Cutting the slot by hand without a drill bit

[Briarfox]

I've been hand cutting stems for awhile and I've never been to happy about using a drill bit to smear open the airway. In the end it comes out ok, but it always seems to be thicker then I would like. Just for kicks, I tried to just the slot by hand.

I used the dremel saw bit to give myself a guide. This is nothing new, I used this as a guide when using a drill bit to smear the opening. A few weeks back I had made a tool that Jeff had in one of his video blogs. It's a sawzall blade that has been ground down to a point at the tip. He used this to clean up the slot when he was done drilling.

Well, I decided to try to cut the slot with this blade tool figuring I would not get anywhere. Getting it started was a little bit of a pain but I managed to get a perfectly straight slot that needed next to no work when I was done. The only issue was that the slot was a tad smaller then the 1/16 bit I used to drill through it. That was easily fixed with a file.

I just thought I'd share this will you guys. It worked beautifully and it took about the same amount of time with better results. I had been working on a stem slotting tool and have decided to chuck the idea and stick with cutting it by hand.

I'll try and get some photos up.

[TRS]

I'm still working on my first stem, but for the third or fourth time. The first couple go's at it I tried using the 1/16 bit and ended up mauling the slot nicely. After I saw that video I immediately whipped up a crude but functional version of the sawblade tool; I'm loving it.

[Nick]

I use a clipped scroll saw blade. The advantage is that the slender blade can get very deep, so that you have a nice deep slot. The downside is that because the blade is so thin, you have to follow it up with a file or drill bit. Generally I use all three. Scroll saw blade, then file and then the drill bit.

The blade is flexible, so you have to be careful not to bend it. Also, it helps the file the blade down on the non cutting side so it fits into the 1/16 hole better.