Fold, Cut, Score, Scribe or Bend paper

[rickstef]

Welcome to Olfa

and use some 320/400 grit sandpaper to take the edge off

[bagpiper]

Originally Posted by rickstef

Welcome to Olfa

and use some 320/400 grit sandpaper to take the edge off

Cool! more tools to buy.:D

Cheers
Jim

[Jim Nunn]

Lots of good suggestions but you will find a method that you are comfortable with so try them all.
I used to crease on the back side for folds going away from me and on the front for folds bending towards me. Then I came up with this tool and now I only crease the front. To bend the part I use tweezers or a steel rule as a straight edge.

The Tool: This is a #11 blade that I shaped with a sharpening stone. Using the stone I formed an edge that is rounded. The advantage is that the crease is very fine and you can form very crisp corners. You do have to be careful about how much pressure you apply. With a new blade you can cut the paper but after you use the tool for a while the edge becomes polished and does not tend to cut the paper.

Jim Nunn

[SCEtoAUX]

Well if it is tools you like check out Cutter Bee Bugs. They are small rotary tools that can cut, score, perforate, or pierce.

Cutter bee bugs score at TheFind

That link is just to show what they look like. You can find them at almost any place that sells craft or sewing supplies, pricing varies with the overhead.

[bagpiper]

Originally Posted by Jim Nunn

Lots of good suggestions but you will find a method that you are comfortable with so try them all.
I used to crease on the back side for folds going away from me and on the front for folds bending towards me. Then I came up with this tool and now I only crease the front. To bend the part I use tweezers or a steel rule as a straight edge.

The Tool: This is a #11 blade that I shaped with a sharpening stone. Using the stone I formed an edge that is rounded. The advantage is that the crease is very fine and you can form very crisp corners. You do have to be careful about how much pressure you apply. With a new blade you can cut the paper but after you use the tool for a while the edge becomes polished and does not tend to cut the paper.

Jim Nunn

Thanks Jim and Doug for your ideas. I do like to have a clean sharp edge to my folds. To be honest, in my short time doing this I have found if I don't have a sharp edge it becomes very noticeable when gluing up. I will try this out later today though. And also visit the site Doug.

Cheers
Jim

[Don Boose]

Like Jim Nunn, I use an old No. 11 blade that has been dulled and inserted in a dowel handle (which also serves for rubbing curves into paper and the rounded end can be used to burnish dished surfaces like headlight mountings and the like). I got the idea from Eric Sayers Peterson, Card Modeling: The Art of Creating Scale Models in Paper (Winona, MN: Caltrop Press, 1994).

Don

[lancer525]

My favorite scoring tools are old dental tools I got from my dentist. Took a little fine emery paper to them to round off any sharper edges, and voila! Perfect scoring tools!!

[bagpiper]

Originally Posted by Sakrison

I use a t-pin to score folds. You want to compress the score line a bit but not break the surface of the paper. It may break when you fold it; use an artist's pencil or marker to darken the white paper edge. (You don't need to match the color--just the contrast. I use watercolor pencils in several shades of grey.)

Scoring on the front ("mountain") side of the fold will give you the sharpest fold. Scoring on the back ("valley") side of a piece will give you a slightly rounded fold--useful for things like the leading edges of aircraft wings and tailfeathers.

Just heading out to buy some pencils. I am getting the hang of cutting and shaping but now the white edges are what I need to focus on removing. Thanks for the tip mate.

Originally Posted by Jim Nunn

Lots of good suggestions but you will find a method that you are comfortable with so try them all.
I used to crease on the back side for folds going away from me and on the front for folds bending towards me. Then I came up with this tool and now I only crease the front. To bend the part I use tweezers or a steel rule as a straight edge.

The Tool: This is a #11 blade that I shaped with a sharpening stone. Using the stone I formed an edge that is rounded. The advantage is that the crease is very fine and you can form very crisp corners. You do have to be careful about how much pressure you apply. With a new blade you can cut the paper but after you use the tool for a while the edge becomes polished and does not tend to cut the paper.

Jim Nunn

Just made myself one of these and it does a nice job. Just need to learn how to use it. Cheers
Jim

[eTraxx]

What do you guys think of these Tapestry Needles? They are well blunted. I am using one I inserted into a piece of doweling. Seems to work pretty well .. but then .. (confession) I'm a model railroader over here swiping .. uhhh .. picking up ideas ..

[bagpiper]

Originally Posted by eTraxx

What do you guys think of these Tapestry Needles? They are well blunted. I am using one I inserted into a piece of doweling. Seems to work pretty well .. but then .. (confession) I'm a model railroader over here swiping .. uhhh .. picking up ideas ..

Thanks for yet another idea mate. And so far all I have done is swiped ideas but we all have to learn from someone. Good luck with the paper modeling. Hope we see some of your models here. Or indeed some of your rail models. There is a forum here for other stuff we get up to.

Cheers
Jim