# A newbie question



## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

What sort of cutting attachment for a Dremel should I buy to cut ~3/16" styrene? I want to turn my N scale Woodland Scenics "Tin Shack" into a lean-to (for my vending machines) by cutting off the tallest side. .


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Instead of a Dremel tool, try an XActo blade and draw it along a metal straightedge. Depending on the thickness of the styrene, make one or two scores, and then snap. File the edge for smoothness.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

Ok, TY. BTW: I've never been to Comox, but I've been to Nanaimo, Westview/Powell River and Campbell River. When I was a teenager my father went thru a "yachtsman" phase.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Any sort of a cut-off wheel will melt plastic as it cuts creating an ugly mess to clean up with a knife, file, and sandpaper along the edge. If you could call it an edge. It will be very ragged with blobs of plastic still attached to the cut edges.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

OK, thanks. I guess I need another plan. With my nerves and vision, laser-cut wood kits are likely to end up as splinters and sawdust.


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## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

Structures which are not a smooth even surface like styrene sheets are difficult to cut. I rig a fixture to hold them steady and cut with a hacksaw blade. No saw, just the blade.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

GNfan said:


> Ok, TY. BTW: I've never been to Comox, but I've been to Nanaimo, Westview/Powell River and Campbell River. When I was a teenager my father went thru a "yachtsman" phase.



It's funny because from about 2000 to 2017 the Comox airport was THE go-to embarkation and departure terminal for people wanting to fly to points east and into the USA from mid-Island. Only recently has the Nanaimo airport begun to take up more of a roll in providing long-range pax service. Nanaimo has a population near 90K, whereas the entire Comox Valley might top out near 40K. The reason the airport has done so well, and for the valley's growth, is that it is hosted by the airforce base known as 19 Wing with its 10K' runway that permits heavy aircraft and even an emergency Space Shuttle landing strip in a pinch. Also, since the early 90's, Comox has been the retirement destination for a lot of academics, oil patch, and CEO/CFO retirees. My father remarked that Comox is the most 'couth' location on the Island due to the flood of upper-crust people retiring from all over Canada.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

We had a 35' cabin cruiser moored in Seattle. We "missed" Comox, because the usual route for US boaters in the mid-70's was to clear Canadian Customs some place like Victoria or Sidney, work our way up the Trincomali Channel up to a marina on Gabriola Island. Then we made a mad dash across the Strait of Georgia to Pender Harbor.; then up that side to Westview or Lund. At that point we were less than a day from the shelter of Desolation Sound, and from there to Campbell River. We'ed stop for a few days in Nanaimo on the way back. One year we made it to Alert Bay.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

If you set the speed on your rotary tool low enough and work slowly, it is possible to cut plastic without chipping and burning, but it's tough to get a straight line with one.

Scoring and snapping or cutting with a razor saw usually work much better and take much less time.


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

I use a Zona Razor Saw and a micro mark hobby miter box for small items.


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