Product Review: Crazy Modeler PE Saws

[MPWR]

Crazy Modeler has recently put out several sets of photoetched saws, and sent me some samples to review.





These are two of Crazy Modeler's three PE saw sets- the finger held ones and the handle held set. The third set is a collection of circular saw blades for Dremel type motor tools.

I have to admit that one of my first reactions on seeing the finger held set was "Cool- a set of miniature Chinese throwing stars- from China!"

I amused myself for a while training to fend off my work bench space from a possible attack by a gang of rather small ninjas. I expect Bruce Lee would be proud.



After I convinced myself that I could repel such an attack, I got down to trying them on actual plastic.

Immediately I had a number of thoughts of where they could be used. The finger held saws are etched on stock 0.006" in thickness (0.15mm)- making them easily thinner than any other cutting tool on my work bench. For comparison, the single sheet thickness of the Tamiya 360 Spider instructions is 0.004". The saws also have three different grades of teeth- coarse, medium and fine.

One of the first uses I came to was removing parts from sprues- particularly clear parts. Cutting off clear parts is a task I generally dread- clear styrene is notoriously brittle, nasty stuff. A pair of side cutters may crack, shatter or crush some portion of the part, and it's too brittle to cut with a hobby knife. So, I cut out one of the medium toothed finger saws, and went to work on the 360 windshield.



Yes, if you look carefully, you can see where I've started the cut. it's about halfway through here.



Done. Very clean, and no damage. I'm impressed.

It quickly became clear that if I wanted to cut open a door or engine lid, this is how I would go about it. I searched my stash for a kit body to play with, and came up with Fujimi's rather crummy F355- this one is going to need alot of work.



I started cutting through the engine lid panel line. (No, I'm not going to go all the way here- I don't have a V8 to stuff into this kit.)



See the cut line? Me neither- but it's there. The cut line is appreciably thinner than the molded panel line.

To cut out the individual louvers in the engine lid, I moved on to the handle held saw set. This set is etched on thicker stock- 0.012", or about 0.3mm. It makes these saws significantly more ridgid and stronger than the finger saws, which is a good thing for using them with handles.

The tangs on the saws come in two sizes- one sized to fit Xacto type hobby knife handles, and the other larger size fits nicely into razor saw handles.



They fit rather well- this one is sized directly from a #11 blade.



These saws also come in different tooth sizes, plus several of them are designed to work as scribers, too. This makes them perfect for this kind of surgery. I opened one of the larger vents, just to see how it would work (rather well). I was pleased with the results, but decided that a better test would be for one of the smaller vents, to see if they could do as well in a more confined space. This is how I went about it.



First, drill out the ends. This works particulalrly well for the F355, as the ends of the vents are round. Sorry, the pin vise and drill bits are not included- but then you already have your own set, don't you? (Don't you?)



Then, on to the scriber. This saw here is probably my very favorite of both sets. Obviously, the curved toothed area is a saw, and the pointed end is the scriber. But there are terrific advantages to having them on the same tool. For instance, you can start a cut with the scriber. Once you have the scribed line started, you know the saw will fit in the track of the scribe- because both cutters are of course the same thickness. I'm cutting along the front and rear edge of this vent. You then simply work the scibed line with the saw until it cuts through somewhere along the line (usually the center of the line)...,



...And simply insert one of the finger saws to finish the cuts. They're thinner and more flexible, and so give a bit more control for this kind of cut.



Done. Easy. It definately takes a bit of work (time) to cut through, but this is the quickest, easiest way I can think of to do it.

In conclusion, I was impressed with both sets of saws. I have nothing else on my workbench that will do this kind of cutting nearly as well. I asked Crazy Modeler what the material the saws are etched on, he answered stainless steel- so each individual saw should have a good long useful life. If I wear one out, I may post an update- but I suspect it may be a while.

I would definately recommend both sets.

Stay tuned, I have still more goodies to be reviewed.

(No actual ninjas were harmed in the making of this review.)

[88Porsche944]

Excellent Review. I will look to get these as soon as I can.

Trevor

[D_LaMz]

nice review!

[BugZilla]

Thanks for the outstanding review on the CM saws.

Dave

[willimo]

Thank you!

[patoffspyder]

They look great, gonna buy the Handle held set and the one for the Dremel.
Where can I get them?

[klutz_100]

The saws look great but your review was much more fun

[winstona]

Very useful review! Need to get myself some of these.

[Hiroboy]

I recieved my stock of these today and agree they are superb, nice review

[RallyRaider]

They look like a copy of the etched saws in Hasegawa's excellent Tri-tool range. Been using them for a year or so and they are very handy to have in one's tool kit.

[freakmech]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

They look like a copy of the etched saws in Hasegawa's excellent Tri-tool range. Been using them for a year or so and they are very handy to have in one's tool kit.

WHAT? Crazy Modeller..... copies of existing products??? NO WAY

[RallyRaider]

My sarcasm detection meter just went off the scale!

[Setsuna X]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

They look like a copy of the etched saws in Hasegawa's excellent Tri-tool range. Been using them for a year or so and they are very handy to have in one's tool kit.

I have the cutting and scribing Tri-Tool saws and I wouldn't consider these copies just similar products. Also the Tri-tool sets don't have ones that can be put in Xacto and Razor saw handles. I'll be getting a set of these soon.

[RallyRaider]

Not that I consider it a big issue but the first pic features identical shaped saws to the Hasegawa set. More than just similar...

[seci]

ggggggreat!!!!