Tools of The Trade: Scissors

[mbauer]

Have several different styles of scissors.

A few here have mentioned the spring loaded "squeeze" type. Decided to try a set. First set was a big set and immediately realized no more stuck fingers in the loops of the standard types.

Decided to try a smaller size for small parts, they work great/better than old style once again. Total control of the cut, can see easier where going to follow the guide line.

Yesterday, stopped in JOANNS and found a "Thumb" control type. Super easy to pump the thumb down and it cuts really nice. Practice cuts were ok, getting ready to start cutting on a project, plan to use these for the really small parts. Lots of them for sure.

The plastic case said that they are super sharp and for fabric only. Well, for $25, I'll cut what I want and sharpen as needed.

Working the thumb is easier than using the whole hand. Almost effortless. Thumb drive on the right. It has a sliding blade lock on the thumb drive. Very comfortable in the hand. Lots of accurate control on test piece.


Here are a couple photos of the three spring loaded types I'm talking about.






Way better than the scissors with loops to trap your fingers...

Mike

[rickstef]

I passed over the thumb controlled one, I did like the look of it, and I tested one of them at the Joann's back home, but I never pulled the trigger so to speak

[Kevin WS]

Interesting. Never seen the thumb one.

For fine work I have stuck with Tamiya Decal Scissors.

https://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-74031-.../dp/B000BMV0HO

[Dane]

The best scissors are the ones you are used to and sharp.

[asettico]

I use the first two ones, seldom the bigger one, for almost every cut the little one.
I found them very comfortable in the grip and the pressure to apply. What I most appreciate is that they cut along the entire blades to the tip, so you can follow most of the complex templates without using the knife.

[mbauer]

Scoring/Creasing Fold lines. Plenty of tools to help with this critical step of paper model building.

Just like pre-forming the parts, scoring the fold lines to get a good sharp and straight fold line is a big secret to the success of building paper models.

Curved parts might need fold lines too.

Used plenty of "tools" in the past. Wore a few out. Once the chrome shiny outside material wears off, the copper underneath drags and eventually tear the fold line.

My favorite has been the Empressor, worked for years, but the copper is showing on both ends now. Searched and searched could not find any more like the light purple colored one.

One search pointed me towards the "new and improved" blue colored empressor. It has two rather large rolling balls.

The new style empressor at first looked like a good thing, as soon as you use it, that goes away. The balls are too big, hard to center on the fold line, and they crush a rather large size area that just doesn't fold very well. New style is out!

A recent search found the 5-pack of art stylus on Etsy, for around $8 including shipping.

They work ok, a little small for my grip, but glide nice and smooth and a few different size balls to use for different projects. At first they looked to small and breakable. They are sturdy and strong.

A PDF file of the different tools used and even some that can be substituted such as a kitchen knife.
2013-Technique-Tools.pdf

Etsy Pack of Art Stylus

Empressor ends closeup, new and old style:

A creased fold line in the red area:

Closeup of the Etsy pack:

Note the glitter paper used for the background was purchased at Wal Mart. Says it is 104lb paper, could not find a gsm rating. Prints look great, there is no shedding of the glitter. Price was around $0.50 per sheet.

Some have used an expended ball point pen. I've tried to get rid of the old ink residue, don't want a line to show up. The ball always seem to be frozen solid and it wants to tear the cardstock. If you can get one to have the ball roll it probably would be the best option you can use.

Up soon "Straight Edges". A quick note on using these stylus-embossers: A good straight edge is a must. I use the thick plastic quilting rulers in the sewing department. They guide the embosser and knifes easily with their thickness.


Mike

[SCEtoAUX]

Mike, I used a crochet needle encased in a wood handle for a long time to score fold lines.


The tip wears away and the straight edge gets worn also.


I now use a hardwood dowel sharpened like a pencil. The tip is rounded over slightly so it does not have an extreme sharp point that will puncture the page.
It does not impact the straight edge used to guide it and can be resharpened as needed. The score line is nice and crisp and narrow.

[mbauer]

Hi Doug,

Thank you! Hoping that others will chime in with their tool of choice. Perfect way to share tools and techniques.

Been looking at the clay sculpture tools, there are some wood ones with different shaped ends. If wood works well for you, now will buy a couple and test.

Always looking for better tools!

Mike

[DriveWRX]

For scoring, I use a very dull no.11 knife blade with a rounded tip.
I just took a no.11 blade that had the tip broken off and used sandpaper to round off the end and to dull the edge. Use it like a regular hobby knife but for scoring instead of cutting. I use a straight edge or freehand it for curves. Feels natural.

As for folding along score lines I use 6" metal rulers. Big enough for most things, but small enough to easily handle.
If possible, I sandwich the part between the two rulers, line up the score line on the edge of the rulers and make the bend. If I can't sandwich the part, then I just line up the score line on the edge of one ruler and make the bend.


This probably covered somewhere else, but what tool/device do you (or anyone) recommend to sharpen scissors?

[mbauer]

For gluing, almost anything works if you can think of a way.

Stick on tire weights made from zinc to hold large flat parts down while the glue is drying.

Press the part, such as an horizontal stabilizer/elevator between to 12" wide flat boards. Once sandwiched between them use lifting weights and or zinc tire stick-ons to make and even distribution of the weight.

Have seen threads where some take an ordinary clothespin and change it into a functioning clamp for paper model building.

Use rubber band clamps for hard to hold items. Notice that the rib tail end is not gluing well? Answer was to cut a rubber band, wrap it around the parts to hold them together, but not too much to deform. Once proper tension, a drop of super glue to hold rubber band back together. Just cut bands when done to remove.

Rubber Band Clamps in Action:


In this Rubber Band Clamp Photo, bands were cut and then tied back together to make different length clamps. then a final knot to make loop at proper tension. As you can see work great! Part of a 4-foot wingspan R/C Model.


Here are some regular weights and clamps. The glue bottles are empty of glue: full of water. They worked so-so. Since doing the rubber band models, now use zinc stick-on tire weights available from eBay.






For doing really long tubes for rockets and airplane fuselages, I use my hands as weights, a wood dowel or PVC pipe as a support. Using some double sided tape to hold the tube in place while gluing helps!
Incredibly important to Pre-form All Parts before gluing. Tubes almost fit into position if pre-rolled correctly.

The next step is to start in the middle and lay a glue seam to either the front of back end. Pull the other side of the tube to the glue alignment line and holding FIRM pressure with a finger at the start point in the middle I slowly run my other hand down the glue seam making sure to align the edge with the alignment line.

Now Firm back and forth weight motion to get a good glue seam. Once first half is done, now time to do second half the same way.

Here is a screen shot of the wood dowel with tape rings at work:



Please show us what you use.

Mike