If you have ever used a scalpel to cut something tougher than an eraser, you can appreciate a hot knife or better yet, an ultrasonic cutter. Saws work too, but they have their own issues. [This Old Tony] uses a hobby store tool to cut some plastic and wood, then demos a commercial ultrasonic cutter to show how a blade can sail through with less brute force. The previous requires some muscle, finesse, and eventually a splash of Bactine antiseptic. The video can also be seen after the break.
This is more than a tool review, [Tony] takes it apart with a screwdriver and offers his snarky comments. On the plus side is that it cuts polystyrene well where a regular knife won’t do more than scratch or shatter it. Meanwhile in the negative category we don’t hear a definitive price, but they seem to cost half as much as his mini-lathe. If you need an estimated return on investment, consider the price of two-thousand X-acto blades, but you may also wish to factor in the reduced hand calluses. While you are shopping, maybe also think about a set of earplugs; when the video gets to 17:30 he tries to cut a ceramic fitting and manages to make a child-deafening screech instead. We warned you.
This is a fitting follow-up to his unsuccessful attempt to turn an ultrasonic cleaner into an ultrasonic cutter, but we have seen success converting a tooth scaler into a cutter.
I got mine for $299, same model he’s got there. I haven’t decided if it was worth the money for utility’s sake, but has an unmistakable cool factor….
Considering the price of ultrasonic cleaners I expect this to be more in the $30 range.
According to the video, about the cost of 1000 X-Acto blades.
My mid-70s UK-made electric engraver cuts plastics about as well as this does. It has an Exacto-like chuck and came with a range of bits including a carbide point, small saw blades, grinding bits and of course knife blades. I use it with the common #11 Exacto blade.and jigsaw blades. It’s mains powered and has a dial and on-off-on switch for coarse to fine hammering. It makes a hell of a racket when in use and has a duty cycle of a few minutes on then ten minutes off. Over 40 years old and it still works fine, I used it just the other day to engrave the date onto some new eneloop batteries. There are lots of engravers on eBay that probably work just as well as mine does, and go for pretty cheap.