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I'm curious how everybody does trimming their miniatures?
after using the cutting tool to remove frem skew. do you cut your fingers alot trimming up the bits to make a unit?

im asking because I do, alot.

so muchso that ive taken to precoating my righy thumb with crazy glue before I trim things.

is there a thumb protection device for cutting towards self? itgoes against everything I know of bladework.

Rubber Thimbles may help. Pop one over the finger you end up cutting the most. Other than that - just be as carefull as you can. Obviously it can't always be helped, but one essential part of knife safety is to avoid cutting towards yourself at all costs. Anyway:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUALITY-THIMBLETTE-RUBBER-THIMBLE-SIZE-1-BLUE-PACK-12-Finger-Paper-Grip-Counting-/300541222456?hash=item45f9a71e38:g:KsQAAMXQTghRV-0H

Hope this helps.

PS: - It's 'Sprue' not 'Skew'

ahh cool thanks many times.

aye, like said it goes against knife safteyive known for 30 years. but trimming the bits either am cutting towards thumb or the pointer finger. that thing vmay help.

Clippers, not a knife

Yep, use clippers instead of a knife. I've yet to cut myself even cleaning up mould lines.

Short answer, get tougher skin. It sounds dumb, but the more you do it, the less you'll cut yourself.

Absolutely use clippers instead of a knife to get stuff off the sprues - using a lot of force with a knife is a great way to worship the blood god

how do clippers trim mold lines?

i actually use an exacto/hobby knife and I even pull it towards my thumb. you can't actually cut yourself unless you pull and slice. if you push then its easy and if your thumb is close enough to the area you are cutting, the blade will just hit your thumb and you are fine

hard to describe tho. but don't use clippers to trim mold lines... that doesn't even make sense?

Clippers to get things off the sprue and cut the big parts away, exacto or sandpaper/files to take care of mould lines.

Fishermen have been using these for years or do it the easy way never cut towards yourself

http://t.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11414688

im talking after its off the sprues.
to trim the very tiny bits off the bits.
the tinybbit of plastic left on the bits after removing from sprue w clippers (im not That much a novice) on tge left in the picture


Automatically Appended Next Post:
im using an exacto.. I just have big fingers so its hard to hold thatvand not be cutting towards myself

Im in the same boat as you dude, i cut myself ALL THE time, if you a person that bumps theyr toes and as such you will never get over it, just accept the fact that you will hurt yourself and have the glue to fix it, i personally have superglue on hand just for when i cut myself. Maybe its just me.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
This is from converting models and attempting to make a bone flute this month

Use one hand and slice toward your thumb. Two hands is asking for trouble

If you all thumbs it doesnt make sense...lol

im holding it and cutting towards thumb very lightly, im treating it like im whittling the bits, just a tad softer touch.

the problem with the glove is I worry about sensitivity, same with the thimble. I dont have one in my sewing kit for that reason.. melted it in a bonfine this past winter.

im glad this this isn't just a me mistake. kingpin54. thats some good battle scars there. perhaps you should try the glue your are thumb and cut very lightly towards yourself. wifh that I was able to localize the cuts to myself almost entirely where this is on the left. in my case my thumb tips where im cutting dont feel pain, from an old navy injury, so I only notice I gotta reglue self when I see a red on the blade or mini.

but this is as bad as my thumb is after putting together 60 marines, 10 bikers, 6 speeders and a small memnoth army, since march started.

omg lol how on earth are you injuring yourselves that much. if i had a webcam i would show you what i do.... my god thats kinda gross...

I always manage to accumulate little cuts when working on fiddly parts. Sometimes I let my finger nails grow a bit so I cut in to them instead of my fingers

But I usually don't go deep enough to draw blood, just lots of little chunks of skin that I trim off later.

I don't know how people handle really small parts without occasionally cutting themselves. Bigger stuff is fine, but something like the sprue attachment point on the top of a small head or a skink's arm, there's no way I can hold it and get the knife in there to clean up the sprue attachment point without inevitably cutting myself.

Granted I could probably just put a rubber thimble on, sometimes I have just put a band aide on one or more of my fingers to have something other than my skin to cut in to, but usually I'm too lazy

For mould lines I scrape rather than cut so that's not really a big problem.

if there's little bits left over, I may try the clippers again, so it's more flush, or if it's too tight or they just can't get at it, I'll file it down with a variety of files. I try to avoid using the hobby knife as much for that, tho I've been known to.

Some things are so fiddly that using a file just means I'm filing the flesh on my fingers away instead of cutting it away That and some of the little fiddly things aren't all that easy to file anyway.

Some of us are just prone to injuring ourselves, i dint even say how many times ive hade stitches, i gi on linear metre now

I used too, very rarely do now. Sharper blades help a lot, less pressure=more control. I've also gotten the hang of the basic rule of cutting away from yourself, not easy at first, but worth practicing. The mould line remover also helps immensely as you can't cut yourself with it (although there will no doubt be someone here who will prove me wrong).

I actually find I cut myself more with sharper blades. Not that I'm advocating the use of dull blades, but these days 99.9% of the time I cut myself it's because I'm handling a small part, not because I slip and cut myself. A dull blade means I can somewhat press the blade in to my skin and it can flex away from the blade a bit, a very sharp blade will just slice straight in to me.

That said I typically use the sharpest blade I can, but I definitely accumulate more cuts with a fresh blade than I do with an old one.

Since I started building model planes when I was 7 or 8, I learned pretty young how to avoid cutting myself from slips, the ones I accumulate these days are specifically from handling small parts while trying to cut them.

i cut my fingers pretty much every time i kitbash.. i just plaster it up and get on with it. obviously try to be careful, but i think having a thimble on my fingers would do my head in

Make sure your blade is actually sharp is always a good one, ensures you need minimal pressure and effort to trim. Use an appropriate sized blade, too. Xacto #11 is good for pretty much anything 28 - 32mm scale.

Given the problems your experiencing vs. how infrequently I end up cutting myself I don't know what else to suggest other than be gentler and go slower. it might take longer, but you'll still have digits left in 10 years time!

Honestly, you're doing something wrong if you are cutting yourself up like that.

Do you have a good cutting surface on your hobby area or table? Cutting towards you with a #11 Exacto blade (or any blade for that matter) is extremely dangerous.

Make sure your knife is sharp. A dull blade can be a catastrophe. Always cut away from you or towards a flat, hard surface so if the blade slips it won't go into you. Make sure your blade is sharp. Did I mention that you should make sure the blade is sharp?

Get good files and also a mold removing tool. I didn't know how helpful those are until I actually got one. The GW is expensive, but worth it's weight in gold.

Here's a YouTube you might find helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJgwtK5PjY

 JamesY wrote:
I used too, very rarely do now. Sharper blades help a lot, less pressure=more control. I've also gotten the hang of the basic rule of cutting away from yourself, not easy at first, but worth practicing. The mould line remover also helps immensely as you can't cut yourself with it (although there will no doubt be someone here who will prove me wrong).

I always wondered what the deal was with the mouldline remover. When it came out I thought people were mad for paying such a price for something like that. Hell, I'm so cheap I would rather bleed out from numerous finger-wounds than pay $21 for that thing.

I rarely cut myself at all, though it does still happen from time to time. My right thumb has toughened up considerably, and under the right light you can see the patchwork of layer-deep nicks and cuts. Rarely do I every draw blood though. The worst thing I have had happen was trying to cut apart an old Leman Russ. The blade went into my left index finger nearly to the bone. Took about 3 months to heal fully.

It took my like 20 years to figure this out... NEVER CUT - ALWAYS SCRAPE. :-)

I have a rounded edge Exacto blade and I use the side of it to scrape flash off, it works so much easier than you'd think and I'm no longer trying to 'slice off' flash/fingers.

Use a file to remove mould lines, not a knife.

Seriously, it does the job better, faster and much safer.

If things are too fiddly to file, glue them together first, then file them afterwards.

If you can't reach them with a file after they're glued, the mould line probably won't be visible anyway, so don't worry about it.

I avoid knife usage unless it's absolutely necessary, clippers and file is standard kit for assembling minis, I've yet to encounter anything that they can't handle.

Also, when using a file it's pretty difficult to injure yourself so you can watch TV or whatever while you're using it, whereas with knifes you have to use all your attention.

Heavy duty cutting is done with a modeling saw. Drilling with a pin vice.

yeah fiddly bits suck =/

I did learn a little trick from someone on FB tho, who'd done a lot of other modeling too, you can sharpen your xacto/hobby knife blade by running it over your jeans, carefully of course... if you're accident prone maybe just don't do this though But anyway, yeah it helps if it's sharper, I tend to keep the dull blades for scraping

 Guildenstern wrote:
...you can sharpen your xacto/hobby knife blade by running it over your jeans, carefully of course...

No you can't. A dull knife is a dull knife. Those blades are not made to be sharpened. Ever. Don't do this and expect a good tool. Please.

If you're having to apply a lot of pressure to remove sprue or chop bits for conversions consider getting a cutting board. It makes it easier and is a lot safer for your fingers. They're sold in most hobby stores, it's the green mats with the white lines.