cutting out multiple windows

A piercing saw with a fine blade helps if using wills card or very carfully a smaller knife like the ones from x-acto or swan morton will do, all available from good model shops or Expo tools.

Ian Gearing

Your idea of making a die is a good one: I did something similar by carefully cutting the outline of the window into a block of wood. In my case, I wanted an arched top so I used a tank cutter blade first and cut in the straight lines afterwards. Stanley knife blades are too brittle to work with, so I used some of the metal banding you sometimes get wrapped around heavy crates and Araldited it into the grooves I had cut into the wood. (An old clock spring might do equally well) The resulting die almost cut through the card I was using but the resulting impression was easy enough to finish off with a scalpel and resulted in a row of windows the same size. It's worth while experimenting with your original idea.

Hope this helps.

ZD

An option to consider is looking for a Mount Cutter in an art shop, basically a sharp knife on a runner to give a straight bevelled edge in mounting card. This might speed things up a bit and guarantees a straight cut.

HTH

Matt

California's about to get rid of all it's punch car voting systems. You could get one of those, I think the chads are about the same size...

What about making a square of wood the same size as the wanted window but with a given thickness. You then get a wooden block and attach your square to it. Then cut some narrow channels on all four sides of the square. Then attach the square type razorblades using epoxy in these grooves (snap in half and cut to length).

"Mark W"

Use the method common in North America for scratch built buildings.

First, use plastic sheet. 40 thou is a handy size that you can buy in large sheets t a plastics retailer.

Mark out your building to scale on the plastic.

Mark all the windows with an "X"

Using parallel lines linking all the bottom and tops of the windows, cut the wall into strips, one along each line of windows.

When you've done that, cut the windows out (The pieces with the "X"), and discard them.

You are now left with a bunch of rectangles that are the wall pieces.

Glue them all back together to form the walls, now without the windows.

Bingo, you have a wall full of window opening just waiting for you to fit window castings into.

Cover the walls with your favourite brick/concrete/whatever covering and use the discarded window pieces (The "X"s) for strengthening.

Believe me, it's the simplest and easiest way to make window openings.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Thanks to all who replied. I think I will stick to developing my original idea. I may post a few pics on a binary group when I have finished if anyone interested.

ZD