Have you ever considered using a stanley knife for cutting, rather than sawing? I do this where it's a thinner cut - eg. slicing under the foot of a Panther, or at the joint between the upper arm & shoulderpiece on a PXH?
W.
If you are talking about a utility knife, the answer is: No I have not... But I do use a xacto knife now and again, usually the slightly broader bladed ones (not the ones that come with the pencil width holders) in a thicker handled holder. Cutting has its place, and yes it doesn't eat any material, but I prefer the saw usually. Mainly I think the saw gives better control... Because of the pressure required, knifes can dent or bend other parts of the mini, and one good slip and there is a mess to clean up (I bled for that mini!!!)... For this 9th Marik P-Hawk though, I ended up using my jeweler's saw, knife and some soldering iron tools (hard, edged tools made for scraping solder), all just to remove the head. So it does come into play, just maybe not as much as others use it.
As for cutting the feet off of bases... I've gotten either lazy, cheap or both (because God forbid it be wisdom :) ) as time goes by... I've started using a standard hardware store type coping saw instead of breaking half a dozen 3/0 blades.
Also, because I have a packrat / hoarder gene, I save as much of the metal fillings as I can, mix them with glue, and add them to bases when I have tight spaces and need a little extra weight on the base...
Pewter is a pretty soft metal.
Some are softer than others, each having their own quirks... The type of metal I am working with sometimes plays into the selection of one tool over the other for a particular cut.
