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I found the one I ordered last year, it's the Xuron 410:

http://www.amazon.com/Xuron-410-Micro-Shear-Flush-Cutter/dp/B000IBOOWQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1448152080&sr=1-3&keywords=xuron

To say I recommend this is not strong enough... I just can't use any other cutter after this. They are really incredible! I like to have a crappy pair of cutters nearby too, to hack away at larger things. There is a whole range of Xuron cutters available, including this 410T which is actually called a "sprue cutter", this heftier looking cutter, and this lower priced one, also eligible for Prime.

But the one I linked to first (the 410) is what I ordered, and like I said, it's incredible - like night and day from the cutters I used before (P3 for sure, as well as some others). Use whatever current cutter you're using as a crappy one for hacking metal / etc, and buy one of these - you will not regret it!

I've heard mixed reviews on the 410's, some people have said that it pulls at the plastic and causes a pit. Maybe Xuron have had some bad runs? I dunno.

For years I just used my Sidchrome clippers which worked okay, but they're well and truly blunt now and were cheapo clippers to begin with.

I don't know if there's other places to get Xuron 2175ET clippers over here, my local hobby store doesn't carry it, another hobby store does (about 45 minutes drive away) but they're the same price as the GW clippers and GW is only about 15 minutes drive away with better parking I might grab the GW ones if they give a similarly clean cut.

The thing that prompted me to get new clippers is a P47 Thunderbolt model that I just wanted to whip together quickly and my old clippers were letting me down.... though I rediscovered my old way of removing models from sprues which gives me a very clean cut, just rest the sprue on a block of wood (often have to use the corner so that the joint sits flat) and then just press down with a sharp curved blade. It'll slice through quite cleanly if it's a good knife.

You in Sydney Skink? You can borrow my 2175s for a couple of days if you want to take them for a run.

They are really good, but I've not compared them to the Citadel ones.

E: You could alternatively borrow my 410Ts

Good post.

I got the GW and another one from an LGS. The GW works very well for me, I don't it could be much better, you are not getting around some filing and smoothing work anyway.

Today I learned that I am ass-backwards in sprue removal, reading this topic. I've always cut the sprue into pieces using the clippers, and then removed the items from it with a blade.
... I didn't know.

Not sure how to deal with finding out how much time I've collectively wasted on doing so.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Today I learned that I am ass-backwards in sprue removal, reading this topic. I've always cut the sprue into pieces using the clippers, and then removed the items from it with a blade.
... I didn't know.

Not sure how to deal with finding out how much time I've collectively wasted on doing so.

That's not actually a bad approach. I tend to do the same thing when trimming delicate parts that I can't easily get the clippers in around the part.

If your blade is good and sharp and ideally curved, you can get a really close and clean cut that requires very little clean up. It's also not all that time consuming once you get in the groove.

I started building model planes when I was about 7 years old and couldn't afford a set of clippers so for years I just trimmed things out of the sprue with a knife. Once you get a good technique it's fine. Occasionally you do get a part where it's hard to rest the sprue on the supporting block that you need when using a knife which can make it hard, but if the blade is nice and sharp and the attachment point isn't too chunky you can usually get away with it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

kb_lock wrote:
You in Sydney Skink? You can borrow my 2175s for a couple of days if you want to take them for a run.

They are really good, but I've not compared them to the Citadel ones.

E: You could alternatively borrow my 410Ts

Thanks for the kind offer, unfortunately I'm in Melbourne.

I just find that a knife allows me to follow the shape of the piece in question. Very little clean up if I'm awake. If I'm not, I have my fingers to worry about more than the model. Yow.

If you're using a knife then I would recommend always cutting on a wooden block (I prefer the wooden block to a cutting mat because the wooden block has edges you can use if the sprue doesn't sit flat). Press the blade in to the block. I've never cut myself doing it that way, even as a derpy 7 year old I managed to assemble about a hundred planes without cutting myself like that.

The times I've cut myself is when I've been stupid and tried to hold the sprue in one hand and cut it with the other, lol.

I tend to cut myself unsheathing or reloading blades, dropping it and trying to catch it, or other unrelated activities to be honest.
Having done several years in art colleges, it's ingrained to respect the knife/cutter/file.
Fumbling when tired is a little different. Whups.

kb_lock wrote:
You in Sydney Skink? You can borrow my 2175s for a couple of days if you want to take them for a run.

They are really good, but I've not compared them to the Citadel ones.

E: You could alternatively borrow my 410Ts

kb_lock, could you post your thoughts comparing the 2175 and the 410 (or 410T)? Thanks

I always snip close to the model - about 1-2mm - and then cut it close with a knife, and finish with a file and/or sanding block.

Like Klaus von Groehm said, there's no way to around using a tool afterwards if you want a nice, smooth surface that's indistinguishable from the plastic or resin that didn't have a feed, no matter how good your cutters are. So the task of excellent cutters should be to give you a very predictable cut that you can rely on not to tear at the plastic, and allow you to come as close to the model as possible.

Both the Xuron and GW cutters do a great job at this, such that you don't have to think too hard when you zipping through the hundreds of snips that you need to do to go through a box of sprues.

If I'm de-spruing a frame with a large number of parts, I'll give some pieces quite a bit of clearance just to take it off the sprue first, then go back and snip it closer on a second pass.

 RiTides wrote:

kb_lock wrote:
You in Sydney Skink? You can borrow my 2175s for a couple of days if you want to take them for a run.

They are really good, but I've not compared them to the Citadel ones.

E: You could alternatively borrow my 410Ts

kb_lock, could you post your thoughts comparing the 2175 and the 410 (or 410T)? Thanks

They are effectively the same, one is a little larger than the other.

I will take some photos tonight for a demonstration if you like

That would be great (make sure to tell us which is which )

Righto, I will do it tonight - I cleaned my desk over the weekend.

Hey skink, side question, do you have any interest in Vampire Counts? If so, PM me.

Excellent (just replying so you have a clean thread to respond to with the pic!)

 Talys wrote:
I always snip close to the model - about 1-2mm - and then cut it close with a knife, and finish with a file and/or sanding block.

Like Klaus von Groehm said, there's no way to around using a tool afterwards if you want a nice, smooth surface that's indistinguishable from the plastic or resin that didn't have a feed, no matter how good your cutters are. So the task of excellent cutters should be to give you a very predictable cut that you can rely on not to tear at the plastic, and allow you to come as close to the model as possible.

Both the Xuron and GW cutters do a great job at this, such that you don't have to think too hard when you zipping through the hundreds of snips that you need to do to go through a box of sprues.

If I'm de-spruing a frame with a large number of parts, I'll give some pieces quite a bit of clearance just to take it off the sprue first, then go back and snip it closer on a second pass.

Maybe I won't bother buying new clippers then because despruing with a knife + block of wood gets me pretty damned close anyway Might be better off just buying more blades. I usually press the blade right up against the model to get a close cut but the blade usually ends up angled ever so slightly away from the model so I end up with a protrusion that at a guess is probably 0.25 to 0.5mm large. Sometimes I get lucky and get the angle right and there's no protrusion at all, but it typically still requires a bit of sanding to get perfectly smooth.

The GW cutter I have is one of the few things where I thought GW did a great job. Just like the shade range

I have a set of Xurons for plastic - they're great!

and and wire cutters for brass wire.

OK, I took some pictures (spoilers are higher res);




The 2175ET is much larger, to compare I chopped those power whatevers from the sprue, as well as a sprue in half. When chopping from the sprue, I tried to get as close as possible to see how they went.




The 410, quite flush on a flat surface, but was surprisingly harder to get into the tight spots, there is some damage to the top of the eagle, and the two connection points underneath the eagle on the neck of the thing are pretty rough. The sprue chop was really ugly on one side, and you can almost see the bottom piece has a floating bit from the cut.




The 2175ET, just as good on the flat surface, much better on the top of the eagle (less damage) but that is also a really tricky bit to chop as there is a piece right next to it. Even though the 2175ET is larger, it got in there easier. The sprue chop shows that both sides of the cut are pretty good, although one is slightly compressed (the bottom bit)




Comparison cuts

Tops of the eagles is no contest, the 410 was harder to get into the tight spot and left an uglier cut

Bottom was a much of a muchness, they both look pretty ugly in the pictures, but they are damn near flush

The sprue chop shows a perfectly clean chop on both, and the other half is either "quite good" with the 2175ET or "not so good" for the 410


I had honestly never compared them before and just assumed they were as good as each other, the 410 was effectively my travel set. Don't think I will be using them as much now that I have seen this though!

Wow, KB. Awesome pics comparing the 2175 and 410. Thanks!!

I will add that the 2175 is a nice size to cut some of the larger resin blocks on FW models -- not the really huge ones that you need a hacksaw for, obviously.