Getting ready to start another Dragon armor project and thinking I need to break down and purchase a good tool at a reasonable costs-any thoughts, input, recommendations from the group here?
Thanks
I’ve owned a Small Shop Mk IV for several years and find it to be a very handy for PE and other bending. It gives me continuous 4" fold, and several sizes of fingers for smaller parts & multiple bends.For $49 list, it’s a bargain; a very well made tool.
Happy Holidays!
Mike
Hello!
Hate to spoil some good business here, but I don’t quite get the need for an elborate, specialized PE tool. I used several PE sets from Eduard yet, and one or two from Aber, and the most useful tool I used was a pair of fine, narrow-nose pliers with flat surface on the inside (without serration). I bought them for like ten dollars at a store selling tools for jewellers (they have lots of other sweet stuff for modellers, too). The pliers can do almost all the bending, in conjunction with an apropriate drill bit they also do most of the rolling.
Hope it helps, have a nice day and good luck with your projects
Paweł
I built a bending machine very similar to the ones available. I find I do not use it all that much, only for very fancy compound bends. It is too easy to grab a razor blade and a screwdriver for simple bends. Also, I have a pair of flat nose pliers that I use a lot for simple bends. Hold the piece in those pliers and bend the free end with X-acto knife.
I have a PE bending tool that I got from Micro-Mark. Like Don, I end up using my most common tools on the bench for making the simplest bends in PE parts. I most often use a large X-acto knife handle with the straight chisel-type blade to hold the PE against a hard surface while I use another X-acto knife or some other tool to gently bend the PE part. But the tool from Micro-Mark does come in handy for certain bends.
I got a Small Shop 5 Speed off ebay last year for about $50. It was a blemished model (had a little discoloration on the black base). I used to just use tweezers and razor blades, but this 5 speed is so much easier to use and I get better results.
My pe working tools are:
A piece of wall tile used as a cutting board
Single edged razor blades used for sharp bends
Different sized dowels or drill bits used to form curves on the pe parts
Several new xacto blades for cutting part off fret
Flat jeweler’s file for sanding off attachment points
A couple of fine tipped tweezers to grab and hold parts
Tons of patience and my opti visor [8-|]
No fancy bending machines or gadgets here.
Thanks for the input guys-you’ve given me several options-all of them good- to think about.
Again, thanks
You ought to take a look at the Xuron 9180ET - Photo Etch Cutter. Cuts thru easily and very closely. Little or no nib to file off.