Balsa Stripper

thingiverse

The Balsa Stripper is a handy tool for creating strips of balsa wood in various widths. Instead of buying pre-cut wood, it's easy and cost-effective to cut the strips from sheet wood as needed. This approach also allows you to utilize offcuts for strip wood. This versatile stripper can handle balsa wood up to 6mm thick / 1/4" in thickness and 30mm wide / 1 1/4". However, some harder grades of balsa may not cut well at maximum thickness. In reality, the actual thickness that passes under the cutter is 7mm. By removing the rear slider bolt and securing it with the front bolt only, a width of 50mm / 2" can be cut. I designed the stripper parts in Fusion 360 and exported them as STL files at a 90-degree angle. To prepare them for printing, I loaded the files into Cura and rotated them flat. The stripper body was oriented with its length on the Y axis to fit my printer better. The scalpel blade holder was created as right-handed (the angle of the blade), so when it's aligned with the X axis, it can be easily flipped to provide a left-handed version. In fact, I used this feature in the photos since I'm left-handed. Another version of the blade holder is included, which accommodates the 9mm / 3/8" wide blade (with snap-off ends) commonly found in cheap throwaway knives. Other knife blades may also fit this design. To print my Balsa Stripper, I used the following settings: 1. Striper body: PLA at a layer height of 0.2mm and 80% fill. 2. Slider: PLA at a layer height of 0.2mm and 80% fill. 3. Blade holder: PLA at a layer height of 0.2mm and 100% fill, ensuring that either the left or right-handed version is printed. 4. Two slider washers: PLA at a layer height of 0.2mm and 100% fill. To assemble the stripper, you'll need: 1. Two - 4mm bolts x 20mm (I used button allen head bolts), washers, and nuts to secure the blade holder to the slider. 2. Two - 5mm x 20mm Hex head bolts, washers, and wing nuts to attach the slider to the body. Wing nuts facilitate easy adjustment. 3. A Swann Morton No 11 scalpel blade or a suitable blade that fits one of the holders. Update: Following another maker's design, I've added thumbnuts as an alternative to wing nuts, which is a great idea! The updated parts are printed in PLA with a layer height of 0.2mm and 80% fill. Two 5mm nuts are required to fit into the recesses of the thumbnuts. Update 26/09/18: In response to a request for a shorter main body, I've added 'Stripper body short', which is 20mm shorter (10mm on each side) to accommodate smaller printers. Print Settings: * Rafts: No * Supports: No * Resolution: 0.2mm * Infill: 80%