RE: Plastic Basing

>MB wrote:
>
>>I use a plastic cutter (best investment I ever made) 
>
>Whats a plastic cutter like?
>
>
>-= tim jones =- 
>

A plastic cutter (well, the plastic cutter I have, anyway) is basically
like an X-acto knife with detachable blade.  The difference is in the
blade
profile and how it "cuts" plastic.  A razor-type knife (like an X-acto
blade) cuts by digging into the plastic surface, displacing material off
to
either side of the cut.  When you score or cut with one of these blades,
you get a small raised burr/ridge along the edge of the cut that needs
to
be removed (unless the plastic you are cutting is very thin).  A plastic
cutter works more like a chisel.  As it is drawn along the surface of
the
plastic, it removes material in the same way a chisel does when you
carve
wood.  If you use a metal-edge ruler to keep the cut straight, the
result
is a groove scored along the plastic without the burr/ridge of displaced
material.  If you want to complete the cut, you can then break the
material
along the score line, and you end up with a very straight edge.  You can
approximate the effect of one of these by getting an X-acto knife (the
pen
handle style, with detachable individual blades) and using the back side
edge of the point to cut with (ie, the blunt side).  If you hold the
knife
almost vertical as you make the cut, it will score the material in the
same
way as a plastic cutter.  It's a bit awkward at first, but I do this all
the time and it works really well once you get the hang of it.	Both of
these methods are good for cutting plastic sheet (ie flat stuff) but
only
work well if you use a ruler or other edge to cut against.

Adrian