Best Of What's in DKS's toolbox?

[DKS]

One more question though: how do you handle all those mitered edges without a tilting blade?

I built jigs that hold the work at the appropriate angle with respect to the blade. It requires two cuts: a 90-degree cut that's within a few thousandths of the final cut, and then the final angled cut. Yeah, an adjustable blade would be awesome, but necessity is the mother of, well, you know...

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks DKS, I kind of figured as much but wanted to hear that from the master.
Regards, Otto

[basementcalling]

I built jigs that hold the work at the appropriate angle with respect to the blade. It requires two cuts: a 90-degree cut that's within a few thousandths of the final cut, and then the final angled cut. Yeah, an adjustable blade would be awesome, but necessity is the mother of, well, you know...

How do you ensure you get the right angle on the jig then?

[DKS]

How do you ensure you get the right angle on the jig then?

90% of the time the corner is 90 degrees, so I built a 45-degree jig. For the rest, I'd shim the jig to get the right angle.

[peteski]

OK, well, it's tough to elaborate because I use it so much, but here goes...

For starters, I use a ton of DPM kits, and anyone who has tried bashing them knows they're tough little buggers to cut down--the plastic is thick and hard. Consider this beastie, which involved dozens of cuts that must be straight and parallel:



Or these (note that nearly all of the corners are mitered):















I use it for extra thick plastic, like Plexiglas. Or to make long cuts through irregularly-shaped parts, such as this kit base with lips and steps along the edges... Before:



After:



Also wood--it does an excellent job of making very clean cuts with edges that are absolutely straight, square and true:





It's very useful for making clean, straight cuts on subassemblies that would otherwise be next to impossible to cut. For instance, I needed to shorten this enginehouse after I'd nearly finished the kit, so I just ran one end of the structure through the saw:



Some modelers complain about modifying cast resin parts, such as tunnel portals and retaining walls. I have no problem at all making very complex assemblies from dozens of precisely-cut parts. The stone arch bridge on my Z Scale Gorre & Daphetid is an example:



I use it to make PC board ties, or any parts made from PC board, like my building light electrical connectors:

   

It even works on Gatorfoam, which is not the easiest material to cut, as well as hard rubber, like Cripplebush Creek rock castings...



As for what makes this particular model so good, it's hard to say because I've not used any other (although I could have told you the Harbor Freight tool was useless--they sell mostly junk). It's a Proxxon unit rebranded by Micro-Mark, and I was totally satisfied with the quality from day one. I've used it heavily for the last decade, and it's still got the original blade. It's an earlier model without a vacuum attachment, so it's a bit messy to use, but ask me if I care.

Well, that should be enough to get you started. I could go on all night, but I do need some sleep right now.

@DKS , what happened to all the images?

[DKS]

@DKS , what happened to all the images?

Still there, just a victim of a reorganization. Give me a bit and I'll fix all of the paths.