Shay wood Mitre poroject

[Bernd]

T.C.

Unless my eye sight is not up to snuff those cuts look like they have a very slight angle to them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

On that chopper. I'm wondering how tight the pivot point is. Is there any wiggle at the end of the handle? My thought on this type of chopping/cutting tool is you need all the rigidity you can get at the pivot point. My thought is that if the blade starts cutting at an angle it will carry all the way through. My other thought on this is does the part move under the pressure of the blade. Reason I bring this up is that my chopper is very tight at the pivot point but it still cuts with a slight angle. The angle always seems to be in the direction of the end not held down. So I'm surmising that the part moves and not the blade or the flex in the cutting arm. Thoughts?

Bernd

[T.C.]

Bernd

 You are correct all the cuts have a bevel, But the important thing is where the bevel is.

In the first two photo's you will notice the bevel is on the right side only the left side is square, I attribute that to the Matt blade with the single bevel .

In the second two photo's the bevel is on both sides more like a "V" rather than one side being square like the first two photo's, notice I have the utility blade in the tool.

I agree that my chopper is not as rigid as the shay cutter and I can see your thinking about slight drifting due to flexing, but I would think that one of the Matt cutter blades in your cutter or a newer type NWSL chopper with the better handle should produce a clean cut on one side as seen above.
I think a square cut on the piece of 3/16x1/4" spruce was impressive, the Matt blade also was easier to force though the wood.


I dont know how one would get a clean square cut on both sides?   I'm sure on very small stripwood you may not notice the difference but on 1/6" or larger I feel you may?

T.C.

[deemery]

The big difference between the NWSL Chopper and the Shay Cutter is the former just has a vertical (guillotine) motion, while the latter adds a horizontal slicing motion.  That makes the cut smoother and reduces (but does not eliminate) the tendency to get a beveled cut.  I ordered some double-thick single edge razor blades, I'll report back how well they work in my Shay style cutter.


dave 

[T.C.]

I will be very interested in your results especially with thicker wood.

Personally I think it has to do more with the bevel of the blade than the thickness.I keep thinking about the flush cut rail nippers that are flat on one side, if you compare the cut you get with them to a cut from a regular pair of side cutters it's obvious.

Hopefully I am wrong as the razor blades are dirt cheep compared to the Matt cutter blades.

My goal is to be able to cut and glue, not cut then sand to size and glue.Repeatability is also a concern especially if you have to sand to size.
T.C.

[postalkarl]

Hey TC:

How you making out buddy?

Karl

[T.C.]

Thanks for the interest Karl :
I'm pretty much set as I have already bought a 100 pack of the single bevel, Matt cutter blades.
So for me it's a done deal, I can use the blades in either of my cutters and expect to get a square cut on whatever side I have the "non bevel" turned towards.
I do get a little better cut with my Shay type cutter and I think that's because it's more rigid and a better system. I also like the fact I will be able to cut square 45's with the Shay.


 I'm waiting to see how Dave makes out with the extra thick razor blades ?

I looked at Jeff's results and was impressed with how the heavier blade cut.
Maybe I could have bought the razor blades and been good? 

But I just cant get that flush cut rail nipper out of my mind.

As I said my goal is to not have to sand every miter and cut clean 90's and 45's.
 I think I have accomplished that.

Now I need to build something to find out for sure.
I want to thank all you guy's for all the advise, input and comments on this, hopefully it will also help others to get better cut's from there tools?

T.C.

[Oldguy]

Been following with great interest.  I use rail nippers to cut 1/8 bracing material as it does a decent job.  One end is rounded, but since it is all hidden, I don't care.  For smaller square material, I found sprue cutters do a decent job.  I primarily use my Chopper II for cutting metal roofing and 1x to 2x material.  Bigger material will also get cut in a the Chopper, but only to rough length.  I'll sand it square or to a bevel with my sander.  It seems that no matter what cutting blade one uses, it'll leave a bevel.  Just the nature of the beast.  A single bevel should leave one cut end flat, but the other will have a bevel.  If that end is to be used, then it would need to be squared.

[T.C.]

Quote Oldguy:   "A single bevel should leave one cut end flat, but the other will have a bevel.  If that end is to be used, then it would need to be squared."

I totally agree, and to me one side square is better than none.  If you look at my pictures you can see where the "utility" blade that has a double bevel clearly makes a "V" cut so that will leave ya having to sand square both ends,  I guess you could say the single bevel blade solves half of the problem.

If I need multiple parts all the same size I will cut them a little longer so I can swap ends to get two square cuts rather than have to sand each to the proper length, in fact there is no reason not to cut all the parts in this manner as I think I will save time and also wood.

T.C.

[T.C.]

The big difference between the NWSL Chopper and the Shay Cutter is the former just has a vertical (guillotine) motion, while the latter adds a horizontal slicing motion.  That makes the cut smoother and reduces (but does not eliminate) the tendency to get a beveled cut.  I ordered some double-thick single edge razor blades, I'll report back how well they work in my Shay style cutter.


dave

Just wondering what results you got with the double thick razor blades ?
T.C.

[deemery]

Ugh, I forgot I promised a comparison.  I've been off doing other stuff and it slipped my mind.  Now that I'm officially Old, I can plead senility :-(


dave

[T.C.]

No problem just curious.............now if I can remember what I was doing I'll get back to it?

T.C.