Personally I was skeptical about GH, I read and watched videos of many reviews before making the purchase, then I found them perfect, clearly "for me", I prefer to have a Tool that makes my life easier than one more kit, especially given my slowness in finishing a model
Pro:
it cuts like butter which results in no stress on the piece, no white marks, fractures or bend piece, even very fine pieces
no "ping in the outer space", the carpet moster feeds much less
clean cuts and much closer to the piece resulting in much less preparation work, sometimes I can even cut and glue directly
high quality product with good weight, feel sturdy in your hand
fine blade with which you can slip into tight spaces
cons
rather high cost
I believe that if they fall with the tip ,being of very hard metal, they break easily
the blade a few millimeters longer would not hurt
final judgement
tool made very well and very useful, I would recommend it to everyone...
simply a personal judgment and I understand the opposing views of Kurt and others, each has its own methods, standards and priorities
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Best side cutters?
Vicious
Joined: September 04, 2015
KitMaker: 1,517 posts
Armorama: 1,109 posts
Posted: Friday, July 05, 2019 - 11:21 AM UTC
KurtLaughlin
Joined: January 18, 2003
KitMaker: 2,402 posts
Armorama: 2,377 posts
Posted: Friday, July 05, 2019 - 11:54 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Same pattern emerges again... those who use God Hand, love it.
While I respect the rest of opinions (and of course everyone is free to do what they want with their money), it lacks an essential part as you have not tried them yourself. Would you discard a hotel following the opinion of people who has not been there, just thinks it's too expensive? Or not buy a car because someone says, without having driven it, that is not worth?
Would I avoid something because someone said it was bad without trying it myself? I would certainly give it some consideration, perhaps more consideration than if someone said it was good. Actual experience is not necessary to have a valid opinion. An extreme example: I have never eaten human feces. I do not care how delicious and nutritious person A says it is, or how awful and revolting person B says it is, I will not ever try it to find out for myself who was right.
In a more concrete example, I use drills to make holes to for detailing my models. I regularly can meet a tolerance on the hole diameter of +/- .001 inches (+/- .025mm). If someone offered to sell me drills that could meet a tolerance of +/-.0002 inches (+/-.005mm) for three times the cost, I would not buy them. I would be completely happy with my decision even without ever trying them because I know there is no benefit to having tighter tolerance holes in my modeling. Without a benefit, there is no justification for an additional cost, period.
There is also a saying over here: You must learn from the mistakes of others because you will not live long enough to make them on your own.
KL
babaoriley
Joined: June 23, 2017
KitMaker: 195 posts
Armorama: 179 posts
Posted: Friday, July 05, 2019 - 04:19 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Who carries Godhand nippers in the US? I am not an ebay fan.
Amazon sells them. They also have a brand called Valtcan which are clearly modelled on the GH, reviewers say they're not quite as slick but also stand up better than GH to prolonged use. I've also heard good things about the nippers from Gundam Planet which are midway between Tamiya and GH in price.
The thing that makes me hesitate from buying GH is they're pricey and there are many accounts of them wearing out fairly fast--I don't want to buy a new set every few models.
ctkwok
Joined: May 21, 2018
KitMaker: 197 posts
Armorama: 183 posts
Posted: Friday, July 05, 2019 - 05:20 PM UTC
Had seen similar threads like these on various FB groups and they always devolve into exactly what happened here: those who are passionate about it and those who question both the quality and the price. You obviously don't need a tool like this, but the absence of anyone who had used it and complain should be a clue.
Next: who wants a Sonic cutter, it cuts PE with no flash!
Next: who wants a Sonic cutter, it cuts PE with no flash!
panzerbob01
Joined: March 06, 2010
KitMaker: 3,128 posts
Armorama: 2,959 posts
Posted: Friday, July 05, 2019 - 07:28 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Had seen similar threads like these on various FB groups and they always devolve into exactly what happened here: those who are passionate about it and those who question both the quality and the price. You obviously don't need a tool like this, but the absence of anyone who had used it and complain should be a clue.
Next: who wants a Sonic cutter, it cuts PE with no flash!
That's an interesting partitioning of the thread participants, Cody!
I'll guess that you consider those who focus on discussing brand-name cutters are "passionate" (about what? Brand-name cutters? Modeling? Cutting parts from sprues/runners?), while those who don't think expensive brand-name tools are necessary for the task under discussion and see no clear benefit to spending lots on something that can be bought for little yet do the actual job quite well are... dispassionate? I think that you will find that ALL the tool-discussing participants in this thread are certainly interested in the OP's question and in the subject of what tool is good for the job. We all have chosen our tools following whatever strategy we have with clear intent to successfully build our models. ALL of the participants are likely to be passionate about modeling - regardless of whether they think a cutter is worth more or less money!
But yes, in a different vein, you are quite correct, in that this thread, like many others, has moved along a sort of standard course; a question is raised, folks offer up view-points or opinions generally focused around one perspective on that question, followed by others with alternative perspectives and opinions... followed by folks who have no expressed interest in either or any perspective about the OP's question or the thread subject who comment about and sometimes poke fun at those participating in the subject discussion!
Thus, there are generally 3 groups who appear in these threads: two which passionately discuss and argue about the thread subject, and one which comments about other people being passionate about their interests!
Cheers! Bob
PS: I wouldn't expect anyone who plumps for buying some expensive brand-name tool to complain about it, and those of us who don't use or plump for those expensive brand-name tools to do a job we find cheaper tools do quite well are quite unlikely to complain about tools we don't have or use. I personally expect that all of the mentioned brand-name tools cut sprue just fine! I doubt anyone here thinks that those tools don't work well.
Wierdy
Joined: January 26, 2010
KitMaker: 570 posts
Armorama: 553 posts
Posted: Friday, July 05, 2019 - 09:11 PM UTC
Tamiya Sharp-pointed VS single-edged GodHand SN-120:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1ke85DT1w
Double-edged SPN-120 VS some other brands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqUAA0dg7Wk
And a couple of reviews from chinese guys. The pictures will tell the story!
http://www.moxing.net/2015/0608/5954.html
http://www.moxing.net/2016/0115/6903.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1ke85DT1w
Double-edged SPN-120 VS some other brands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqUAA0dg7Wk
And a couple of reviews from chinese guys. The pictures will tell the story!
http://www.moxing.net/2015/0608/5954.html
http://www.moxing.net/2016/0115/6903.html
Vicious
Joined: September 04, 2015
KitMaker: 1,517 posts
Armorama: 1,109 posts
Posted: Saturday, July 06, 2019 - 12:48 AM UTC
Quoted Text
The thing that makes me hesitate from buying GH is they're pricey and there are many accounts of them wearing out fairly fast--I don't want to buy a new set every few models.
Mine still has a perfect blade after 2 years but I use them as a special tool, where I can take advantage of its qualities, if not I use the Plato's that I pay a few bucks and do their dirty job very well where I don't need a perfect cut and flush with the piece.
TopSmith
Joined: August 09, 2002
KitMaker: 1,742 posts
Armorama: 1,658 posts
Posted: Saturday, July 06, 2019 - 03:17 AM UTC
Part of the issue is that people comment on what they use. if we could all sample a wide variety of whatever we are discussing then there might be more of a consensus.
Cody, I agree that the lack of any complaints about the Godhand nippers is an indicator of how well it works.
Bob, I don't think paying more precludes from complaining about how something works. Myself, I will grumble loudly if something I paid more for works less well. A heads up to others if you will.
Cody, I agree that the lack of any complaints about the Godhand nippers is an indicator of how well it works.
Bob, I don't think paying more precludes from complaining about how something works. Myself, I will grumble loudly if something I paid more for works less well. A heads up to others if you will.
ctkwok
Joined: May 21, 2018
KitMaker: 197 posts
Armorama: 183 posts
Posted: Saturday, July 06, 2019 - 05:49 AM UTC
Great summary Bob! I suppose the passion is about sharing our shocking experience of using GH the first time, after one decided to make the plunge for this fancy device! That wonderful feeling of knowing modeling is more fun than it could be is really sacred, and doesn't like to be doubted 
Perhaps one factor that really divides opinions is that the rather steep price difference of GH. I'm sure if it were at most 2X price of the Xurons people may just jump at it, but even when I'm lucky to get it at a really good sub-$40 price, one would question whether that extra is worth the experience, even if the person could well afford it. There could be consensus on which cutter may be better as various comparisons had done, but not on whether that price jump is worth that.
Also the whole deal with cutting parts off the sprue is so menial that it doesn't seem worth the $. When we talk about airbrushes no one really says the medium high range of airbrushes aren't worth it when compared with the lower end ones. This is often a jump from $50 to the $150 range. Cutting plastic like butter doesn't feel as exciting as beautiful camos.
Regarding blade wearing out, as Vicious said it is a precision tool and you don't use it on cuts that don't need them, so I also have my Tamiya 74123 as a more heavy duty cutter for stuff like road wheels on panzers. It seems an overhead to switch cutters, but I like speed builds (which is how I turned around Armorama reviews rather fast) so I got used to this combo. And honestly if building kits quickly isn't something you care about, there is little reason to pay for the premium. That's probably another hidden factor that didn't get discussed.
Perhaps one factor that really divides opinions is that the rather steep price difference of GH. I'm sure if it were at most 2X price of the Xurons people may just jump at it, but even when I'm lucky to get it at a really good sub-$40 price, one would question whether that extra is worth the experience, even if the person could well afford it. There could be consensus on which cutter may be better as various comparisons had done, but not on whether that price jump is worth that.
Also the whole deal with cutting parts off the sprue is so menial that it doesn't seem worth the $. When we talk about airbrushes no one really says the medium high range of airbrushes aren't worth it when compared with the lower end ones. This is often a jump from $50 to the $150 range. Cutting plastic like butter doesn't feel as exciting as beautiful camos.
Regarding blade wearing out, as Vicious said it is a precision tool and you don't use it on cuts that don't need them, so I also have my Tamiya 74123 as a more heavy duty cutter for stuff like road wheels on panzers. It seems an overhead to switch cutters, but I like speed builds (which is how I turned around Armorama reviews rather fast) so I got used to this combo. And honestly if building kits quickly isn't something you care about, there is little reason to pay for the premium. That's probably another hidden factor that didn't get discussed.
panzerbob01
Joined: March 06, 2010
KitMaker: 3,128 posts
Armorama: 2,959 posts
Posted: Saturday, July 06, 2019 - 08:07 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Part of the issue is that people comment on what they use. if we could all sample a wide variety of whatever we are discussing then there might be more of a consensus.
Cody, I agree that the lack of any complaints about the Godhand nippers is an indicator of how well it works.
Bob, I don't think paying more precludes from complaining about how something works. Myself, I will grumble loudly if something I paid more for works less well. A heads up to others if you will.
Greg;
Yes, people who buy expensive things DO complain about them. Higher cost is no guarantee of higher quality nor of better performance. It's only a guarantee that the buyer paid more for that item then he/she may have paid for some other similar item.
As to whether people who, after some thought, elect to buy more-costly brand-name cutters, specifically, will complain about them... Well, the available "data" suggest that few ever do complain about those mentioned cutters. You must draw your own conclusions as to why there are no apparent complaints about those tools. One hypothesis could be that they are all pretty good tools and all cut plastic sprue well (my stated thought on the matter - I'm pretty sure that the mentioned tools ARE all pretty good cutters that do that job just fine).
I would be pretty surprised to see folks who bought them complaining about how the "XXX tool just doesn't cut right, regardless of how I try", or "the blades on the YYY tool don't even match up! What crap!" Nobody here, least of all me, is remotely suggesting that any of these brand-name tools are actually disfunctional junk. IF they were, I expect that we all would have heard about that!
There's a lot of "market" and "buyer" psychology involved in buying more- over less-expensive (a relative term...) things. People ARE continually "sold" and "conditioned" to believe that cost = quality. SOMETIMES, this is true. Other times, NOT. "Expensive" is often relative to the VALUE of the JOB a tool is purchased to perform.
In the specific case of sprue cutters, there are evident schools-of-thought about "what the JOB is worth". Some are apparently willing to pay more - maybe lots more - for a tool which realistically actually doesn't do the actual menial task it will be used for much better than does a much cheaper tool. Buying expensive is certainly A-OK by me! But I'm with those who don't see marginal, if any, improvement in performance of the JOB worth that much. It's just a school-of-thought. A difference of opinion and perspective. Neither "side" is objectively "right". The cutter is used to nip parts off plastic runners - any cutter which works is a "good cutter", regardless of its price. Any cutter which doesn't do the JOB is a "bad cutter". Regardless of its price. In my opinion.
I think that most - maybe all - of us will gladly pay more for things we think matter more. Evidently sprue cutting falls into that category of things where some value it more than do others!
Cheers! Bob
TopSmith
Joined: August 09, 2002
KitMaker: 1,742 posts
Armorama: 1,658 posts
Posted: Saturday, July 06, 2019 - 08:08 PM UTC
Bob, it may be that I lack some tools that I am not aware I am missing. One of the reasons I am interested in a better set of nippers is that I often damage delicate parts trying to clean up where I cut them off the sprue. I figure a cleaner cut means less clean up and fewer damaged parts.
M4A1Sherman
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Saturday, July 06, 2019 - 10:45 PM UTC
Jeez... THREE FULL PAGES over a new pair of nippers... Amazing!
KurtLaughlin
Joined: January 18, 2003
KitMaker: 2,402 posts
Armorama: 2,377 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 12:23 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Bob, it may be that I lack some tools that I am not aware I am missing. One of the reasons I am interested in a better set of nippers is that I often damage delicate parts trying to clean up where I cut them off the sprue. I figure a cleaner cut means less clean up and fewer damaged parts.
Greg, if you want to, describe your current process and the damage you are seeing. The problem can be technique as much as tool.
KL
JSSVIII
Joined: March 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,169 posts
Armorama: 1,067 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 12:28 AM UTC
For me it's about TIME. I build like you Kurt, I clean every part, every time, and dry fit etc..., I don't have a lot of time for modeling anymore, so what little I get is worth a lot to me. I do not enjoy cleaning up parts though (even if I DID have more time that would still be true!), and the GH nippers save a LOT of time. They do not cut perfectly flush, but the cleanup is as slight as you are going to get. There are some parts that you are not going to get a benefit as Kurt mentioned, but they are the exception.
When I rough cut parts off the sprue, I take a scalpel and carefully trim the rest as close as I can get, then sand. With really good cutters, I get to skip the scalpel step(YES they can cut that close!) then finish sand, which saves what, 6-8 seconds? On a 500 part kit, (How many kit's are over 1000 nowadays?) that's around an hour that I don't have to spend doing something I DON"T ENJOY doing. PRICELESS LOL!
You still have to be careful, or you will get flat spots like those wheels that Kurt posted in those photos, these aren't a magic wand from the Harry Potter stories, but you can cut as close as you want without having to FLL or FIX a sprue connection point BECAUSE OF THE CUTTERS damaging the cut point, YOU might slip and damage the part , but the actual cutting action of these nippers will not.
When I rough cut parts off the sprue, I take a scalpel and carefully trim the rest as close as I can get, then sand. With really good cutters, I get to skip the scalpel step(YES they can cut that close!) then finish sand, which saves what, 6-8 seconds? On a 500 part kit, (How many kit's are over 1000 nowadays?) that's around an hour that I don't have to spend doing something I DON"T ENJOY doing. PRICELESS LOL!
You still have to be careful, or you will get flat spots like those wheels that Kurt posted in those photos, these aren't a magic wand from the Harry Potter stories, but you can cut as close as you want without having to FLL or FIX a sprue connection point BECAUSE OF THE CUTTERS damaging the cut point, YOU might slip and damage the part , but the actual cutting action of these nippers will not.
ctkwok
Joined: May 21, 2018
KitMaker: 197 posts
Armorama: 183 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 04:13 AM UTC
John, exactly as you said time is a major factor, and funny you mentioned scalpels! I was amazed one day that I hadn't touched my exacto blade in ages, lost it and didn't miss it a bit.
panzerbob01
Joined: March 06, 2010
KitMaker: 3,128 posts
Armorama: 2,959 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 04:55 AM UTC
Quoted Text
John, exactly as you said time is a major factor, and funny you mentioned scalpels! I was amazed one day that I hadn't touched my exacto blade in ages, lost it and didn't miss it a bit.
I, on the other hand, just love my Xacto #11! Each, of course, to their own!
@ALL: John presented a great rationale for a GH cutter based on time saved. Worth considering.
That rationale invites a comment about techniques...
When I rough-cut parts with my cheapo cutters, I always leave a nubbin that needs trimming-off and sometimes sanding or scraping. That rough cut is a very fast "snip!" - I'm spending very little time at positioning my cutter, other then ensuring that I don't torque or damage my part, as I am NOT trying to get close to the part at all. This means I then need to take a couple of secs to blade-off that nubbin with my knife. Sanding may or may not be needed after blading - a sharp Xacto is a very fine instrument that can easily shape its cut to rounded and complex forms.
Each part of this process is both "application of your cutting technique and skill with the chosen tool" AND a slice of TIME.
TIME may well be critical to many of us. But did I actually save time by using a finer cutter that I had to spend time carefully positioning directly adjacent my part? That, friends, is the point. IF I spend 1 sec to casually locate a crude cutter and snip!, followed by spending 5 - 6 secs trimming the nubbin with the knife, I may well have spent 6 - 8 secs "cutting" my part off. The question is... How long did I need to spend aligning and carefully using that finer cutter to make a close, "no-trimming" cut to detach that part? I would bet that the casual quick snip is a lot faster then any carefully-positioned and aligned fine cut - but the extra knife-work WILL add some time.
In the end, if the fine cutter takes maybe 5-6 secs all-up for the cut, and the 2-step takes 6 - 8 or maybe 10 secs... The saved time gets smaller.
One obvious counter to my point is that using one tool means NOT spending time switching to another tool. And that's TRUE - you spend time switching tools. But I will offer that, alas, perhaps because of hidden sadistic tendencies among kit-makers, many parts simply cannot be "removed without need for further trimming in one cut", because the gates / nubbins are attached INTO some detail on the part and need to be exorcised with great care and fiddle in order to preserve that detail. That "one cut and DONE!" simply won't work in those cases - so that knife will come into play anyway!
The rationale is clear and even moderately compelling in its straight-forwardness. Whether it will work to save time for YOU depends entirely on your TECHNIQUE and the time you take to do whatever step(s) you do!
Cheers! Bob
BunkerBuster
Joined: March 29, 2017
KitMaker: 157 posts
Armorama: 122 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 05:41 AM UTC
Quoted Text
.....The rationale is clear and even moderately compelling in its straight-forwardness. Whether it will work to save time for YOU depends entirely on your TECHNIQUE and the time you take to do whatever step(s) you do!
Cheers! Bob
Your time is a finite resource with both personal and fiscal value. I'm amazed at how many people in this world don't place a value on their time.
In modeling and my other hobbies, I will get into discussions concerning investment in tools to save time. I've seen some cases where a guy would spend his entire Saturday fabricating his own tool (in this case riveting tooling) so he didn't have to spend $50 to buy it. I know pride has value, but I'm too damn old to waste my time reinventing the wheel or not using the best tool for the job.
A great example of this is I'm working on a massive flooring project on my home that required re-securing the subfloor and installing cement backer board. I decided to invest in a collated screw gun for $100. It almost worked too well because I couldn't even keep up with how fast it would drive screws. It sends them home as fast as a nail gun.
raffrecon
Joined: January 01, 2011
KitMaker: 266 posts
Armorama: 258 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 07:13 AM UTC
Damn, I wasn't expecting this many response! What about these?
I've had these forever but can't remember where they came from.
I've had these forever but can't remember where they came from.
RLlockie
Joined: September 06, 2013
KitMaker: 1,112 posts
Armorama: 938 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 07:48 AM UTC
As we’ve moved onto counting the number of seconds of time saved per cut (something I never even think about when it comes to such matters), I found myself idly wondering how much of our potential modelling time is spent reading and posting to DGs......
JSSVIII
Joined: March 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,169 posts
Armorama: 1,067 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 08:01 AM UTC
Quoted Text
As we’ve moved onto counting the number of seconds of time saved per cut (something I never even think about when it comes to such matters), I found myself idly wondering how much of our potential modelling time is spent reading and posting to DGs......
HA HA! Well said sir you have me there!
alanmac
Joined: February 25, 2007
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,953 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 08:05 AM UTC
Is this a hobby, a pastime, at which we all work at our own skill,pace and satisfaction.....I thought it was part of a time and motion study reading some of the posts here.
It's the pleasure we get from making the model, and the satisfaction from its completion.
Lets face it, regardless of the various eloquent replies no one is going to change their minds based on what we write in this thread.
It's the pleasure we get from making the model, and the satisfaction from its completion.
Lets face it, regardless of the various eloquent replies no one is going to change their minds based on what we write in this thread.
RLlockie
Joined: September 06, 2013
KitMaker: 1,112 posts
Armorama: 938 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 08:48 AM UTC
I was with you right up to the word ‘completion’ as I had to go and look up what that was....
ctkwok
Joined: May 21, 2018
KitMaker: 197 posts
Armorama: 183 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 10:49 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Lets face it, regardless of the various eloquent replies no one is going to change their minds based on what we write in this thread.
I'd disagree with that, despite the difference in opnions the discussion would have piqued the interests of some readers, who'd take the plunge. That's why participating in this thread isn't such a waste of time, or so I told myself
Removed by original poster on 07/07/19 - 23:52:06 (GMT).
varanusk
Managing Editor
Joined: July 04, 2013
KitMaker: 1,288 posts
Armorama: 942 posts
Posted: Sunday, July 07, 2019 - 11:05 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Damn, I wasn't expecting this many response! What about these?
I've had these forever but can't remember where they came from.
UMM USA sells them. Quite good tools, but just for small, delicate parts. Since I have my new Wave one side cutter, I use them much less than before
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