I have lots of scrap balsa and ply with me, left over from the builds of several kits and scratch builds over the years.
Most are like 3"x36" with parts like ribs , formers cut off.
I was wondering what would be the best use of them. Never wanted to throw them, so have them collected with me.

The best use i can think of might be to chop sticks out of them. I think i can easily get out sticks of varying thicknesses, and then later, use as needed ( for reinforcements, stringers etc ?

That brings me to a question, any easy way of cutting long lengths of aircraft light plywood ? Circular saw ? Dremel ? What is best advised ?

Long Steel scale/ruler with absolutely straight edge and three to four delicate but firm runs of absolutely brand new tipped good quality cutter blade.

Well doing it manually would be pretty time consuming I was thinking of using some kind of power tool to get a bunch of sticks from my scrap.

get a jig saw..the small hand held one!

Whats the smallest Jugsaw that you get ? The Skil one ? eg 
http://cgi.ebay.in/SKIL-JIGSAW-65MM-400W-VARIABLE-SPEED-TILT-ABLE-/250692814555?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item3a5e74c6db ?

Well, what I've seen till today is that most carpenters use the Skill jig saw, but there are more Chinese ones that do the same job and are much cheaper compared to Skill, Black and Decker also has one, but would not be knowing about the pricing!

-Dorwin

http://www.ioffer.com/i/craftsman-electric-table-jig-saw-lqqk-35-00-12675443

Table top jig saw is also good option for cutting absolutely straight pieces.

if you want to strips - you need a circular saw - 6 inch blade
with a fence that regulates the strip width.

you can cut about 100 strips 4mm and 6mm wide in one hour

Thanks Saikat, Sunderamvelar and ControlFlyer.

I am debating on what would be a better investment for the hobby - A circular saw or a Jig saw,
Though i need to cut these strips out for now, I would like to use the saw later to cut formers and ribs etc.

I guess Jigsaw would be more useful ?

in that case get a scroll saw

Scroll saw looks like the best bet. Thanks ! What should i ask for in local market ? ie its local name ?
Not sure anyone would understand "Scroll saw" when I go out lookin !

Hi Gaurav,
Go to the Electrical shop where they cut our boards(Mica Board) for switches and plugs.They will surely tell you where to get.

Circular saw is good for cutting straight cut. Instead of getting a huge circular saw, one can get mini battery operated Drill/Dremel and put a dimond cuttoff wheel. They are much finer and would be much forgiving for Balsa. Anyway, you won't cut balsa thicker 10-15mm.


For cutting curved section, these JigSaw I guess would be better. They can double for straight as well. I found something on the Net:

http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-JIGSAW-and-SCROLL-SAW,6673.html

$58 + $16 Shipping to India. Looks quite handy. Questions:
1. Are such JigSaw/Scroll Saws workable with Balsa ? They would definitely work with Plywood, but Balsa is much tender and fragile.

2. Has someone seen such mini Jigsaw in Indian tool shops ?

Found this : http://www.youngindiafilms.in/cooltool.html

Looks like what we are looking for. But is very expensive..

Looks kool Gaurav. Bad thing they branded it as a Kids play thing (Jigsaw is dangerous, it may cut fingers quite easily).

How much it costs Gaurav ? I could not find the price.

After doing some further research, I found that Cool Tool is a german company and they have a line of products. Playmat is for children and is pretty safe though limited in power. Max ply cutting depth is 6mm.

Now, i stumbled across a new device by Dremel - that seems to do exactly what I am after - Dremel Trio - Its advertised as a Router, Cutter and a sander.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/CategoryProducts.aspx?catid=85