# Scratch Building Question



## shadefox (Oct 28, 2010)

Hi I am new here and to building a railroad. My father had a G scale when I was a little girl and now I have my own which I am trying to build for my son.

I am currently trying to build some shops out of plywood. It's very thin wood but not thin enough to be cut with a exacto knife. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what tool to use to cut out windows and doors. Or maybe I bought the wrong exacto knife. My husband has a dremmel but not sure if that is too big to cut something so small. Sorry I am a newbie just looking for advice. Thank!


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

i am not sure, what is the american name for it must be either coping saw or fret saw (might be jigsaw). the frame is a bow, and one uses very fine blades. 

just drill a hole, mount the sawblade inside of that hole and saw away. 

and welcome to the largescaleworld!


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## shadefox (Oct 28, 2010)

Thank you Kormsen. That sounds easy enough. Which I am sure is not but will be fun.


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## CHscenic (Jan 2, 2008)

A coping saw works well but sometimes the 5" or 6" throat doesn't give enough clearance to make it all the way around the opening. If you have lots of opening to cut an inexpensive jig saw might save the day. Lowes has one for under $30. Dremel has just come out with a new tool called the Multi-max. It has a blade the you can drive right into wood anywhere and it will start a cut. Perfect for plunging out an opening. It is a bit pricey at $99 though. Dave


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

They do make circular blades for the Dremel tool. Blade shown can be used without the flexible shaft shown. Please be careful. It depends upon the thickness of plywood you are cutting. A reciprocating jigsaw is acually the best bet. Drill a hole (1/4 inch) then insert blade and cut in a curve to each corner. Then make cuts from corner to corner.


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## armorsmith (Jun 1, 2008)

If you plan on doing a number of structures, a scroll saw my be a good choice. Pricing varies, I am now aware of any that start under $100, but once you have one you will find other uses for it as well. They operate similar to a hand coping saw in that you drill a hole in the corner of the window opening, feed the blade through the hole and re-attach the blade. 

Happy Railroading  

Bob C.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

shadefox

First of all welcome to MLS (MyLargescale)

{snip...}[/i] I am currently trying to build some shops out of plywood. It's very thin wood but not thin enough to be cut with a exacto knife. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what tool to use to cut out windows and doors. Or maybe I bought the wrong exacto knife. My husband has a dremmel but not sure if that is too big to cut something so small. Sorry I am a newbie just looking for advice. Thank! You'll find that there are many answers to your seemingly simple question, which will be confirmed by the many answers you're likely to get. The following is only my opinion feel free to take what you find useful and ignore the rest.

Starting with what you say you have i.e. an X-acto knife, there are two saw blades that X-acto makes that will fit any X-acto knife that will hold a #11 knife blade. However if you've got very much cutting to do it's going to take a very long time to finish it all using these.









X-acto Blade #15










X-acto Blade #27


One very basic method to create the openings after laying out their locations (i.e. drawing or scribing lines) on the sheet stock. Would be using a hammer/mallet and a wood chisel to cut along the drawn lines. This is still a fair bit of work and it does take a bit of practice learning how to make a nice clean straight cut and square corners.
















Wood Chisels Wood Mallet









Common Claw Hammer

When making internal openings (i.e. holes, (for windows & doors)) in sheet stock (i.e. wood, plastic, & metal) with a saw of some type you'll need to drill at minimum one hole to get things started (see following image).









[*] In the case of the door opening in the above image, you need to drill at least one hole in one of the top corners so you can turn the saw saw blade and cut along the horizontal line at the top. The two vertical cuts forming the sides of the door can be started from the edge of the sheet. Check and make sure the saw type used can cut that far from the edge of the sheet.

[*] In the case of the window opening, again holes must be drilled to start. Usually two are drilled one in each of the diagonal corners (see window opening on the right in the above image). This way one horizontal and one vertical cut can be started from each hole and no need to turn the saw blade when reaching the corner.

Some people prefer to drill one hole in each of the four corners, but to me it's just over-kill. On the other hand some prefer to drill only one hole, but then you need to use as thin a blade as you can get and learn the art of cutting around a corner with out twisting or breaking the saw blade, but yes it can be done.
[/list] The first type of saw you might use. note that with these there is no limitation as to how far from the edge of the sheet you can get. The one thing to remember is the greater the number of teeth per inch the smoother the cut, the fewer the rougher the edge of the cut is.
















Two examples of what may be called a Key Hole or Compass saw

The following are all basically saws with a frame. Each of these type saws do have a limit to just how far from the edge of the sheet they can work. This limit is the result of the distance between the saw blade and the frame (i.e. the throat depth), that's why there are various sizes available. You'll find the same basic type called by many names depending on which trade (e.g. carpenter, jeweler, etc.) and the type of saw blade that's used.
















Two sizes of Coping saws
















Two examples of a jewelers Frame saw









Example of a deep throated Fret saw

Next up is basically a motorized version of the above frame type saws above, and they cost a lot more money (in some cases a very great deal of money). But then again they do all the hard work and you do the guiding.









Example of a Scroll saw.

Then there's the motorized version of the Key Hole or Compass saw type.









The Jig saw

Now finally some Dremel stuff, do remember in the case of attachments check to make sure they will fit on the Dremel rotary tool model that you husband has, before you by it.

















Dremel Jig saw attachment[/b]

Last but not least an oscillating type cutting tool, which was mentioned above by Dave (MLS - CHscenic)









Dremel Multi-Max[/b]


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

what i meant was the deep throated Fret saw in the pic. 

cut just a wee bit inside of the marked lines for the windows. and file away the rest. a building with rectangular windows will be your reward. 
with a simple iron file or even one of these cheap throwaway files for fingernails)


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

steve, great job explaining. 

I have problems with vibration with my jig saw when doing tiny projects so I usually use it for bigger stuff; as of yet I don't have a scroll saw. That would definitely be nice to have 

Dave


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I have a Dremel table saw(no longer made) You can find them on ebay. Micro Mark has a small table saw-2 actually. One is even smaller. A small bench top table saw would work also.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Welcome to MLS. I'm sure your son will appreciate your efforts - and you might even get hooked on our large scale models.

Steve,

A great selection of tools for making windows . I have one you missed:










Micromark calls it a *Corner Punch* (click for their web page.) You put it in the drill press and just press it down to cut the corners. The sides can be done with a flat chisel.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Good point Pete, however, a might steep in price at approx. $30. They can be had for a lot less and have the advantages of not needing a drill press and are self-aligning too.

Corner Chisels[/b]


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