What's the best way to cut cable?

Cable cutters, that is wire cutters with blades that wrap around the
circumference of the cable work fine. You might also try putting some
1/16" heat shrink tubing around the end first, then cutting.

JG

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

A cable cutter works best. I get good results with the cutting bit of
a pair of needle nose pliers--but it requires a pretty meaty squeeze.

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I use a $25 specialty bike cable cutter, by Park Tools I think, that
works well.

If the cutter you are using isn't working well, one way to help it is
to cut the cable within a short piece of housing, which helps prevent
it from fraying while being cut.
--
JT
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Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
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On Aug 5, 7:11 pm, John Forrest Tomlinson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:47:16 -0700, Steve Kirkendall

Quoted message said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I use a $25 specialty bike cable cutter, by Park Tools I think, that
works well.

If the cutter you are using isn't working well, one way to help it is
to cut the cable within a short piece of housing, which helps prevent
it from fraying while being cut.
--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visithttp://www.jt10000.com
****************************

yeah, just splurge and buy the right tool for the right job- I bought
the park cutter ages ago and haven't had an issue with cutting cables
or housing- nice quick clean cuts

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

Get a real cable cutter. The edges cut in a diamond shape.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

the best way? with one of these:

http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=8&description=Cable+Cutters&vendorCode=PEDROS&major=6&minor=6

it out-performs side cutters and that park tool stuff. it's a copy of a
$70 knipex, probably the best cable cutter ever - and even though it's a
copy, the quality is pretty darned good!

NOT AGAIN!

one walmart $2 diagnol cutter
one 11 pound engineer's hammer $11 howe depot or to taste.
one hardwood block selvedge from Senor Skid
one set safety glasses
common sense.

place cable or housing or both together as installed.
place on hardwood block with cutters miunted at cut point
hold cutter handle securely and tightly on cable/housing or seperately
slam with hammer.
aso always, the process facilitates when the cutters are sharp.

datakoll said:

NOT AGAIN!

one walmart $2 diagnol cutter
one 11 pound engineer's hammer $11 howe depot or to taste.
one hardwood block selvedge from Senor Skid
one set safety glasses
common sense.

place cable or housing or both together as installed.
place on hardwood block with cutters miunted at cut point
hold cutter handle securely and tightly on cable/housing or seperately
slam with hammer.
aso always, the process facilitates when the cutters are sharp.

goddamned hillbilly.

datakoll said:

NOT AGAIN!

one walmart $2 diagnol cutter
one 11 pound engineer's hammer $11 howe depot or to taste.
one hardwood block selvedge from Senor Skid
one set safety glasses
common sense.

place cable or housing or both together as installed.
place on hardwood block with cutters miunted at cut point
hold cutter handle securely and tightly on cable/housing or seperately
slam with hammer.
aso always, the process facilitates when the cutters are sharp.

hehe, do you need to spend the $2 for each cable?

I have no problems using diagonal cutters of middling quality in a
home workshop - the housing might need minor squeezing into shape with
pliers, and filing. Cable cutters would be classy, but that's
perfectly good beer money.

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I don't have the Park cable cutters but I do have a Dremel with a cut-
off wheel. It goes through housing or cable like butter. It's just
more of a pita to use then picking up a pair of cutters- get the
Dremel out, probably change collets, put on a new disk because the
last one has always broken, find a place where you won't start a fire
with the sparks, get eye protection, plug it in (usually have to get
an extension cord) and then cut.

Donga said:

hehe, do you need to spend the $2 for each cable?

I have no problems using diagonal cutters of middling quality in a
home workshop - the housing might need minor squeezing into shape with
pliers, and filing. Cable cutters would be classy, but that's
perfectly good beer money.

I use a large and sharp pair of line cutters. I emphasize large and
sharp. I don't cut enough cable to splurge for a cable cutter. For
housings I use a the same cutter, carefully separating the steel so
that I don't squash it and then hitting the grinder to clean it up.

datakoll aka gene daniels said:

NOT AGAIN!

one walmart $2 diagnol cutter
one 11 pound engineer's hammer $11 howe depot or to taste.
one hardwood block selvedge from Senor Skid
one set safety glasses
common sense....

gene, gene, gene!

You can not expect rec.bicycles.* regulars to have common sense!

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Tom 'Johnny Sunset' Sherman said:

datakoll aka gene daniels said:

NOT AGAIN!

one walmart $2 diagnol cutter
one 11 pound engineer's hammer $11 howe depot or to taste.
one hardwood block selvedge from Senor Skid
one set safety glasses
common sense....

gene, gene, gene!

You can not expect rec.bicycles.* regulars to have common sense!

nor exhaust-sucking bent riders - high CO concentrations seem to create
wild uncontrollable urges to red-herring themselves into contradicting
their own arguments.

Quoted message said:

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I don't have the Park cable cutters but I do have a Dremel with a cut-
off wheel. It goes through housing or cable like butter. It's just
more of a pita to use then picking up a pair of cutters- get the
Dremel out, probably change collets, put on a new disk because the
last one has always broken, find a place where you won't start a fire
with the sparks, get eye protection, plug it in (usually have to get
an extension cord) and then cut.

OR YOU COULD TAKE AN AX AND CHOP AT BEAM'S ONE FOOT

datakoll said:

Quoted message said:

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I don't have the Park cable cutters but I do have a Dremel with a cut-
off wheel. It goes through housing or cable like butter. It's just
more of a pita to use then picking up a pair of cutters- get the
Dremel out, probably change collets, put on a new disk because the
last one has always broken, find a place where you won't start a fire
with the sparks, get eye protection, plug it in (usually have to get
an extension cord) and then cut.

OR YOU COULD TAKE AN AX AND CHOP AT BEAM'S ONE FOOT

gene, not all of use ride woolmort-quality machinery. some of us even
live in hilly areas where downhill speeds are enough to get you
extensively flayed if you take a spill. on that basis therefore,
forgive us if we want quality work done on quality machines with quality
tools. i mean, we could all use wooden wheels and chicken livers with
spit for bearing lube, but since better alternatives exist, and they're
not expensive, why not use them? i paid $10 for my cutters on sale.
and they're the best damned thing out there apart from the "genuine"
article they copy.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

NOT AGAIN!

one walmart $2 diagnol cutter
one 11 pound engineer's hammer $11 howe depot or to taste.
one hardwood block selvedge from Senor Skid
one set safety glasses
common sense.

place cable or housing or both together as installed.
place on hardwood block with cutters miunted at cut point
hold cutter handle securely and tightly on cable/housing or seperately
slam with hammer.
aso always, the process facilitates when the cutters are sharp.

That's all wrong. Take it to an industrial laser cutting shop. Probably
$800 or so, but think if the savings if you have several cables done at
once.

In article <[email hidden]>, skirkendall@dsl
-only.net says...

Quoted message said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I use a Shimano cable cutter, works every time.

JG said:

Cable cutters, that is wire cutters with blades that wrap around the
circumference of the cable work fine. You might also try putting some
1/16" heat shrink tubing around the end first, then cutting.

It's the small things on r.b.t that get you. What a brilliant idea and
I can't think why my Einsteinian level of genius didn't think of it.
Errmmm, perhaps because I haven't got one?

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Kirkendall said:

What's the best way to cut brake & shifter cables without fraying or
otherwise mangling the ends? I've tried wire cutters, hacksaw, and
a screw cutter. I've tried epoxying the cable first, or wrapping it
in various kinds of tape. Nothing works as well as I'd like; it's
always hard to fit the cable back into the housing.

I do not cut it. The excess I wrap around itself into a
quoit. Problem solved.

--
Michael Press