Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
I bought this to cut out small circles of clear plastic to put over the instruments on my SdKfz 251 kits. It works and cuts quite well, HOWEVER, it is a pain in the can to make an accurate sized cut.
I posted this review on the seller's site and am not sure they will ever post it up. I rated it only 3 out of 5 mainly due to some of the sloppy tolerances on some parts and the lack of being able to make precise circle cuts. I can probably modify it to make it work the way I want, but it could be better in a number of ways without impacting the MFG cost.
Here is what I posted:
First off, the positives.
The materials and finish are quite good. It is solid and can do circle cuts through .018 inch thick clear polycarbonate with little trouble.
Let me state that I am a watchmaker and am very used to doing micro adjustments and making micro parts. Model building is a hobby I have and the hobby and the profession complement each other quite well.
The negatives.
There are a number of issues that need some correction to make this tool better. Most are just minor corrections in how the parts are made as the tolerances are way too loose, silkscreen repositioning and such. Then there is a modification which would add more precision and value but would add a little cost.
Let's start with the simplest issue. The silkscreen measuring grid. The lines are located about 1/2mm away from the pointer. The lines should be UNDER the pointer. This would give a better indication of any size corrections needed.
If the pointer were to be actually located OVER the grid, it would be easier to see micro adjustments.
If you are wanting to do a very precise sized circular cut, there is no way to do so without a LOT of trial and error.
I was trying to make a circle part to fit in a hole over a dash instrument display. It took about 20 tries before I obtained one that was even close. This is due to the tool and how it adjusts not due to my lack of measurement.
The cutters are tungsten steel which is very hard, but also very brittle. I thought it would be OK to cut on a piece of glass. DON'T DO IT!!!!! The shallowest cutter damaged the glass and the tip broke off.
I switched to cutting into a scrap piece of acrylic which worked better. The super sharp very tip still went away, but that was somewhat expected. I have not looked yet but there need to be replacement tips available. I can probably resharpen my tips as I am able to do so with small tools.
Lastly, the tolerances for the turning knob are WAY TOO LOOSE. Yes it needs to be free and turn easily but there is no need for the sloppy fit. Also, the threaded tube and knob for setting the tension/pressure for the cutting tip are a bit too loose as well. The parts wobble a bit and thus setting the tension is a bit problematic. I added some super glue to permanently set the threaded part into the red base next to the white arrow. This helped quite a bit with making the tension adjustment more positive.
So far the issues can be easily corrected by just changing some tolerances or repositioning of the silkscreen. To obtain a finer adjustment in order to get a more accurate cut, there would need to be something added. I will probably modify my cutter with some sort of a finely threaded adjuster off one side or the other of the slider. This will give the precision I need to accurately cut an exact sized circle. I know this would add cost, but it would also add more value to the tool if done in manufacturing.
