Bingod

This. Dremel with cutting blade works for me.

Hoopdriver

I have an XLC Pro that works great. Like you, I worked for decades without a proper cable cutter, and now I don't know why I didn't buy these a long time ago. The XLCs cut cables great, but I always have to clean up housing. I cut it with a piece of scrap cable inserted so the inner hole is fine. I clean up burrs on my bench grinder. Also works great for cutting spokes.

Papa Tom

From the OP: Right now, the XLC Pro is in my Amazon Shopping Cart. If I am able to come up with about seven dollars in additional stuff (to get free shipping) before I change my mind, I will probably own them soon. My second choice is the Pedro's model..

I have to say that I am really sad that the motivation to purchase online is so overwhelming. I want so badly to support brick-and-mortar bike shops, but my experience with all the ones around here has been horrible with this purchase. Not only do they price these tools as much as $20 more than the online sellers, but they also make it hard for you to buy it from them by trying to convince you you're an idiot for wanting anything other than the Park Tool version they have on the shelf..

FBOATSB

Don't worry too much about it. Lots of LBS have online sales of their own. There's an online bike stuff marketer here, I even see his ads here on bf, that has been in an LBS family here for over six decades. He even opened a new shop a few miles from his warehouse, he told me, to stay connected to face to face customers. He'll do OK.

AnkleWork

?!?
If one knows what they want, don't they just walk in, pick up what they want, walk to the counter, pay and leave? How does one get into multiple conversations with feelings of the seller "trying to convince you you're an idiot" and feelings that it's "difficult"?

Maybe they're just cutting their losses.

Papa Tom

One cannot walk in, pick up what one wants, walk to the counter, pay, and leave if the item one wants is not available at said seller's store. And when said seller doesn't just say "Sorry, I don't have that one, but I have THIS one" and instead interrogates one with "Why do you want THAT brand? That's garbage, this is a PARK" things can get "difficult."

AnkleWork

So sensitive and full of emotion! You posted all that baggage in a public forum where all are welcome, you must have wanted a response, just not mine I guess. You post things that don't make sense; it is only natural to ask a few questions in order to understand. Don't you want to be understood?

High pressure cable cutter sales people lurking in all your LBSs. "Sorry, I don't have that one, but I have THIS one" seems polite and pertinent, not "horrible." The easiest response to (imagined) "interrogation" is to just turn and walk away -- why do you want "difficult", why do you want a conflict? Even if they did say "garbage" so what; that's only one person's opinion. Your posts reveal a common element in all your unsuccessful dealings.

I'll add this: fusing the cable strands gives much better results than cutting and capping.

Stormy Archer

I'm pretty impressed with a pair of off brand cable cutters I got on Ebay for less than 15$

Papa Tom

Link?

Stormy Archer

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kengine-CT-...y/371650079724

These "Kengine" guys. Have done more than 2 dozen cuts now for sure and still going strong. That said, I don't cut inner cables much TBH.

JoeTBM 

I picked up the same ones.... they work pretty well.

WizardOfBoz

I've got a Pedro's brand cable cutter, too and agree that it works pretty well.

Manipulating a Dremel with an abrasive bit and the cable at the same time is tough. I use a pedestal grinder with a fairly good abrasive wheel (NOT the gray AlOx wheel that the things come with - yuk!) to ensure that the cable end is square and flat. Then I poke the cable through from the other direction to ensure that the PTFE lining is not collapsed.

When I worked in the bike shop, we used something similar to the Knipex. It was two forged pieces of metal, like a pliers, with the ends that squeezed the cable ends together. Worked the bomb.

Narhay

I have x tools brand cutters. Easier than my Husky diagonal snippers to cut. Still leaves a little cleanup for sharp metal bits to do from time to time. I have heard a dremel with diamond wheel makes perfect clean cuts every time.

wesmamyke

For brake housing specifically I always just use diagonal cutters, or really anything with a flat cutting edge. You wedge one blade through the housing coil so you are only cutting through one side, impossible to squish it that way. For everything else I tend to use some cheap jagwire cutters, they work better than the Felco cutters for me.

asmac

That makes a big difference.

Papa Tom

>>>> I cut it with a piece of scrap cable inserted so the inner hole is fine. <<<<<

Yes! This is one of those great "why didn't I think of that" pieces of advice that seem to happen when you throw an idea out to the community instead of just Googling for stuff. A perfect example of what I tried to explain in a previous thread.

Take note, all you trolls who sit around waiting to pounce on someone for asking a question that has been asked before.

Bike Gremlin

+1 on the "Jagwire Pro Housing Cutter". Been using it in the shop for years now. Great ergonomy, pointed tip for making the housing end nice, round and open (hidden inside a handle end, but in a way that you can not pierce your finger accidentaly). Good quality and durability.

For cables, you can use those as well, they won't go blunt from home use, though I prefer to use separate cable cutters, good quality ones (and expensive): Bahco 1520G. Cheaper (also good quality) option being Bahco 2101G-160.

cyclist2000

I use a Park or Felco for cutting cables and a dremel for cutting housing.

bluehills3149

Those KLC ones look almost identical to the ebay Kengine ones and both look identical to my Nashbar ones I bought 10 years ago. If so, they'll both be fine and cut thousands of cables without issue. I sharpened mine a few year back with a sharpening stone and it brought them back to new-like condition.

bfuser284953024

I've been using my fancy metal smithing tools from college my snips do pretty well on the cable and housing. My round nosed pliars are perfect for any bending or crimping. My metal file is perfect for cleaning up any edges.

I got all my tools from Rio Grande.

Papa Tom

OP, just checking in. Once again, asking too many questions has me hanging on and still procrastinating after all this time.

The Pedros are still in my Amazon shopping cart, but you guys and girls keep posting some very convincing recommendations for other options.

I figure that if I hang out and let everybody keep throwing new ideas at me long enough, bike season will be over and I won't have to worry about this until next spring.