Any tried/used the new Bosch Nano Blade saw?

[boxbrownie]

Just wondered if anyone has experience of the new Nanoblade “chainsaw” type miniature saw?

 

I thought it might be useful for cutting through track and scenery when layed across baseboard joins. To elaborate I have designed my latest layout to have three baseboard sections if and when it ever needs moving, but I didn’t want to have the gaps in the rails (or the scenery) there until necessary so have layed it across the board joins, I have designed the layout so where joins are it is just plain track (no points), it is sectional Trix-C track with ballast so alignment is not an issue.

 

But really interested to hear of anyone who has used these nano saws.

[Harlequin]

Do you know what the tooth pitch is and what the cut width is? (I looked but couldn't quickly find the info.)

Those will be very important factors for cutting the small items us modellers use, like rails.

 

[Paul_in_Ricky]

As they only offer blades for wood at the moment, it's not likely to be much use for cutting track.

[gordon s]

Hadn’t seen one of these before, but I’m interested to read the feedback. Just read some of the data and watched a YouTube video and it appears the saw blade is a drop in unit. No problem with that, but with the pricing between £22 and £30 for a replacement blade unit, you wouldn’t want to come across many screws in the cutting process. Could be an expensive mistake........

Edited January 3, 2021 by gordon s

[Oldddudders]

You've reminded me I have one that needs charging. Bought a while back but unused. I think I saw PaulRhb using one on his SudHarz layout construction, and thought it looked useful. Cordless and a comfortable handhold, but it will take all the fingers off your other hand if you let it. 

[boxbrownie]

AFAIK the blade cut width is 0.9mm according to the specs.

 

I am not aware that the blades are just for wood, not been able to find that out yet.

 

edit, apparently it just specs softwood, hardwood and plastics at the moment.

Edited January 3, 2021 by boxbrownie

[gordon s]

If it’s not man enough, you could always use one of these.....

 

It will cut sleepers easily enough, but might pull the rails out of the chairs.....

 

 

[KingEdwardII]

I'm scratching my head to understand why one of these Nanoblade saws would be better at fine cuts in track (etc) than a Dremel (other brands are available  ). That's what I use for these sort of cuts and there are a variety of cutting tools available for the Dremel that suit various materials. For track the thin disk cutters are great - very fast, accurate and a minimum of fuss. The only hassle is the need to clean up the fine metal particles thrown off as you cut.

 

Yours, Mike.

[boxbrownie]

10 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

I'm scratching my head to understand why one of these Nanoblade saws would be better at fine cuts in track (etc) than a Dremel (other brands are available  ). That's what I use for these sort of cuts and there are a variety of cutting tools available for the Dremel that suit various materials. For track the thin disk cutters are great - very fast, accurate and a minimum of fuss. The only hassle is the need to clean up the fine metal particles thrown off as you cut.

 

Yours, Mike.

Because getting a dremmel absolutely square on when cutting quite deeply is difficult when there is a limit on the diameter of cutting disc you can use, the nano blade looked interesting because it can go deeper and easier to keep square with obstructions around.

 

I have a dremmel and tried a sample cut and certain areas will be nigh on impossible to get a deep square cut because of the relatively large motor/handle that lays flat across the layout with your hands wrapped around it.

 

I am not saying the dremmel is crap, I was looking for a better alternative 

[boxbrownie]

14 hours ago, gordon s said:

If it’s not man enough, you could always use one of these.....

 

It will cut sleepers easily enough, but might pull the rails out of the chairs.....

 

 

When you look at these now it makes you wonder why they never thought of doing this to a chain saw before.

[Harlequin]

9 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Because getting a dremmel absolutely square on when cutting quite deeply is difficult when there is a limit on the diameter of cutting disc you can use, the nano blade looked interesting because it can go deeper and easier to keep square with obstructions around.

 

I have a dremmel and tried a sample cut and certain areas will be nigh on impossible to get a deep square cut because of the relatively large motor/handle that lays flat across the layout with your hands wrapped around it.

 

I am not saying the dremmel is crap, I was looking for a better alternative 

 

https://www.dremel.com/gb/en/p/dremel-right-angle-attachment-575-v224

 

[boxbrownie]

22 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

 

https://www.dremel.com/gb/en/p/dremel-right-angle-attachment-575-v224

 

Now that’s very interesting, might actually do the job I need......will have to upgrade my dremmel though, mines rather old and not on the list, but hey Ho works out about the same cost as the Bosch all in.

 

Edit : Ouch! Works out rather a lot more than the Bosch.......I shall look around at discount prices now, rather than the Dremmel site prices 

Edited January 4, 2021 by boxbrownie

[KingEdwardII]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

I have a dremmel and tried a sample cut and certain areas will be nigh on impossible to get a deep square cut because of the relatively large motor/handle that lays flat across the layout with your hands wrapped around it.

 

You might look at the Dremel 225 flexible shaft or equivalent, which has a much smaller diameter than the main Dremel multitool body:

 

https://www.dremeleurope.com/general/en/dremel®flexibleshaft-223-ocs-p/

 

I use that for more hard-to-reach places. There are also cutting disks up to 38mm available for the Dremel, which give quite a deep cut.

 

I suppose the other piece of kit I'd consider using if I have a need for deeper cuts is a jigsaw. I normally use one of those for slicing through plywood, but there are metal cutting blades available for jigsaws and I suspect it is going to be easier to keep a jigsaw in line with the desired cut than something like the Nanoblade, although I have no experience using a Nanoblade.

 

Yours,  Mike.

[boxbrownie]

38 minutes ago, KingEdwardII said:

 

You might look at the Dremel 225 flexible shaft or equivalent, which has a much smaller diameter than the main Dremel multitool body:

 

https://www.dremeleurope.com/general/en/dremel®flexibleshaft-223-ocs-p/

 

I use that for more hard-to-reach places. There are also cutting disks up to 38mm available for the Dremel, which give quite a deep cut.

 

I suppose the other piece of kit I'd consider using if I have a need for deeper cuts is a jigsaw. I normally use one of those for slicing through plywood, but there are metal cutting blades available for jigsaws and I suspect it is going to be easier to keep a jigsaw in line with the desired cut than something like the Nanoblade, although I have no experience using a Nanoblade.

 

Yours,  Mike.

Yes I saw the 38mm cutting disc, should be just deep enough, I hope.......as for the Nanoblade apparently it is much more accurate than an ordinary jigsaw for fine straight cuts, although it does seem to be being pushed more for gardening than craft work presently, probably because there’s gold in them thar green lawns and bushes! 
 

I wouldn’t want to use a normal jigsaw for cutting track and rails, far too much vibration would surely cause damage.

Edited January 4, 2021 by boxbrownie

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

far too much vibration would surely cause damage.

I was surprised how successfully I cut a turntable aperture recently with a cheap jigsaw - but things several feet away did indeed dance a jig while I was doing it!

[cravensdmufan]

I got a cheap flexi shaft for my Dremel off the 'bay which works great, especially for track cutting with a large diameter disc allowing a straight cut downwards. For the amount I use it, wasn't really worth getting the branded one. 

[boxbrownie]

34 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I was surprised how successfully I cut a turntable aperture recently with a cheap jigsaw - but things several feet away did indeed dance a jig while I was doing it!

Certainly if you want to cut anything but a straight line a jigsaw with a thin flexi blade works wonders, to get the cut dead straight though a “longer” blade (as in teeth to back of blade) and a guide is most useful.

 

The Nanoblade apparently is good at straight cuts not only due to the blade “length” but it has very, very little vibration.

[TheQ]

I've a Nano Blade saw, I was using it yesterday, absolutely great for straight lines in plywood MDF etc or solid planks.

Rail... it would just tear the track to pieces.

 

The Nano is also good for plunge cutting, so really good for squares in a sheet material.

[cravensdmufan]

40 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I've a Nano Blade saw, I was using it yesterday, absolutely great for straight lines in plywood MDF etc or solid planks.

Rail... it would just tear the track to pieces.

 

The Nano is also good for plunge cutting, so really good for squares in a sheet material.

Thanks for that info which is timed perfectly for me - I'm currently rebuilding my layout and have just got all new 9mm birch ply sheets.  I wasn't looking forward to cutting 18 holes for the solenoid point motors (of which I have loads from a large previous layout) so I may treat myself to the Bosch.

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

I've a Nano Blade saw, I was using it yesterday, absolutely great for straight lines in plywood MDF etc or solid planks.

Rail... it would just tear the track to pieces.

 

The Nano is also good for plunge cutting, so really good for squares in a sheet material.

That’s the info I was asking for, thank you very much.........maybe they will bring a “metal” type blade out in the future, but for now it looks like a cutting disc of some kind is favourite.

[PaulRhB]

I wouldn’t use it on track but very good in wood. I retrofitted magnets on Lulworth using a block to control depth.