Cutting Tools - Xuron Sprue Cutters & Olfa Snap-off knives

[Mike]

Professional Sprue Cutter (2175ET)

Xuron Corporation

I think most modellers know the name of Xuron, an American company that make high quality tools for the hobbyists with a cross-over into the professional workshop world. Their sprue cutters are legendary, and the importance of a clean cut of your model parts from the sprue is well known to most modellers.

With sprue cutters it's a case of buy cheap buy twice. I have fallen into that trap a number of times when I was younger, and more recently, buying a cheap pair of cutters off a well known auction site. They lasted a while, but their blades dulled VERY quickly, and the cuts became more and more messy.

The product arrives in a bubble pack, with a card back that is secured by a staple. Undo that staple, and the card slides free, liberating the cutters. A short length of clear flexible plastic tubing has been pushed over the blades to protect them during shipping, and to keep the handles from springing open when you open the package.

The Xuron sprue cutters are otherwise known as side-cutters or Micro-Shears®, because they allow you to make a neat cut very close to the model part, with a very slight overlap of the blades that both reduces the effort needed, and results in a much cleaner straight cut. This isn't just marketing jargon either, as testing soon shows. The cuts are easy, straight and with minimum debris. A quick flick with a sanding stick or a pass of a sharp blade, and the part will be ready for use - much better than using a knife, or just twisting the parts free, which can result in some horribly ripped sprue gates, and even holes in your precious model parts that will require extra filling.

A worthy investment for any modeller, repaying the outlay by reducing your workload repairing sprue gate damage.

Olfa Snap-Off Knives SAC-1 & SVR-2

Olfa are a Japanese company, providing cutting and scribing products that are often used by modellers, with all of the manufacturing still done in Japan. I have a few of their products and have never been let down by their quality yet.

The knives arrive in a clear plastic bubble bonded to the front of a display card, safe from harm, and with all of the relevant technical and safety information printed on the front and back of the card. The blades advance by pushing forward the black button on the front of the knife, which ratchets forward, auto-locking into the correct position with a satisfying (and loud) click. The chassis of the knife is stainless steel and has the words "Olfa Cutter Japan" and "Stainless Steel" etched into the body. A discrete clip is found on the rear of the knife, enabling it to be kept in a shirt pocket if that's your thing.

SVR-2

This is a multi-purpose knife, with a 9mm snap-off blade that gives you 10 bites at the cherry before you need to reload. The recommended method of use is to advance only one section of the blade, which is supported on the back by a triangular extension to the knife's chassis, stopping that horrible wobbly feeling you get from the cheaper knives, and also preventing the potentially dangerous accidental snapping off of one or more sections of the blade. A spare blade is included with the package, secreted behind the knife body, ready for when the pre-installed blade runs out.

SAC-1

This knife is aimed more toward the graphic arts, or from our point of view, for more delicate work where precision is required. It has a 30^o blade angle, which allows a better view of the cut than the shorted blade in the SVR-2, and this is again backed by a longer triangular extension of the chassis to support the longer blade. Due to the rake of the blade, only seven segments fit in the length of the knife, and no spare is included with this one.

Safety Information

Because of the nature of these knives, you should take care with the blade, and only extend it when you are about to use it, and do so with the blade facing away from you. Take care when snapping off the blades, use eye protection when you do so, and hold the blunt section in a pair of pliers, breaking it off in a swift sideways movement.

If you're thinking of carrying it in your shirt or jacket pocket, check that it's not an offence to carry one in public in your territory. You'd be surprised what you can't do in public with knives these days.

Conclusion

Good tools help you to be a better modeller. Struggling with the wrong, or even inferior tools makes the job harder, and could put you in A&E if you're not careful. All the above are good quality tools - probably the best you can get of their type that are widely available at reasonable prices.

Highly recommended.

Review samples courtesy of Martin at

[Chaotic Mike]

I got a pair of the cutters for Christmas, and can confirm that they snip with a high degree of precision!

[stevehnz]

+1 for the Xuron cutters, I wonder how I did without before.

Steve.

[thx6667]

Xuron are the benchmark, their stuff is not cheap but you pay for top quality - I'm still using the cutters I got in the mid 90s. And when you add up how much a pair of high quality cutters will cost vs the cost of the kits it'll be chopping away at, its a no brainer.

[Jockster]

I don't have the cutters but their model 450 tweezer nosed smooth jaw pliers are my favourite tool for bending photo etch brass or just holding the part while using a whetstone to smooth the fret points. 10/10 tool! cutters are on my shopping list as a result.