Master Airscrew makes a nice inexpensive tool that holds regular #11 blades. That and a straight edge and knife with a new blade is all you need. !/4 inch stock is getting too big to make one pass through a balsa stripper abd it needs to be done in successive passes. True up the edge of the sheet with the straight edge and knife. Make an edge sanding jig from long piece of aluminum angle with sandpaper glued to the inside of one leg, and then sand the edge you just cut. The master airscrew unit is set to 1/4" and it has a face that follows the sheet edge. Use light pressure and make a light cut the length of the sheet and then repeat. If you have got quality sheet stock with straight grain it should only take three passes or so. Then sand the edge again before you cut the next stick, With some practice you can get really nice sticks. If you push the issue and try to do it in one pass, the blade may flex and make a wavy cut. Patience is the key here like it is with a lot of modeling stuff. If you have a nice grain pattern in the sheet and want too have all the sticks facing the same way when building, be sure to take a marker and make a stripe across the sheet before cutting so you can easily find that shared side later.
The other strippers I have are intended for free flight models and don't go beyond 1/8" thickness or so.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: Balsa wood size cutter (Read 2069 times)