot of work for something that will not make you happy in the long run.
Thbe washer, besides being too soft (won't hold a good edge for long) will also be too thick. the bought wheels are much thinner and are made of the better steel for the job.
Then try mounting the washer onto some kind of handle that will roll as smooth and with no wobbles.

A more worthwhile effort would be to come up with an easy way to resharpen a used wheel and be happy with it. I feel the replacement blades to be a bit pricey (for my budget). Mosy of you fellas will not think the price bad at all. It's a relative thing.

Robert

digital_trucker

I was experimenting this weekend and found that freezer paper irons onto balsa very well and it appears to peel off easily without leaving a residue. Even better, it's printable on inkjet printers! Just cut it into 8.5x11 pieces.

Digger-RCU

Man, I love all these cool ideas.

DT what is freezer paper? I like the idea of using somthin that will stick to the wood, but is easily removed, especially if you can print anything you want on it.

Digger

digital_trucker

Freezer paper comes on a roll, it's got a regular paper surface on one side, and the other side sorta feels like waxed paper (except it's some kind of plastic). Anyway, it irons onto balsa like nobody's bidness, and peels off without hardly lifting a fiber.

http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchen...7&prod_id=1798

jessiej

Neat idea!

jess