Back in the day (until the 80’s, at least) most of your better rocket and plane kits advertised balsa parts that were “die cut”. Sometimes the parts were cleanly cut, oftentimes - not so much. Either way, it was a huge time saver when a lot of parts had to be cut out. I could never picture what balsa-cutting dies looked like or how they were made. I’ve searched YouTube to no avail. Anyone around have any insight on how balsa die cutting was done?
My Answer:
Custom cut and bent razor blades were locked into a wooden block. The black pieces on the outside were soft rubber that would compress when pressure was applied allowing the blades to be exposed. They were good for quite a few clean cuts, then the blades would dull and "die-crush".
I only have print shop experience when die cutting was done on thick card stock using a Heidelberg printing press. Thin balsa could probably be cut on one of these multi-purpose presses. Thicker balsa might require some sort of clamping press.
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