I just got the GP slot machine tool. When I did some practise cuts, it seems I would cut off level. My bench is waist height and I am tall and I just seemed to angle the machine while cutting. Photo was my solution but I am wondering if anyone has a better approach/technique? I just got the level from Lowes and stuck it one with 2-sided tape. The horizontal one is tough to set because the machine front is tapered but the vertical one helped me a bunch.

for me it was just practice, cut some pretty ugly ones to start but before too long, they were just fine! Keep after it, you're gonna love that thing!

Throw it away, it's worthless.

I would differ. It is the one of best tools for CA or plastic hinges. Years ago I used an X-Acto knife to cut the slots. Then along came the slot cutting machine. No more X-Acto for me. With your X-Acto knife, cut a small slit where the hinge will go. That slot will then be your opening/guide to insert the cutting blade and the slot will be made like a hot knife in butter. You'll love it

I'm pretty happy with mine too. As mentioned a little practice makes perfect.

The battery one wasn't worth much tho.

ditto................funny thing is, i am a millman by trade (a real cabinet maker) and i thought i was gonna ace the use of this tool right out of the box....LOL.....takes a bit of gettin to know it, but once figured out from test cuts, i'd never do without it.

i've used the guide, but found that by using a scribe and starting a groove in the wood where i want the hinge and then freehanding the SM into the groove worked a lot better.

I was cutting triangle stock (all surfaces are triangle on both sides) so scribing was hard.

practice is the answer to be sure,
I didn't like mine at first..then I got better with it..I like to scribe a center grove and then mark the spot, and freehand it, no guide.. Seemed to work best for me..my main issue is the start ...get yourself positioned with the slot surface pointing up...I brace myself so I won't be wobbling. Then I turn the tool on and let it just barely kiss the area to be slotted, once you get an initial cut going it seems to track down well. I have always had a fairly good eye for free handing things so possibly you might prefer a guide of some sort...

I just got one for Christmas and had some trouble at first. Scribbing angle stock was my biggest problem, so I trimmed the point off just where the hinges go to about 1/16" wide and it made the scribbing easier.

Gary

The trim tool does take some practice, but it is one of the best tools designed for RC in many years. I have 2 of them. Good Luck, Dave

Wrong......

Use both hands and go slow. Works good.

That is one of the best tools I've ever had. I hand slotted the wings for a Bipe .... and then my next kit I built.. I bought one and OMG what took me hand slotting like 3 hours... I would get done in like 10 minutes ! It's like anything else... practice on some scrap. it's amazing how nice the hinge slots are !!

I've used that tool- a buddy had one. Here's what I prefer for slotting. I modified mine by alternately bending the teeth a little.

I use the guide with mine, no trouble keeping the slot straight. If I can do it with my shakey hands anyone can. The guide can be bought at most hobby shops. I think there is another thread over in kit building about the slot machine with different photos of A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT GUIDES YOU CAN BUY.

I have one that I mounted to a table and built a vertical attachment to hold the control surface for slotting. Works ok for flat surfaces that are small enough to move around. I prefer to slot mine using hand tools. The Slot Machine is more work and the results are not that good for me. I think it must be a personal preference. Either way one of my least favorite jobs.

This is an awesome tool. It takes a little practice to become proficient with it. Once you get the hang of it you will wonder why you didn't have one before.

Good luck
Frank

There was an article in Model Aviation some ago on how to build a guide-platform for the slot machine. It's not to hard to make, and makes chore of cutting hinge slots much easier.
zx32tt

I had some troubles and was disappointed with the tool. I watched this [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCNjg5HkPFw]Youtube Video [/link]and practiced on some scrap and can now slot 1/8" control surfaces. I also bought one of the guide fences and had pretty good luck with it. I bought a couple more at a swap meet and have them set to center on various wood thicknesses, this way I never have to adjust the guide when I switch wood thicknesses. I tried higley's slotter and dubros slot kit but I find the more I use the power slotter the less I reach for the old tools.

I don't have a slot machine but had bought a multi tool a few months ago. With a current project needing hinge slots, I decided to see what the multi tool could do.

The simple procedure is narrated in the tips forum.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10257875/tm.htm

It was a piece of cake. It took five minutes on the bench grinder to reformat the cutting tool to suit the slotting procedure.

Thirty eight perfect hinge slots were cut in fifteen minutes and it was the first time to use the tool other than for detail sanding.

The slots were the perfect thickness for Dubro hinges.

btw, though I haven't glued the hinges in yet, with scissors a piece of 1/64 inch plywood was cut to the width and depth of the hinge plus a tang to fit into an Xacto handle. It seems the right thickness to carry epoxy on both sides into the slot. Yet to be seen is if it will be strong enough, if not I'll shape a glue spatula from a tin can or something. Very easy to do with old scissors.

edit note: The plywood spatula didn't work, it broke after about a dozen hinges. However, a spatula made of acetate from a windscreen scrap worked perfectly. It was shaped the size of the hinge with an added tang for insertion into the Xacto. I did drill some holes in it to assist taking glue into the slot. It worked great.

I found that scribing a path for the blades to follow helped a bunch. This can be done either before or after the surfaces are covered. If covered, make a cut with an Xacto blade and then scribe a line in the balsa. Then, and this is the important step, hold the Slot Machine so that only a corner of the blade is touching the scribed line. Start the cut with just the corner of the blades and as it bites, rock the tool so that the blades are flat against your surface and lined up with your scribed line. This will keep the tool from dancing or bouncing out of your scribed cut. It took much longer to type this than to actually do it. After you use the tool a few times, this is all one motion that takes only seconds to make a perfect slot.

Does the GP hinge slotter slice a slot as for use in CA hinges or does it remove material as needed for nylon pinned hinges?

There are two sets of blades available for the Slot Machine, one for CA hinges and a thicker set for pinned hinges.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCNjg...eature=related