Who can recommend a favorite, reliable tubing cutter with repeatable
accuracy in the very short ranges… 1/8" or 3/32" long? Ideally,
this would be a tool that would last a very long time; easy to use.
Thanks in advance.
J Collier
Who can recommend a favorite, reliable tubing cutter with repeatable accuracy in the very short ranges... 1/8" or 3/32" long? Ideally, this would be a tool that would last a very long time; easy to use.
Hello J, my recommendation would be the Bergeon Jig Vise Miter
Cutter. It’s not cheap but it is supremely well made and
exceptionally versatile tool. You can see a very good picture of it
at the Otto Frei site, www.ottofrei.com
If you enter part number 126.489 in their search box it will take
you directly to the tool’s page. Click on “see details” under the
thumbnail for a larger picture.
It may not be immediately obvious but the L-shaped bar slides into
the vice and is held in position by the grub screw on the side,
that’s what the hex key is for. Set it to whatever stand-off distance
you like, even quite small measurements, for cutting your short
tubing sections.
One of the primary reasons I love this thing is that it’s made of
high quality hardened steel, so you make you cuts by laying your saw
blade against the surface of the vice. You get very smooth,
consistent cuts and it doesn’t mar the surface of the vice because of
the hardened steel.
I do the same with a file, admittedly not one of my best files, for
exceptionally square and flat ends on ring stock: solder seams are
very tight and clean using this technique.
As you can tell, I love this little guy. I paid a small fortune for
it and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again. Fortunately that’s unlikely
to be necessary because this thing is built to, and I’m sure it will,
last a lifetime… and then some.
Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
Visit TouchMetal.com at http://www.touchmetal.com
I think what you need is little device that used to be called a
Jointing Tool, but is also known as a Chenier or Tube Cutter.
The one I use is pictured here…
http://tinyurl.com/36bq36 shows the tool ready for inserting a piece
to be cut - the little lever is holding the item as shown in…
http://tinyurl.com/yuvt9j which shows a piece of tube being cut with
a piercing saw.
I’ve had mine for about 25 years and wouldn’t be without it.
The following link shows a similar one available here in UK…
http://tinyurl.com/ywux7h
Regards, Gary Wooding
Although I must admit that I have one of these in my tool chess (and
I like aspects of it), it works on flat stock and has two v-grooves
of three sizes for holding tubing, 90 degrees and 45 degree angles
are possible. Two threaded nuts need to be loosened then the two
pieces of the jig pulled apart, requiring two hands by my experience,
slow and bothersome. In school we used a simple Hand Held Sawing Jig
it was/is handheld, can be operated one handed through the whole
course of the procedure, and although is only a 90 degree option it
is a good piece of kit at a reasonable price (1/3rd the price). Item
number 126.450 at the same website (http://www.ottofrei.com).
Best of luck,
K. David Woolley
Fredericton, NB
Diversiform Metal Art & Jewellery
hello
I had my tube cutter from cookson-france and I’m very happy with it.
it’s minimun length is roundabout 1,5mm.
Cookson being an internationnal company I suppose you’ll find an US
supplier easily.
salut
Juliette Arda
Artiste-Bijoutiere
Aix en Provence, France
Two threaded nuts need to be loosened then the two pieces of the jig pulled apart, requiring two hands by my experience, slow and bothersome.
Hi David, you’re quite right, it is slow if you use it the brute
force way, but I think there are a couple of things that make it
worth a second look.
First, if you’re cutting really short sections of tubing, as was
mentioned in the original post, it’s not such a bad compromise. Most
other tube cutters, such as the one Gary mentioned, are great for
longer sections but no so much so for teensy ones, largely because
the guide slot for the blade is (a) a bit wide and therefor rather
difficult to get a really good, clean, square cut through and (b)
often not of steel sufficiently hard that you can use it as a guide
surface to slide the saw blade against while you cut.
In my experience with the Bergeon tool and a little bit of care in
cutting you can cut tub slices down to 1mm or less that are ready to
use, no finishing of the end cuts required. I can’t say I’ve ever
seen the standard tube cutters able to reproduce that.
FWIW, I often mount my Bergeon in a vice (after I screw out the
handle of course) and that makes the process quicker because it’s
much more stable.
When I’ve had to do a lot of sections of the same length I’ve rigged
up a hook over the top of the Bergeon jig and connected by stiff wire
to a large strap hinge which I have mounted on a slab of plywood. You
put the hinge setup on the floor and use it like a pressure pedal:
step to pull down the upper section of the jig and hold the wire,
release to loosen the top of the jig and slide the wire forward for
the next section. Of course you leave the jig tightening nuts backed
off throughout the process.
It might sound complicated but it’s actually quite simple, and once
you’ve got it figured out you can set it up or pull it apart in
moments, much less time than you’d spend finishing the ends of your
cuttings for instance.
Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
Visit TouchMetal.com at http://www.touchmetal.com
A technic which I use for facing a tube that requires a right angle
is to cut the length desired using a groove on the bench pin. Then
chuck this into the handpiece or the polishing lathe and rotate the
chucked tube while holding a fine file against the end of the tube.
You can only get a right angle using this procedure.
HTH
Joe Dule
Hi All,
I’ve had the Bergeon vise for years and love it for making ends
flush. I really couldn’t live without it. But for repeatedly cutting
tubing I prefer the Jointing tool Gary mentioned.
Initially I purchased a cheap one. It works okay but you have to use
calipers to measure the distance from the saw blade grove to the
stop and it can be tricky to get in there for smaller lengths (I
usually cut 4mm or less). So last year I treated myself to the Swiss
one which has mm marked on the post the vise rides on. It’s fabulous!
As well the grove for the saw blade is smaller so the end of the tube
cuts much more cleanly.
I know the Swiss model is substantially more but it is definitely a
much better tool.
Cheers,
Laurie
I purchased a “Mini Cut-Off Saw”, item # 42307, from Harbor Freight
for about $30 a couple of years ago. It is basically a small chop saw
and does a great job in cutting tubing. It has an adjustable fence
that can be set from 90 to 45 degrees. It is fine for occasional use,
don’t know how it would hold up under continuous production use.
Joel Schwalb
www.schwalbstudio.com
I’m glad to know that, I’ve been wanting to get back to making
copperenamel beads, again and my biggest problem is cutting the
tubing. Using a tubing cutter is slow and leaves a sharp edge on the
interior of the hole. Some years ago, I had a friend with a bandsaw
that would cut tubing for me. I’d been given to understand that a
chop saw would work well and when I spotted that little one at HF, I
wondered if it would work.
Cairenn, the Howling Artist
www.howlingartist.com
Joel,
Does it cut tubing up to say 10mm in radius and 1" long? Would it
cut about 10 pieces a day,
say 3 times a month without giving out? And does it cut pretty fast,
about how long per piece?
I’ve been hand sawing with a tube cutter and it takes me forever!!
Thanks,
Rameen