I want to make some itty bitty wooden cubes, so I bought some crafting matchsticks and planned to cut them. However, when I cut them, they break up into strands of wood and become brittle. Any idea how I could reinforce them (like soak in in wood glue)? Or recommend a different material/brand?
I plan to cut them with a dremel tool. (: I want them to be close to 1/4 cm cubes and plan to paint them and glue them together to create pixel-esque designs, so making resin cubes is not a possibility.
I've used wood from popsicle sticks and wooden coffee stirrers for model making. Matchsticks might be more fragile, but what I used would be a starting point.
My usual tool is a razor saw, like Chris H suggested, used in a tiny aluminum miter box. The saw I use is similar to this:
It has a very thin blade with very fine teeth that cut on pull. Very fine teeth will minimize tearing, so the wood will hold together better. The miter box looks like this, but mine is a different brand:
My miter box is sized to use with razor saws (important so the blade doesn't drift around in the slot, and it will be in the slot for the length of the cutting stroke).
For something as tiny as matchsticks, I would do them in batches. Make a block of aligned matchsticks. Gluing one end, like Chris H mentioned, will hold the block together (only the far end is glued to stabilize the pieces; as you cut the other end, you have loose cubes). The bottom of the miter box usually has some ridges, so you would want to line it with cardboard or something to level it for this. If you can, find a way to clamp the block in the miter box. These miter boxes usually have a lip so you can press it against the edge of the worktop to keep it stable while you cut.
Don't try to speed up the process with more pressure on the saw. It should make a clean cut with minimal loss of wood.
If you want to use a Dremel tool, a carbide blade wouldn't be the best for this. You can get circular saw-tooth disks. They come in different diameters and different teeth.
The ones pictured are a little thick. I use ones that look like they're cut from thin sheet metal. They make a clean cut in small soft wood and don't remove much (couldn't find a picture). A large diameter disk might have too much drag if your rotary tool doesn't have a strong motor. For something as small and fragile as matchsticks, use one with a lot of fine teeth.
Another type of disk that would work for this is resin cutting disks:
I use a lot of this type of material for making dolls house style furniture and accessories. What I tend to do is to soak the wood in warm water, and then I split it along the grain using a regular craft knife with a good quality stainless steel blade.
When the wood is damp it brings out the grain which makes it much easier to add texture to by dry brushing, and it makes the wood more likely to split than to splinter as it is soggy. You just need to score the wood and then apply firm pressure to it along the line of the grain.
If you need to cut across the grain, try a hand held miter cutter on dry wood. It's easier to apply more pressure than you can from a craft knife, and it's more precise than a rotary cutting tool.
