Review - UMM-USA Micro Mitre Box

Tool Review: UMM-USA Micro Mitre Box - 45-90-60; price $US20 (http://www.um m-usa.com)

Advantages: invaluable item for sharp, precise cuts in tubing and rodding a s well as heavy strip

Disadvantages: few noted

Rating: Highly Recommended

Recommendation: for anyone upgrading or scratchbuilding models

I have learned at shows that when the UMM-USA folks show up they usually h ave something neat to show in their selection of tools and modeling aids. S ure enough, at AMPS 2013 they had several new items.

This little gem is one of the best new items I have seen in some time, but the reason why requires a bit of explanation.

Anyone who does any sort of upgrading of older kits, improving details, or scratchbuilding usually has items like a Northwest Short Line ?Chopper ? of some sort or one of the cheap knockoffs of that invaluable item. But other than thin strip, once you start moving into heavy strip or solid rod ding the razor blade cannot cut smoothly and tends to shove its way through the plastic, creating a slanted cut. This makes the part either unusable o r requires a ?True Sander? type tool to fix the angled ends. Tubing ten ds to be crushed if thinwall and suffer the same ?baloney slicing? effe ct if thickwalled.

There are items like the trusty K&S tubing cutter but that is difficult to use with small diameter tubing or rodding and is also difficult to get a g ood idea of where it is cutting once the material is placed in the vise jaw s and they are tightened.

Conventional mitre boxes can be used, but are difficult to use with very t hink stock and unless offset to allow the saw to go past the bottom of the box creates a raggedy cut.

Enter the Micro Mitre Box which is designed to work with the UMM-USA Razor Saw using .005" blades or other similar thickness microsaws. The tool is 9

0mm long and has a gate in it 5.5mm wide for material, as well as a stop th at can be adjusted at one end for either angled or vertical stops for the m aterial. Depth to the mitre section is about 50mm.

There are three slits in the box ? 90 degrees, 45 degrees, and 30/60 deg rees, so you have the option of which one to use to cut your material. As n oted it will only accept the micro saw blades or a think razor blade in the slots.

For me this is a Godsend as it makes my life much easier now when cutting tubing and rodding to a specific length.

Overall this is a tool that anyone who likes to fix up older kits or impro ve parts on existing kits, as well as the hardcore scratchbuilder, will fin d an asset on his workbench.

Cookie Sewell

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