Professional Single-Blade Hobby Cutter

Mirage Hobby single-bladed modeling sprue cutters

Professional cutters from the Polish brand Mirage Hobby with a single ground edge. One jaw is sharp, the other forms a flat supporting surface, so the cut runs right against the part and leaves no white sprue nub on it. The jaws are made of chrome vanadium steel and are heat treated, which in a tool that works against hard plastic decides how long the edge will last. A return spring opens the handles on its own, so during longer sessions you do not have to spread your fingers apart.

Use

• separating parts from the sprues without tearing the plastic
• shortening plastic profiles, rods and tubes
• working with ABS, polypropylene and polyethylene
• cutting thin resin casting gates

How to use the cutters

Guide the edge so that the flat side of the jaw sits against the part, and never cut material that the tool will not bite through. Metal, steel wire and photo-etched parts do not belong in single-bladed cutters, because they chip the edge out of them. Cut in two passes, first the sprue further from the part and only then the rest of the nub flush. Wipe the jaws after work and put a drop of oil into the joint now and then.

Who the cutters are for

For modelers who build from injection-molded plastic and want a clean cut with no follow-up sanding, and for builders of figures and robot kits as well. The tool has sharp jaws, so store it out of the reach of children and watch where the cut-off remnant flies.