Balsa strip cutter / slicer

thingiverse

I don't see one that fits my need, cut 9mm thick wood planks, sturdy, precision, easy to use and also easy to print, so I tried to create my own. https://youtu.be/5J7KarZItto . This Balsa stripper allows you to cut a thick balsa planks(9~10mm) and adjustable depth(by turning the knob) from roughly 1~5mm(or 6~10mm from 2nd blade location). It takes over 6 hours for me to print and requires one M5 0.8 50mm hex bolt and 2x M5 nuts(other bolt/nut in similar size might also fit, like 10 32). You can use a shorter hex bolt, but if you use a longer bolt, need to test fit the cavity inside the slider. The blades I use came from a generic segmented/breakable utility knife, 0.3mm thick and ~8.5mm width for each breakable sections. I inserted 3 blades on both sides, however one of them is a bit lower and I have to break it off. Maybe just one side is good enough to avoid this issue? The down side to that is you'll have to run through it twice. Or maybe I should insert the blades in the middle of the print? We're new in this glider/airplane building and have quite a few building/trimming questions. If you don't mind and willing to help out, please leave a comment/PM. [Update] 1. The slider and the knob has an angle of 5.8°, which is difficult to rotate from the slicer, at least the Cura I used. I rotate them before export and update the stl to include the change. 2. If you have bridging problems, you can use the file "splitterBase_wBladeSupport". I added few thin lines in the blade slots to prevent holes closed up by the top layers. Since I did not print this one, I do not know if those thin lines can be clean off easily. 3. I snapped off the one blade that is off center and it strips the wood evenly now. I also use the Dremel cutting wheel to scratch the protruded blade surfaces, adjacent to the base. It is easy to break it off after that, even with just the fingers. Put epoxy/hot glue to cover the rest of sharp edges.