Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

haha! yeah, i had that problem as well. I think the best thing to do is not use a real sharp blade...find one that has been worn down...they seem to be the best to use...at least in my experience!

Rule #2: Dull blades cut nothing but skin, not the other way around.

A dull blade requires more pressure to achieve results, therefore when you finally to cut through something and there is a change in resistance you will cut yourself more severely. Secondly when you do cut yourself the cut will be far less clean than a razor sharp blade, therefore it will heal far more slowly.

For plastics use a knife edge at perpendicular away from yourself. For metals use a combination file with a round edge and a flat edge.

Lennysmash wrote:A dull blade requires more pressure to achieve results, therefore when you finally to cut through something and there is a change in resistance you will cut yourself more severely. Secondly when you do cut yourself the cut will be far less clean than a razor sharp blade, therefore it will heal far more slowly.

Yup. Using a dull blade makes as much sense as saying that the blade should be extra rusty too, that way you get the extra iron into your blood to help replace what is lost when you do bleed

Lennysmash wrote:A dull blade requires more pressure to achieve results, therefore when you finally to cut through something and there is a change in resistance you will cut yourself more severely. Secondly when you do cut yourself the cut will be far less clean than a razor sharp blade, therefore it will heal far more slowly.

-- well im not exactly thrusting my xacto blade all over the place like a freak either...so I dont have a problem with cutting myself. The only time ive ever had cuts on my thumb similar to that is when I put in a brand new blade and wasnt acclimated to how easily it glided. I prefer the dull blades, I think that if all your doing is simply removing flash, they work great and I get better results with them. Ultimately, there should be only minor/rare instances when you cut yourself with a hobby knife anyway. I hold my knife blade at a 90 deg angle the flash line to remove it, it never gives me trouble. Investing in a pair of hobby plastic clippers might save a finger or two as well!

Dull blades are better if you have actual dexterity. With a sharp blade, i could literally cut straight through a mini and have had problems with gouging into the plastic, with a duller one I just run it along the mold line and it peels off, smaller more detailed areas

there is no "rebound" to cutting plastic, if there is, you are putting more than the safe amount of energy into cutting. if you tense the muscles in your hand and the part gives way, the blade doesn't move, not really something overly complicated that someone that cuts alot of things by hand shouldn't know, let the blade do the work. You should be cutting with your fingers, not putting the strength of your arm or wrist into it.

CrazyMez wrote:Urm I go perpendicular across mould lines Never cut myself

IIRC this technique is called "Adzing" (sp?)

(and I've got a nice slice on my thumb from cutting the wrong way with a dull blade )

"The second-most dangerous tool in the Boy Scout's backpack is a sharp knife. The most dangerous is a dull one."

With a blade, ALWAYS cut away from yourself. First thing your parent should teach you in a kitchen and also the first thing a chef learns.

Plastic minis - use a blade most of the time, a light sandpaper for stubborn lines or for smoothing large flat areas.

Metal - file/rasp then sandpaper again

aerethan wrote:1: I'm not left handed. I use my right hand for all painting and cleaning.

2: I use my thumb as an end point for the motion of scraping off the mold line with an xacto knife.

3: Gunzhard I'll clean models for a small fee if you have enough to make it worth my while

4: files take FOREVER on metal and often cannot reach the smaller areas that a razor knife can.

5: a dremel is far too unwieldy and time consuming to be worthwhile for mass production cleaning.

6: cutting away as mentioned before affords far less control and often ends with cutting off too much of the model.

Sounds just like me, and I get the same problem. TBH, I just live with it, I tend to spend a few days feverishly building s**t then a few months painting it, so it's not as big an issue for me any more. When I was building a few models every day instead of tons once every so often though, wooooh, yeah did it hurt my thumb.

I normally use a curved blade for scraping mold lines. Or a ceramic scraper:
http://www.hlj.com/product/SJDMET010

Thread necro.