Here’s one of the surprises that I found at NATS this year in Fort Wayne. Totally unexpected due to the lowest price that I have seen and what has really turned out to be a nice quality unit. I’ve looked at these ultrasonic cutters twice now and I’ve gotten a few recommendations from people, and then I’ve looked at the price and said I’m gonna keep going and just maybe buy a new set of cutters. In the end, I was still ending up with some broken resin and chipped resin on some of the finer 3D parts that I’ve been purchasing. Jeff Hearn from Squadron was showing this off at their booth and I took a few minutes to stop, watch what he was doing, and ask a few questions about it. It definitely looked like it was worth the small investment to just give this a try.

I got this home and started right off the bat on the 3-D prints for my USS Lexington battle cruiser in 1/350th a scale. I’ve also used it on a set of blade fold supports in 1/35 scale. These two experiences were really two different types of 3-D printed supports. The battle cruiser supports were very thick and the blade fold supports were very thin. When I started with the battle cruiser, I was using it like I would a hobby knife. If you look at the picture of the curved blade, you see how it tapers to a point and your first inclination is to use it just like a hobby knife. I was struggling to make the cuts in the thick supports like this. Had it up to the 5 setting all the time. At the show, I know one of the comments I heard was that you can sharpen these blades. So, I was wondering if that’s what I needed to do and I went back to the source to ask the guys at Squadron about it. I got some good support, one of the key things that I learned was that you don’t want to use this style like a hobby knife. You really want to use the tip of that blade in order to push on the supports gently. Now, having done this, and seeing how it drastically changed the amount of effort it took to cut the supports, I definitely think that having that real fine concentrated vibration at the tip is what makes the cuts so quick. You can get away with using the side of the blade on the really thin supports, but you will notice, as I learned with the helicopter blade supports, that it works much better just pushing with the tip of the blade itself. Since then, Squadron has put together a video short showing exactly how to do this. Also of note, the edge of the blade is good to lightly sand off any remaining support nub that was left on the part 👍 So now I’m on my third kit with this unit, a 1/48 Greyhound, and it has been a great success for me. I define success as no chipped resin parts and no broken parts as a result of the cutter breaking the thin 3-D print when in the process of removing a support. In terms of operation, it is super lightweight. It’s thin, doesn’t have a bulky front section, or a very heavy back, it’s well balanced. Initially it took the battery awhile to charge, I had tried it after 2 hours with no success so ended up leaving it for 8 before I got back to look at it. So far, the battery, once I’ve got it fully charged, has lasted two weeks just sitting on the bench between uses and it still had full power. I appreciated that. I didn’t have to get it out and charge it in order to use it again after sitting on the shelf for a couple weeks. I’ll also reiterate the weight and how handy that is because it doesn’t put a lot of strain on your hand when you’re using it. The end of the handle, where the blade attaches, has a small bluish colored LED light to alert you that the unit is on. It also has your typical display for battery power, energy setting, and the little Squadron logo. I really think this is the best kept secret for 3-D printed resin support removal.

This was a tool that I purchased on my own. Nobody asked me to buy it or to buy it in order to do a review. One of our IPMS Reviewer Corp members saw it in a picture I submitted and asked me about it, wondering if I would mind doing a review of it for the group. Thanks to Squadron for making this great unit.