What is the deal with The Chopper?

[DaKra]

I have seen them in articles and advertisements, but so far I have lived my entire model building life without one, or the urge to get one.   It cuts a right angle in itty bitty strip stock ... fine, I can do that by hand.   Does this thing justify its workbench space? 

Dave

[Frederic Testard]

Apart from also cutting at an angle - and not only the provided angles, since there's a nice fence to hold templates and correctly define the angle - it's also a nice help to hold and glue small bits of wood.
It's also a great time saver when you have tenths of planks to cut to the same length...
Big drawback : the angle in the cut due to the blade. No importance on planks, but extra sanding required on thicker material.

[lab-dad]

No so much the cutting but the ability to cut several pieces the exact same length.
If you add a fence and a positionable stop.
(I really want to add a dial caliper to mine)
Also I can take a known dimension part and set the fence and copy that exact length.
-Marty

[marc_reusser]

It's not a necessary tool, but it surely makes my life much easier and expedites the process greatly. I rarely if ever use it for the exact/final cut (everything gets sanded to final size on a disk sander).....but when doing lots of pieces for a "batch sanding" it really helps get them all to the same length very quickly....and when I only need a couple of pieces the same size it is easy to quickly set the stop to the resired dim., cut them, and get on with the work...where-as having to measure each cut for these couple of pieces would take longer and likely end up in them not being the same size.

The chopper does have definite limitations, and some issues....biggest ones being angled cuts on thicker pieces due to blade deflection, and the potential for a slight arc in the cutting edge of the blade if it is overtightened and/or not fully set into its seat.

I do not set my material against the choppers guide surface, as it brings the material too close to the inside of the cutting arc, and cause tearing or distortion....rather I have a small steel machinists scale that is set between the edge and acts as a guide...bringing my material about 1/2" out, and closrer to the center of the blade, and thus a more vertical cutting angle incidence.  (Image below shows the set-up, with a piece of styrene being cut.)


Marc

[Frederic Testard]

Interesting picture, Marc. I have been using the left side of your installation for a long time (the blade doesn't cut material which is too close from the fence), but I will start using the other side since the angled devices provided with the tools are not totally satisfactory. Another way to have consistent cuts without precise installations is to cut a first piece to the right length, to put it against the fence and the close blade, to hold it there and to align by eye the wood or plastic to be cut. It goes almost as quickly as using the positionable stop, and avoids the possible slipping of the stop under the outwards pressure of the material being cut.

[DaKra]

OK I can do all that with my little Preac table saw, and without angled cuts needing finishing.  Is there an advantage to using the Chopper?   Not criticizing the Chopper, BTW just considering if I should have one.   I bought too many tools that I don't use, so I'm being a little more careful now!   

[Tom Neeson]

Marc
I rigged up something similar when I needed to cut some parts longer than the fence of the chopper. Worked pretty good.

[RoughboyModelworks]

FWIW... I bought one years and years ago, used it a couple of times, found it to be totally unsatisfactory and threw it out. Perhaps they've improved the design and engineering on it over the years, but I really don't see it as a useful tool for doing any accurate cuts. Dave, if you have a Preac, I don't see why you would need to add one of these... IMO

Paul

[Ray Dunakin]

I'd like to get one of the long choppers -- sure would save me a lot of time and would likely be more accurate than cutting each piece individually with an x-acto.

[marc_reusser]

DAVE,

As I mentioned...I don't feel they are meant for most accurate/final cuts....as with any knife or compression cut, they are fine for the rough cut, but need sanding to finished dimension. I don't have a micro table saw, so I can't compare it, though personally I would think for my needs (doing quick spur of the moment and on the fly styrene or wood cuts of just a couple of pieces) reaching for the chopper is much quicker and easier than going to the saw, turning it on, setting the fence etc.  Most of the cuts I need on the chopper are crosscuts of small pieces .010 to .040 thick styrene strip...and I don't know how easy this would be to do one-seies and two-sies on the Preac......but that probably is mostly a matter of what one is used to and how their bench is set-up.

I am perfectly happy with my Chopper for the specific need, and use it on a regular basis (probably at least once or twice per bench session)....I have had mine for about 6 years.


TOM,

Thats cool...kind of the reverse of what I do with the square on the right side when I need longer cuts...only your set-up allows for quicker and easier (and more accurate) adjustment.


Paul,

I don't think the design or quality has changed (or at least not much) since your go around with it.



Marc

[finescalerr]

A Chopper together with a disc sander are all but necessities for precision work. -- Russ

[Frederic Testard]

Paul, I think the only major change is  when they changed the base board for a piece of self healing matt. Which was a good idea.
I do most of my modelling in my study, near the family and far from the bigger motor tools and share Marc's point of view about the ease of use.

[RoughboyModelworks]

I was perhaps a little abrupt in my panning of the chopper (blowing off steam due in part to a difficult few days at work). Though I personally find it of no use, I am aware that it may serve a purpose of convenience for many modellers who may not have access to precision table saws or dedicated work spaces.

As I mentioned, I had a very early example, purchased I think ca. 1980. The base was a piece of masonite, the arm wobbled and would not remain true to either the fence or the base, and the blade mount so poorly designed that the blade curved and deflected regardless of how small the stock being cut. After messing with it for a bit to try and improve it, with no luck, I simply threw it out. The concept was good, the execution a complete failure.

The self-healing matt base is an obvious improvement and they have beefed up the fence, blade arm and pivot considerably judging from the photos. As I've mentioned before, it does not matter much what tool you use. If it works for you, go for it. It's what you do with the tool that counts.

Paul