Possibly useful new toy - Art Mac MicroMitre fillet chopper

[Ron Burns]

Hi all,

Today I picked up a picture framer's fillet cutter hoping I will be able to use it for chopping planks quickly and precisely. I think I've figured out a way to adapt a mini mitre gauge from a small table saw to allow me to do any angle needed. In it's current factory state it cuts 2 perfect 45 degree cuts at once in stock up to 1.5 inches. I'm curious to know if anyone has ever played with one of these?  I'm looking for a manual but don't think the company exists any longer. It would be nice to have the blade sharpening angles etc.

[Bob Cleek]

For sure. They are very handy for building model case frames. It's nice to have an easy way to put a perfect 45 degree cut on a piece of wood. They are a rather specialized tool, though. It depends upon how often you need to make a small 45 degree cut for a joint. There are other ways to do it, of course, but few so accurate. I've only used them on picture framing molding stock. They aren't cheap if you set out to buy one. A chisel or a hobby knife will cut most model plank stock without any problem. One might find a standard guillotine paper cutter to be just as capable and even handier for more jobs and at a fraction of the cost.

 

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Edited February 5, 2021 by Bob Cleek

[Ron Burns]

16 minutes ago, Bob Cleek said:

They aren't cheap if you set out to buy one

Hi Bob, 

In this case the price was very, very negligible. I think these things were around 500.00 new and used they still go for around 150.00. I bought it for a very small fraction of that! Personally I have a hard time with a hobby knife on a 1/4 inch plank. I can never keep the plank still enough under a straight edge nor get the cut perfectly up and down. This chopper can be used to cut pretty much any angle if you abandon the 'fence'. I'll give it a shot and figure it out.

One can never have too many toys 

[Ryland Craze]

I have an older version of the NWSL Chopper.  It has served me well for many years.  You can still find the original on Amazon.

 

[Canute]

The Chopper in its various iterations works great on thin plastic and wood. I have 3 and like the one Ryland showed, since I can replace the cutting surface. Older ones were more likely to get gouged out under the blade. Cutting much over 1/8 inch thick stock, the razor blade deforms, marring the cut. I've done better with a low sided miter box, in conjunction with a razor saw, to make good standard angle cuts. If you need different angles, you may have to cut those angles into your miter box or make up separate cutting fixtures to cut those special angles. We're all tool junkies to a lesser or a greater degree, but sometimes KISS comes into play, too.

[Ron Burns]

4 hours ago, Canute said:

We're all tool junkies to a lesser or a greater degree, but sometimes KISS comes into play, too.

I go stupid when I see over engineered solutions and when this came up for 25 bucks (Canuck money!) I had to jump on it! My future daughter in law has already got her eyes on it for doing her own frames. Up until now I've been using the good old razor saw, micro mitre box etc and will always have them around. It's just nice to have options

[Canute]

Cheap is good and it will get other use, too. Good deal.