NWSL's Duplicator II

There's evidently some confusion as to the difference between NWSL's Chopper and their Duplicator II. I find this puzzling since a quick search on Google answered my questions. Perhaps those confused people need to discover the Google website?

The Chopper is a simple device consisting of an arm pivoted on one end and with a single edge razor blade on the other. You chop through styrene strips/structural shapes. You are limited by the length of the razor blade and the depth that it will reliably cut straight (not much).

The Duplicator II is simply a jig that allows you to make repeatable cuts (actually scribed) in styrene sheet up to 8” in width and up to 0.100” thick.

Fig 1 shows the Duplicator II. We have a base on which is mounted two guide bars on the left and right. There is an Alignment Plate that slides up and down within these guide bars. Two plastic wing-nuts mounted on the guide bars lock down against the Alignment Plate to lock it in position. At the top is the Cutting Guide Bar. The two Red thumb-screws lock that against the guide bars.

Fig 2 : Here, I need 15 pieces of this .040” styrene – all the same length. You simply loosen the two black wing-nuts and slide the Alignment Plate until this length measures from the top of the Alignment Plate to the outside edge of the Cutting Guide Bar. You then lock the Alignment Plate down using the two black Wing-nuts. This sets the required length for repeatable cuts/scoring. Loosen the red thumb-screws, slide the plastic under the Cutting Guide Bar and against the Alignment Plate. Tighten down the red thumb-screws to lock the Cutting Guide Bar against the styrene.

You then score the plastic. I used the X-Acto knife in the photo but you can use whatever makes you happy I suppose. I used the standard - “flip the knife over and score with the back of the blade” technique for scoring styrene.

Fig 3 : Same thing here, I turned the Duplicator II around so you can see what I am doing. The X-Acto blade is drawn across the styrene a couple of times until you have a nice score. The Cutting Guide Bar does just that .. it guides the blade.

Fig 4 : Loosen the red thumb-screws, pull out the styrene, snap. Then repeat the process as much as needed. Excellent. Does exactly what it says it does.