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I have been using the NWSL Chopper for the past 30 years in my structure building

for model railroads. It's a great little device for cutting multiple lengths of wood. The big

downside is that one side of the cut will have a slight angle, top to bottom, that may  have

to be addressed. In my small 1/87 scale that generally is not a problem. Realize also that

I am cutting basswood strip almost exclusively. Hope this helps.

 

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I had a chopper nearly twenty years ago and back then it was junk. But later in life I came across people using it and being happy with it and I said "really?" I found it flimsy. Maybe its a better product today but in my experience the arm that holds the blade was not fixed very well to the base nor was it nearly as inflexible as it should have been. I recall being disappointed with the guides it came with too, they were not robust enough and would not stay fixed in position.

Also, its only suited to chop very light materials. You are bringing the blade straight down onto the material so its a crushing action not a slicing action. 

  

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 Niagara USS Constitution 

 

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I have had one for about 12 months. It is good for cutting planks up to 1mm thick. Any thicker and I find that the blade tends to flex away from the timber being cut in such a way that it is impossible to get a square cut. I found it great for getting good, square deck planks but other than that it wasn't much 'chop' :)

Hornet

 

Current Build: - OcCre Shackleton’s Endurance. 

 

Completed Ship Builds:

                                     Caldercraft - HM Bark Endeavour. (in Gallery)

                                    Caldercraft  - HMAV Bounty (in Gallery)

                                     Caldercraft - HM Brig Supply (In Gallery)

                                     Aeropiccola - Golden Hind

                                                        - Constitution

                                     Clipper Seawitch (maker unknown - too long ago to remember!)

                                     Corel - Victory

                                     Modeller's Shipyard - A Schooner of Port Jackson - In Gallery

                                                                      - Brig `Perseverance' - In Gallery

                                                                      - Cutter `Mermaid'- In Gallery

                                                                      - Sirius Longboat (bashed) - In Gallery

                                                                      - Sloop Norfolk - In Gallery

                                      Completed Cannon:   - French 18th Century Naval Cannon

                                                                      - Napoleonic 12 pound field piece

                                                                      - English 18th Century Carronade

                                       Non Ship Builds - Sopwith Camel - Artesania Latina

                                                                   - Fokker DR1 - Artesania Latina

                                               

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I was looking at getting one. I won't now. I bought a hand held chop thingy and it does the same thing as described ... it doesn't cut with a clean edge. I don't use it too much. 

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Homer, I'm glad I bought one. It is sharp (as long as you replace the blades regularly) and it is good for repetitive light jobs such as cutting deck planking. Just don't expect it to cut thicker timber, it isn't designed for it.

Hornet

 

Current Build: - OcCre Shackleton’s Endurance. 

 

Completed Ship Builds:

                                     Caldercraft - HM Bark Endeavour. (in Gallery)

                                    Caldercraft  - HMAV Bounty (in Gallery)

                                     Caldercraft - HM Brig Supply (In Gallery)

                                     Aeropiccola - Golden Hind

                                                        - Constitution

                                     Clipper Seawitch (maker unknown - too long ago to remember!)

                                     Corel - Victory

                                     Modeller's Shipyard - A Schooner of Port Jackson - In Gallery

                                                                      - Brig `Perseverance' - In Gallery

                                                                      - Cutter `Mermaid'- In Gallery

                                                                      - Sirius Longboat (bashed) - In Gallery

                                                                      - Sloop Norfolk - In Gallery

                                      Completed Cannon:   - French 18th Century Naval Cannon

                                                                      - Napoleonic 12 pound field piece

                                                                      - English 18th Century Carronade

                                       Non Ship Builds - Sopwith Camel - Artesania Latina

                                                                   - Fokker DR1 - Artesania Latina

                                               

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Guest Tim I.

I have both the Chopper II and the Chopper III. The Chopper II is heavy duty and works great. I am not the least impressed with the Chopper III, too flimsy. 

 

- Tim

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I have a Chopper II, and has been said, if you work within it's limits (not super hard wood or very large pieces) it works great for making a lot of repetitive length cuts (or even just for quick trimming of one-off's).

 

It's great for 3/64 basswood planking, slices right through them.  Blades (single edge razors) are dirt cheap if you buy boxes of 100 so just change the blade regularly.

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I agree with the prior posts - if you are cutting thin basswood, it will do a decent job.  

 

For thicker wood, for hardwoods, and for brass and aluminum, I use a miniture chop saw from Harbor Freight.  The cicular blade is about 2 1/4" diameter.  I made an adjustable stop to the outboard side so I can cut identical sizes.  If anyone would like a pix of it, pls let me know.

 

The price at Harbor Freight is under $30, and they sell replacement blades for it.  Micro Mark is currently selling the same unit for under $30 with their current heavy discount.  

 

Duff 

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  • 7 years later...
On 3/3/2015 at 6:54 PM, jbelwood said:

I have been using the NWSL Chopper for the past 30 years in my structure building

for model railroads. It's a great little device for cutting multiple lengths of wood. The big

downside is that one side of the cut will have a slight angle, top to bottom, that may  have

to be addressed. In my small 1/87 scale that generally is not a problem. Realize also that

I am cutting basswood strip almost exclusively. Hope this helps.

 

I know this is an old thread but I decided not to start a new one.

I too have been using a Chopper II for Model Railroading for 20 years and never had a issue with the slight angle of the cuts that is caused by the fact that the razor blades are sharped on both side of the blade coming to a point in the center. I was cutting the short timberheads for my current build of BlueJacket's Bowdoin and decided the solution was a flush trim blade I was not able to locate any for sale and so I made one. I have a series of progressively finer grit diamond plates for sharping my woodworking tools and  after grinding the blade edge off I ground in a new one on one side only. Voila! Square smooth cuts. There is a caveat in that I need to cut them a bit long and do a second cut too get the square edge. Works much better than the razor saw/miter box combo.

 

This is the blade I made, Front side is beveled and back side is flat.

1795800318_BladeFrontside.thumb.JPG.23df2584efc1d5642a39499029040ec4.JPG 796754904_BladeBackside.thumb.JPG.c071958a2465e29b675b429ba3b02f99.JPG

You can see the difference in the cuts below. Sorry for the bad focus, my camera is out of sorts and my phone camera is not so great.

709810268_WoodCut2.thumb.JPG.fd2ae9932265dfdf07b5fdc0e5595d0d.JPG292470698_WoodCut1.thumb.JPG.81e1ddd0027aba1fc9f767df356d8295.JPG

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This thread dates back to 2015, which I believe was before Jim Byrnes began offering the crosscut sled for the Byrnes saw. While the cost of a Jim Saw and sled is far beyond the "Choppers" and the Horror Fright chop saw, Byrnes Model Machines has the bases covered here also, and again by orders of magnitude more accurately and more efficiently. (Albeit that the price of the Byrnes quality is also greater by orders of magnitude, but you get far more than you pay for with Byrnes tools.) I may be stating the obvious here, but I can't resist giving a plug to the best collections of products out there.

 

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I cut every plank on Winchelsea with my Chopper I. I also have a Chopper II but don’t use it much. I cut them a little long then turn to my Byrnes sander and sand it square, or beveled, or at an angle, or both at once to the measured line as needed. Fast and easy. I also have the cross cut sled for my Byrnes saw which I use for more intricate work. 

Regards,

Glenn

 

Current Build: HMS Winchelsea
Completed Builds: HM Flirt (paused) HM Cutter CheerfulLady NelsonAmati HMS Vanguard,  
HMS Pegasus, Fair American, HM Granado, HM Pickle, AVS, Pride of Baltimore, Bluenose

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