I bought some 1/4" and 1/2" square lengths of balsa wood with the idea of cutting it into cube. I was hoping the wood was soft enough to use use an xacto knife to cut throught it, but it isn't. After sliceing at once cut on the 1/4" piece for abot 5 minutes from all angles and not making much progres, I got a tack hammer and hammered the knife through it, and I got one almost perfect cube.
When I tried just scoring a starting cut in about 30 seconds and then using the hammer the wood splintered.
Does anyone have idea how to cut this wood. A table saw will take away too much material, and the only way to get anything even close to a cube is to use the rip fence, but since I'd be cross cutting the wood, at best I'd be throwing the cubes all over the room like bullets :).
A mitre saw is an option, but it also removes too much material (though not nearly as bad as a table saw), it will be hard to get an accurate cut, and the edge won't be very smooth so I'll have to sand it further reducing the accuracy of the cube and the wood is so soft it splinters too easily.
Jason
X-Acto (and other companies, I'm sure) makes a "razor saw" that would do the job nicely. It's a thin blade, very fine-toothed saw that screws into the large X-Acto knife handle. The one I bought came with a little aluminum miter box that would help you make your cuts square. Check your hobby shop in the X-Acto knife section.
And if you want cubes that would be a little more durable than balsa, you might want to try basswood stock. With the razor saw it would take only a few more seconds to cut basswood than balsa.
--Randy