I have a mid-70's SunTour cable cutter like this (thanks to JohnDThompson for the images): http://velobase.com/ViewTool.aspx?ID...C0BF4&AbsPos=0
I use that or a much newer Park tool for cables and have recently adopted the Dremel shower-of-sparks housing cutting technique.
The SunTour cutter is somewhat handier for crimping on cable end tips.