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I wasn't doing what I should have. I was on a really short time crunch so I was pressing REALLY hard with my knife on a dense piece of bass. not the smartest idea. I need to go and buy two more knives in case that happens again.

well, I do have firefox, but I think I could have opened it if I had a newer program for Adobe. my computer is too old.

What I have found is that if you use a knife like the one with the red handle below, it is easier to cut through dense pieces of balsa/bass. It lets you apply more downward force, I guess. (By the way, beware- it's hard to cut straight down when you do this, so cut pieces a little long and trim the ends.)

yeah. that red one looks sturdier. mine at home is like the very bottom one

did u snap the blade part!!!?? that could have went into you eye!!! guys remember... saftey first. please.

yeah I realized after it bounced off the ceiling and landed three feet away from me (where my cat was sitting only five minutes before)


and yes, it was the blade part

AlphaTauri wrote:

Does anyone know if exact-o knives are supposed to snap under pressure? I don't think that's a good sign.

Um...I don't think that's supposed to happen. I used the same 2 exacto knives for all of last season and they haven't broken. Yet. What exactly were you doing when it broke?

As for the PDF, what web browser do you use? Firefox won't let you open PDFs, but Internet Explorer will. Hope that helps.

Don't know why you say that, Firefox will open PDF's just fine but you still need Adobe Reader installed with the Firefox plugin. With Firefox you may alternatively use the FoxIt addon.

Adobe Reader updates can also be downloaded for free...

Anyway, here's a screenshot but the original PDF is a vector drawing so it can be blown up much larger.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5574/bbridge.jpg

thanks for the picture and the clarification

sewforlife wrote:Does anyone know if exact-o knives are supposed to snap under pressure? I don't think that's a good sign.

All X-Acto blades will snap under enough pressure. Even the ones in the large handles, the blades aren't much bigger. To hold an edge, steel must be very hard, which means it is also brittle, not ductile. Takes more force to break, but goes bang quick when it dies, not much bending.

So, NEVER force a cut. If its not cutting easy, cut more often, don't do it all at once.

Or better yet, instead of cutting large/hard pieces with a knife, consider a razor saw instead, see: http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/xac/xacx75300.htm for one example. Cuts faster with MUCH less effort, and much less damage to the wood. Also easier to control. All in all, safer and faster.

Thanks,

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

What wood could you possibly be using that's so hard to cut? It seems ot me, any wood that you would need a razor saw to cut, would not be appropriate for SO structures... No?

Bass can be difficult to cut with a small X-acto knife, especially a dull one. A razor saw will work the best, but I've found regular razor blades often work well too.

I actually prefer razor blades to X-acto knifes for making cuts - they're easier to control, stronger, and cheap.