Anybody Try One Of These?

[matrixone]

Friday I was at a store and saw a woodburning tool and decided to get it so I could try cutting model parts for future whiffing projects, it comes with a sharp knife like extra point. Is this something others have tried before?

Matrixone

[dogsbody]

I seem to recall reading about the use of that tool in an old 70's modelling magazine. It was used to open hatches and doors and to do other mods. If I had the time, I'd burrow through my archived ( boxed and stowed in the back of a basement closet ) mags, but I'd need a few days to find it.

[LemonJello]

Never tried it, would the heat from the tool deform or warp the surrounding plastic?

[matrixone]

Thanks for the reply dogsbody and LemonJello,

I also am a little concerned about the heat deforming the plastic, one of the extra points that came with the woodburning tool is thin and has a sharp enough edge to it that it might not distort the plastic that much if used properly.
This tool might not be ideal for chopping up parts on a new kit but could be very useful in cutting up an already built model. Right now I don't have any models that need parts cut out of them but when I use this tool I will let you know how it works.

Matrixone

[phoenix54]

Hi all,
       would this be the tool that used to be/is? sold by Historex?
As i remember, it was used to replicate hair, human and horse, works on a similar principal to a soldering iron. And NO i can't remember what the ruddy thing is called!

Phoenix

[matrixone]

I don't know of the product that was produced by Historex but I am sure this thing is similar and could do some fine detail work. This tool is smaller than woodburning tools I have owned ine past.

Matrixone

[HOG]

Hi all,
        would this be the tool that used to be/is? sold by Historex?
As i remember, it was used to replicate hair, human and horse, works on a similar principal to a soldering iron. And NO i can't remember what the ruddy thing is called!

Phoenix

"pyrogravure"
or as I called it hotchisel or pyrograph was a common name for it.

Many years ago someone, name escapes me think it began with an `M`, did a soldering iron that had a blade attachment for melting plastic. The `gun` was a huge 75watt .......gun that had absolutely no finesse about it whatsoever and the only use I ever found for it was to saw off the bottom of ship kits to make waterline models. Even then the plastic used to seal up behind the blade as it moved along.
I used to use a 12volt soldering iron that came with a wall transformer block/brick. I cut off the supplied transformer and connected it to a model railway transformer which gave variable heat via the speed dial (like a dimmer switch)

[Andrew Gorman]

Don't do it!  A "hot knife" just makes  a mess, a big ridge of plastic,  and a bad smell.  A razor saw does a much better job of cutting, and where it won't work scraping away with a needle, or cutting with a piece of thread like the car modelers do will do a much, much nicer job.  For really rough cuts, a speed controlled dremel and a sanding drum will also work much better than the hot knife.  I messed up more projects in my younger years with this abomination than anything else, including lack of time, money and motivation.
Andrew

[upnorth]

I'll second what Andrew just said.

I used to have a wood burning set and found that even at relatively low heat settings there was just not enough control over material loss to justify using it for cutting plastic. Its O.K. for sculpting plastic and I've seen very convincing zimmerit finishes done using such tools.

For plain old cutting, just get out the razor saw, better control all around.

[elmayerle]

It's okay for some things (like chopping or channeling model cars), but for fine detail or precise cutting, it leaves much to be desired.  I had one years ago, when I was in my "car-mad teens" and it was useful for some things, then.  I certainly wouldn't use if for working on an aircraft model, though, for just the reasons Andrew cited.

[matrixone]

You guys are probably right, for most cutting jobs the woodburning tool would not be an ideal choice but for hard to reach areas where a razor saw might not work on an already built model you want to cut up the woodburning tool could help out.
Plus I see the possibility of thinning ( by sanding) and then heating the plastic (without actually touching it with the woodburning tool) from the inside of the part to create small dents or a wrinkled aluminum effect for weathering purposes.

Matrixone  

[Joe C-P]

Flak damage!