Building architectural models in college I learned that cutting window openings required special care not to over cut the ends. Even with a very sharp knife it is difficult to cut small openings. With a regular mat knife, cutting openings smaller than a quarter inch is difficult. Cutting them when they are spaced closely together is even more challenging. Single edge razor blades, though sharp, are not easily controlled. The break away box cutter blades have the advantage of keeping a sharp point available but they still have too broad a point to cut small openings. The surgical scalpel is both sharp and has a finer point, it also has the advantage of being stainless steel which is more flexible. However, none of these knives are easily controlled when cutting small holes in materials up to 1/8 inch thick. I discovered that for small closely spaced openings, or for cutting details from paper and card stock, a better approach was to make a modified blade specifically for the job. The result was the development of the “Punch Knife”. This knife is sized slightly smaller than the size of the opening to cut and then is punched through the material in a vertical motion. Using this approach it is possible to cut exactly where you want with no possibility of over cutting the corners. I created a set of these knives starting with a 1/32 inch wide blade and progressing up in 1/32 inch increments. Using the punch knife becomes the simple matter of aligning the blade on the cut line then pressing on the handle until the blade punches through the material. The use of a stable underlayment for cutting makes the process uniform and protects the sharpness of the blade. One good base for cutting is 8 to 10 layers of newsprint with a layer of card stock or file folder on top. I find this inexpensive and easily replaced. The set has been now revised to the 12 most useful sizes. 1/32, 1/16, 3/32, 1/8, 5/32, 3/16, 7/32, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, and 1/2 inch.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 11:42:51 +0000
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