NTD

[alanp]

Half time? But the All Blacks are not playing today... or any other famous rugby team I know of.

Admittedly I do not follow the sport page.

Perhaps there is some famous soccer team playing today? Madrid, or Arsenal?

[Leevibe]

Half time? But the All Blacks are not playing today... or any other famous rugby team I know of.

Admittedly I do not follow the sport page.

Perhaps there is some famous soccer team playing today? Madrid, or Arsenal?

Just a friendly little game of gridiron

[Leevibe]

Another tool to add. This was a birthday present from my sis. I fell in love with the idea of using a scalpel after watching some of Ben Crowe's videos from Crimson guitars. I have no idea if there is any real advantage over an exacto knife. It's really too bad that I put the scalpel handle on my wish list but no blades!

[alanp]

I've got one of those knife-things where you can swap out blades. I think they're called Exacto knives. (Mine says Excel. I'm cheap.)

I use it roughly once every two years to cut tracks on PCBs that I have been swearing at while debugging.

The Stanley knife is a much, much more useful investment.

[pickdropper]

Another tool to add. This was a birthday present from my sis. I fell in love with the idea of using a scalpel after watching some of Ben Crowe's videos from Crimson guitars. I have no idea if there is any real advantage over an exacto knife. It's really too bad that I put the scalpel handle on my wish list but no blades!

We have a couple of those at work; they are insanely sharp.  Sharper than an exacto.  I've never tried cutting PCB traces with them, however.  I'll be curious to hear what you think of them in that application.  If nothing else, they should be great for cutting stickers and things like that.

[Leevibe]

We have a couple of those at work; they are insanely sharp.  Sharper than an exacto.  I've never tried cutting PCB traces with them, however.  I'll be curious to hear what you think of them in that application.  If nothing else, they should be great for cutting stickers and things like that.

Yeah, there are a few things of concern:

- how much will the blade flex under rougher work like cutting traces?
- will I be able to change blades using my small needle nose pliers or hemostat without lacerating myself?
- will the flat contour of the handle be easier or harder to use than the round profile of an exacto?

advantages I see:

- super sharp/precise blades
- super cheap blades! I bought a 100 pack of #11 (very narrow and pointy) for $5
- huge array of blade shapes
- possible toan inducing properties


I tend to ask too much of my exacto blades in terms of using them when I've dulled them. Cutting decals around drilled holes etc. dulls blades quick. I like the idea that I can use a $.05 blade once, then chuck it. I'm going to need a sharps container for all of these and my DE shaving blades.   I'm also interested in trying some of the curved and hooked blades like the #10 and #12 for decal trimming.

[pickdropper]

Yeah, I totally agree on those points.  I've been meaning to get one but just haven't gotten around to it.

As far as exacto blades, try some blades other than the one that comes stock.  I constantly chip the tips on those when cutting traces.  There are beefier tips out there

[chuckbuick]

Dig the new tools.  The screwdrivers look nice. 

I've got some Mitutoyo's that have been great.  The first was a dial caliper that a guy I worked with gave me when I first started in a machine shop.  They were pretty well used when he gave them to me and they are still accurate today.  I abused them working is the saw shop.  Lots of dirt, oil, metal chips and general grit to get in the rack.  The nice thing with decent dial calipers is if something gets in the rack and knocks the dial out of whack you can reset them.

When I stepped up to the CNC's I invested in a pair of Mitutoyo Absolute digitals.  Again, still going strong, but almost never used.



At one point we had a customer that was keeping us busy with a lot of stuff that required more than 6" so I bought these 12" Mitutoyo's.  Every now and then I forget I have them.  Wish I had more legit reasons to use them.

[peAk]

Hey Lee,

Calipers arrived today.

MUCH better than my cheap HF ones.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Leevibe]

Hey Lee,

Calipers arrived today.

MUCH better than my cheap HF ones.

Thanks for the heads up!

Right on Justin! Let's go measure stuff.

[TNblueshawk]

Dang, three cheers for Mother Vibe!

My mom got me 2 sweaters that were too tight and I don't even wear sweaters. Or, I got too fat and they would have fit.

Expect your mom to get a call from my mom soon.

[Leevibe]

Dig the new tools.  The screwdrivers look nice. 

I've got some Mitutoyo's that have been great.  The first was a dial caliper that a guy I worked with gave me when I first started in a machine shop.  They were pretty well used when he gave them to me and they are still accurate today.  I abused them working is the saw shop.  Lots of dirt, oil, metal chips and general grit to get in the rack.  The nice thing with decent dial calipers is if something gets in the rack and knocks the dial out of whack you can reset them.

When I stepped up to the CNC's I invested in a pair of Mitutoyo Absolute digitals.  Again, still going strong, but almost never used.



At one point we had a customer that was keeping us busy with a lot of stuff that required more than 6" so I bought these 12" Mitutoyo's.  Every now and then I forget I have them.  Wish I had more legit reasons to use them.

That is a hoss caliper!

Dang, three cheers for Mother Vibe!

My mom got me 2 sweaters that were too tight and I don't even wear sweaters. Or, I got too fat and they would have fit.

Expect your mom to get a call from my mom soon.

Yeah, mom's pretty cool

[davent]

We have a couple of those at work; they are insanely sharp.  Sharper than an exacto.  I've never tried cutting PCB traces with them, however.  I'll be curious to hear what you think of them in that application.  If nothing else, they should be great for cutting stickers and things like that.

I tend to ask too much of my exacto blades in terms of using them when I've dulled them. Cutting decals around drilled holes etc. dulls blades quick. I like the idea that I can use a $.05 blade once, then chuck it. I'm going to need a sharps container for all of these and my DE shaving blades.   I'm also interested in trying some of the curved and hooked blades like the #10 and #12 for decal trimming.

I was using a #11 to cut down to a sliver in the palm of my hand but was deep enough, and still not to the timber, that i figured i was going to need stiches when finished so went to the emergency for a four hour wait.  I swear the scalpel the doctor used to continue on with my excavation was way duller then the fresh #11 i'd been using. Wished i had brought my camera! They crazy glued the incision shut and gave me some giant bandages, all i was missing was the bandages...


Lee, Altoids tin as sharps box.




dave

[Leevibe]

Lee, Altoids tin as sharps box.

Great idea, and I love that you made art out of it! I'm going to use this idea. I'm working through a 100 pack of Astra SP DE blades, and they are split into the little paper boxes of 5, not the cool plastic ones with the slot for spent blades.

[Leevibe]

I'm officially scared to use this. These blades make exacto blades look like butter knives. I'm impressed and terrified.