Trimming cable outers?

Only one way......professional cable cutters from a bike store. A good investment to make once....no drama from then on.

Marx SS said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

😕
Each time I've had to trim back cable outers when putting on new cables
on my bikes I'm always sending heaps of time just making them neat
before I slide on the metal caps on the ends.

Personally I don't bother making them all that neat, they seem to work
fine anyway. I used to cut them with sidecutters and then file the ends
with a metal file.

Peter
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

Marx SS said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

😕
Each time I've had to trim back cable outers when putting on new cables
on my bikes I'm always sending heaps of time just making them neat
before I slide on the metal caps on the ends.

Personally I don't bother making them all that neat, they seem to work
fine anyway. I used to cut them with sidecutters and then file the ends
with a metal file.

Peter
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

Side cutters are not meant to cut the hollow outer cables. For best
results, the housing cutters encapsulate the housing with what is
effectively 4 blades. The arrangement of the blades means that the cut
is clean and very little finishing is required. Using a sidecutter
often means crushing the opening, and cracking the plastic outer.,
usually meaning a recut and fininshing with a grinder or a hand file
(the harder method). Purpose made cutters can be cheap (under$20), but
you get what you pay for.

I've seen dremel's used quite effectively. "they cut too"

ray

Thanks, I didn't realise there was a special tool for it. Well I suppose it is for a bicycle so a speical tool for the job should be expected.

To date I've been using a hacksaw & then using a file to finish it.

Marx SS said:

Thanks, I didn't realise there was a special tool for it. Well I suppose
it is for a bicycle so a speical tool for the job should be expected.

To date I've been using a hacksaw & then using a file to finish it.

The last few times I had to do it, I just used a nice sharp pair of
plier cutters. I was lucky and it worked fine, no filing needed. (I
did use a pair of long nosed pliers at least once to realign the end of
the spiral metal casing after it was bent inward.)

I went to the LBS to get the proper tool, and it was way too expensive
to be used only once in a blue moon. (Like $70 or something. I forget
exactly how much now. Almost as bad as paying $70 for a pair of
sandals ;-) but I suppose one would get more use out of the
sandals...)

David

--

David Trudgett
http://www.zeta.org.au/~wpower/

Government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is force.
And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

-- George Washington

Rayc said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

Side cutters are not meant to cut the hollow outer cables. For best
results, the housing cutters encapsulate the housing with what is
effectively 4 blades. The arrangement of the blades means that the cut
is clean and very little finishing is required. Using a sidecutter
often means crushing the opening, and cracking the plastic outer.,
usually meaning a recut and fininshing with a grinder or a hand file
(the harder method). Purpose made cutters can be cheap (under$20), but
you get what you pay for.

I've seen dremel's used quite effectively. "they cut too"

We use side cutters for brakes and cable cutters for gears - or is it
the other way 'round? I can't remember off the top 🙂

Rayc said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

Side cutters are not meant to cut the hollow outer cables. For best
results, the housing cutters encapsulate the housing with what is
effectively 4 blades. The arrangement of the blades means that the cut
is clean and very little finishing is required. Using a sidecutter
often means crushing the opening, and cracking the plastic outer.,
usually meaning a recut and fininshing with a grinder or a hand file
(the harder method). Purpose made cutters can be cheap (under$20), but
you get what you pay for.

I've seen dremel's used quite effectively. "they cut too"

so an angle grinder would be the right tool for the job then?

kim

Kim Hawtin said:

so an angle grinder would be the right tool for the job then?

kim

An angle grinder is the right tool for any job, unless of course
multigrips will do it.

DaveB "running and hiding"

Kim Hawtin said:

so an angle grinder would be the right tool for the job then?

Might work, but the heat created might melt the plastic housing, where
as the dremel's small cutting disc will cleanly cut the housing.

ray

Crushing the end of the housing will inevitabily add friction the the
cable running thru the end.Realigning the is a hard task. Not what you
want! For gear housing, unevenly cut end place s more stress on the
housing, which in time will see it burst.

So as it is said, get the right tools for a job done right the first
time.!

ray

This all seems a bit sophisticated. I've had no troubles cutting with
side-cutters, then inserting a nail to re-open the hole.

Donga

"Peter McCallum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Marx SS said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

😕
Each time I've had to trim back cable outers when putting on new cables
on my bikes I'm always sending heaps of time just making them neat
before I slide on the metal caps on the ends.

Personally I don't bother making them all that neat, they seem to work
fine anyway. I used to cut them with sidecutters and then file the ends
with a metal file.

Peter
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

I find a hacksaw with gentle pressure (rather than leaning on the thing as
per more usual practice) produces a pretty clean cut. Did the last time I
tried, anyway.

"Resound" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Peter McCallum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Marx SS said:

What's the best way to trim cable outers & get them neat first off?
The combination of the outer & inner plastic sheath & the coiled metal
shell makes it difficult to cut with cable cutters which distort the
metal coil, or sawing with a hack saw which is pretty awkward.

😕
Each time I've had to trim back cable outers when putting on new cables
on my bikes I'm always sending heaps of time just making them neat
before I slide on the metal caps on the ends.

Personally I don't bother making them all that neat, they seem to work
fine anyway. I used to cut them with sidecutters and then file the ends
with a metal file.

Peter
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

I find a hacksaw with gentle pressure (rather than leaning on the thing as
per more usual practice) produces a pretty clean cut. Did the last time I
tried, anyway.

I'm sure there's heaps of methods that work, but...

I finally bought a pair of proper cable cutters, and oh yes, suddenly
cutting cable became fast, quick and easy.

Dare I say it was a pleasure? Nothing like my sidecutter/angle grinding
experience.

Nope, the right tool for the job prevents me being a right tool. ;^)

Tony F

Kim Hawtin said:

so an angle grinder would be the right tool for the job then?

Or an axe. I've been quite successful cutting cable outers and inners with
side cutters. I've even used them to cut some 4mm braided stainless cable.
Don't bother trying it with a pair from the $2 shop, I use a pair from
Crescent. I got them at a discount for $55.

Theo

DaveB said:

Kim Hawtin said:

so an angle grinder would be the right tool for the job then?

kim

An angle grinder is the right tool for any job, unless of course
multigrips will do it.

I always find an angle grinder a bit unwieldy for nailing timber. In
that case a plumbers wrench is the obvious choice.

--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

tony f said:

I'm sure there's heaps of methods that work, but...

I finally bought a pair of proper cable cutters, and oh yes, suddenly
cutting cable became fast, quick and easy.

Dare I say it was a pleasure? Nothing like my sidecutter/angle grinding
experience.

Nope, the right tool for the job prevents me being a right tool. ;^)

Tony F

I'll let you come around to my place whenever I have a housing to cut,
but you have to promise to oil my chain and regrease my hubs first. Ok?

P
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

Peter McCallum said:

I always find an angle grinder a bit unwieldy for nailing timber. In
that case a plumbers wrench is the obvious choice.

I have seven or eight hammers but prefer to use one of my Paslode guns. :-)

Theo

Peter McCallum said:

I'll let you come around to my place whenever I have a housing to cut, but
you have to promise to oil my chain and regrease my hubs first. Ok?

If you pay the airfare...

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
The family that chooses words with care together is the family that
avoids needless violence and gunplay together, is our motto.