#9180ET - Prototype

I guess I will have to flag up an interest here - I am already a fan and constant user of Xuron Corp. cutting products for my model making antics! For sprue cutting, I have their #410 and also the excellent #2175ET with blades that are so tapered, and so sharp, they leave almost no clean up of parts once removed the sprue and can get into the tightest of places to ensure a clean cut where you want it. This is not really surprising as Xuron Corp. called upon a US master modeller to advise on the design.

I therefore felt very privileged to receive a prototype of their latest creation for ease of cutting Photo-Etched parts. What I like about this company is that they always seem to raise the bar of excellence by continual development of their products and this new cutter should be on the market by July, 2010.

Did I hear someone at the back of the class murmur, "But they already have a PE cutter in their catalogue!" Of course they do! What didn't you understand by the last sentence of the above paragraph? They have the excellent #440 PE scissors which I have been using for a while now, but this new cutter will be in addition to that product.

Xuron Corp. have once again called upon the expertise of said US master modeller to put his mind to the problems that beset us poor modellers in the trials and tribulations of creating (or not!) our masterpieces in plastic, metal and resin. The new Photo-Etch tool that will be coming into the market place is the #9180ET - a long nosed (2.3cms), very tapered (0.5 x 0cms) and VERY sharp cutting tool. Be careful.

The handles fit very nicely into either hand and the grips are made from their bright blue Xuro-Rubber (TM) which means that the cutters are extremely comfortable to use. Apart from the length of nose and the taper of the blades, where these cutters differ from #440 is the fitting of a simple 'U' shaped return spring which is notched into each operating arm of the tool. It is unobtrusive and does not interfere with the cutting operation. The spring returns the cutting blades to the open position with just the right amount of tension. I would strongly advise fitting the clear plastic tube over the blades when the cutter is not in use!

OK, so that is the product. How did it work in practice? I have just been building a World War I bi-plane and for the rigging I used some PE parts from Radu Brinzan's amazing array of PE accessories. For a quick product test, there are some minute (1/32 scale) PE 'nuts' as part of the flying wire assembly and I still had some of these left on the 'sprue'. When you consider how small these items are, I was able to remove them easily with the very tips of the #9108ET with just a 'micron' of PE to be removed later with a scalpel. That test was almost a worst case scenario in my book, and this cutter came through with flying colours which bodes well for future projects. One word: Excellent. This is a quality product and another winner from this stable.

So what do we think?
Xuron Corp. just gets better and better with tools that are suitable for most modelling applications. They are designed by modellers for modellers, and it can't get much better than that. I understand the retail price will be in the region of US$ 25 which is good value for money in my book. To see all Xuron Corp. products visit www.xuron.com and also check out my earlier review of their other cutting tools.

Overall: 10/10

My thanks to Abby Robey and the nice folk at Xuron Corp., 62, Industrial Park Road, Saco, ME 04072 USA for the prototype.

Peter Buckingham