What's the best technique for perpendicular cuts through thick stock?

[Lighter]

1 mm slots in 2mm material just takes some practice. Use a knife with a stiff blade. I use a snap off that has no play - wobble - in the blade. Take several passes paying attention as to how you are holding the knife. When you make an error with these sorts of formers you just use more glue and a square to hold the formers to the keel until all that glue has dried. Oh yes - sharpen or change the blade often. Paper really dulls blades quickly.

[KCStephens]

Jeff,
As Don already mentioned above, I have found that a single-edge razor blade and hammer are about the easiest and most accurate method to cut slots out of heavy card.

[jleslie48]

I just take rectangular pieces, fold them in half, and glue them internally like I would a 90° brace.
you could also bridge two of the 1mm formers with a rectangle rolled into a cylinder, trimmed at the correct angles and placed
closer to where the hull is. repeating that will force the 1mm formers to be parallel, and then as such be right angle to the
keel former.

personally I've never worried about it. I straighten it out when I glue the hull planking on.

[JCA]

Of course you can always buy models with laser cut parts. May not be for the purists but it saves a lot of aggravation.

[Kugelfang]

Thanks for all the replies. I love the functional simplicity of the razor blade guillotine. Looks like it's the perfect solution for this model. I was looking at jewelers saws at Widget Supply and feel the urge to add one (or more) to my tool kit. The bench pin might be problematic since I don't have much of a work bench. (So far I've been building on my lap or on my computer desk.)

--jeff

[SCEtoAUX]

Widget Supply has some 8/0 blades that are very fine toothed. Jeweler's saws come with or without a tension screw to assist in applying tension to the blade to help keep the blade from wandering off of the cut line.

Pay heed to Thumb Dog's information about the blades being very thin and breaking easily. You will need to take care in tensioning the blades so you do not snap them in two.
Been there, done that. The blades at Widget Supply are sold by the gross so you get 144 tries.

[John Wagenseil]

Originally Posted by Kugelfang

Thanks for all the replies. ............. The bench pin might be problematic since I don't have much of a work bench. (So far I've been building on my lap or on my computer desk.)

--jeff

You could buy a bench pin, or for next to nothing make one: cut a slot in a piece of scrap plywood, and attach it to your computer desk, kitchen table, (dining table when no one is looking) when needed with a large C clamp (cheap at garage sales or Harbor Freight Tools) (If you want to get fancy, you could pad the bench pin where it contacts the table with stick on felt from a craft shop but that would add a couple of dollars to its cost.).
Depending on where you live, you could find a piece of scrap wood at a construction site, beg a piece from a lumber yard, or cabinetry shop, or get it from thrown away furniture left at the curb on trash pick up day.

[Kugelfang]

phffftt...

Had to search the basement to find a single edge razor blade and a light enough hammer to try this. Didn't work at all. I'm blaming the razor blade--it's probably a venerable 20 years old at least. It must be incredibly dull. It barely cut into the chip board and the hammer ended up bending the darn thing. So I just cut my slots with a knife. Worked OK, but the end results were less perfect than I was hoping for. By the end of the 16 slots I'd gotten the hang if it.

Wouldn't exactly call it a traumatic experience but it did get me to thinking about less labor intensive ways to build my skipjack.

--jeff

[looker]

Be careful please.
Depending on it's composition and heat treatment a single edge razor blade may shatter under impact from an ordinary steel hammer.
Notice that Don's picture clearly shows the use of a soft face polythene/nylon hammer.

[KCStephens]

Originally Posted by looker

Be careful please.
Depending on it's composition and heat treatment a single edge razor blade may shatter under impact from an ordinary steel hammer.
Notice that Don's picture clearly shows the use of a soft face polythene/nylon hammer.

Yes proceed with caution.
A sharp blade should esily cut through 1mm card with a few light taps from a tack hammer. Anything more than that is asking for trouble. Also not a bad idea to wear eye protection.