Gaius Papirius Tenebris Builds a Gang - A Gangs of Rome Project

Any time you use the word cut you should make sure you’re using the right tool for the job. Period. Do not skimp on this. Using the wrong tool may just ruin your cut, but it also may ruin your hand. Or eye. Or other gibbets.

When cutting miniatures, people tend to think of three tools: an hobby (x-acto) knife, a hobby (or razor) saw, or a powered rotary saw.

Hobby Knife – Let’s get this out of the way. A hobby knife is. Not. The. Right. Tool. Hobby knives are great for taking small pieces off at a time, trimming, or slicing thin things. The amount of pressure that you would have to use to cut through white metal with that small blade puts you an great risk for a cut. Even worse, it IS possible for that blade to snap and go flying. Generally into soft, fleshy bits.

Rotary Saw – These things are great, but I don’t recommend using them for this for two reasons:

• The rotary action of the tool can make it difficult to control. They do make vices specifically to hold the tool, but it still puts my sausage fingers waaayyyy too close for comfort.
• The cutting wheels on them can snap. See fleshy bits comment above.

If you do want to use one, use a vise to hold the tool and wear protective glasses. (I literally had a chunk of cutting wheel bounce off my forehead 3 days before typing this up).

That leaves the hobby saw.

First off, a hobby saw (more accurately called a razor saw I guess) is not the same as a hack saw. They tend to be thinner, making a tighter cut (see: kerf). A lot of hand hack saws have around 14 – 30 Teeth per Inch (TPI) while a lot of hobby/razor saws will have in excess of 50. More teeth = finer cut (generally, there’s a lot of factors).

Second, a cut from a hobby saw hurts. A lot. So let’s try to avoid that, hmmm?

There are 4 main rules to being safe with a hobby saw:

• Light pressure – You have to do this anyway as heavy pressure just binds the saw.
• Go slow – It takes about 5 minutes to cut one of these models off its base. It takes about 5 days for a cut from a hobby saw to heal. Do the math.
• Move the miniature along the blade, not the blade along the miniature. (OK, you don’t want to do this all the time, but when you can…)
• Never, ever, put your finger (or any other part) over the cutting edge of the blade.

Personally, I use a vice to hold the saw.

Place the base against the blade and gently run to the end. Keep your fingers well back from the blade. Rinse and repeat.

I personally try to do this so that I’m cutting through both points at the same time. That way you’re not putting too much pressure on one point once the other is cut.

When you near the end, you may find it easier to finish with the saw free from the vice (in your hand). Again, slow and steady.

Finally, a little bit of polishing up with a file and you’re done!

Only 40 more models to go!