How to get a square cut on cable housing using a dremel?
#26
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#27
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I've found that the Park tool is very temperamental. Cutting with a dremel gives me cleaner results.
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Well obviously if you're not using a power tool, you're not doing it right. The Park Tool cutter works great for me on derailleur housings, but I always seem to get an uneven cut with brake housings. It works, but I end up doing some filing afterward. I've noticed that I have to use the barrel adjusters less when I cut housings with a Dremel, I suspect because the housings do less "bedding in" in the ferrules.
#29
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If you don't have expensive tools, you can use a file plus patience.
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Got an angle grinder and a vise?
If you can get a clean square cut every time with it, good luck to you. As for brake housing, nothing's snipping that stuff square.
Bonus tip: to speed up the housings bedding in, grab the brakes like buggery a few times, and with a folded rag or something, pull the shift cables from just above the BB towards the front wheel, kinda hard (but not so hard you break something).
Bonus tip: to speed up the housings bedding in, grab the brakes like buggery a few times, and with a folded rag or something, pull the shift cables from just above the BB towards the front wheel, kinda hard (but not so hard you break something).
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Sheldon Brown's bike info ~~~ Park Tools repair help
Half-step triple, using double gear ~~~ 6400 STI rebuild walkthrough ~~~ Want 8/9/10s @126mm OLD? OCR. ~~~ Shimano cassette body overhaul ~~~ Ergopower Escape wear repair ~~~ PSA: drivetrain wear
List of US/Canada bike co-ops ~~~ Global list
Last edited by Kimmo; 12-07-12 at 10:02 AM.
#31
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Even though I posted advice about how to grind the end of the housing square square, the face is that it isn't necessary if a decent cut is made with a cable cutter. It won't be perfectly square, but that's OK because a decent ferrule will take care of it. 99.9% of bikes, including the top end stuff ridden by the pros are put together with housings that weren't ground square, and work perfectly well.
All this obsessiveness is really a case of gilding the lily. If the newly cut housing is that far off, you don't need a grinder, you need a decent cable cutter.
All this obsessiveness is really a case of gilding the lily. If the newly cut housing is that far off, you don't need a grinder, you need a decent cable cutter.
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Yeah, I have to admit I don't really bother anymore
...Except for that bastard rear shift cable.
...Except for that bastard rear shift cable.
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Sheldon Brown's bike info ~~~ Park Tools repair help
Half-step triple, using double gear ~~~ 6400 STI rebuild walkthrough ~~~ Want 8/9/10s @126mm OLD? OCR. ~~~ Shimano cassette body overhaul ~~~ Ergopower Escape wear repair ~~~ PSA: drivetrain wear
List of US/Canada bike co-ops ~~~ Global list
Sheldon Brown's bike info ~~~ Park Tools repair help
Half-step triple, using double gear ~~~ 6400 STI rebuild walkthrough ~~~ Want 8/9/10s @126mm OLD? OCR. ~~~ Shimano cassette body overhaul ~~~ Ergopower Escape wear repair ~~~ PSA: drivetrain wear
List of US/Canada bike co-ops ~~~ Global list
#33
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What shocks me is the number of people who do seem to spend serious time on this. There must be a problem associated with unsquare housing but for the life of me, I can't see it.
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I now use the Craftsman brand 15/16" stone cut-off wheels that are labled "Heavy-Duty", part # 95314.(the 9 is much smaller and has a line under it, so maybe it's part # 5314 of group 9?)
They are much thicker than the ones i used for 35 years in my jewelry repair. (for cutting through rings for sizing work). Because of it's thickness it has greater strength and it's easy to trim up to flat after making the initial cut without breaking.
I take about 20 seconds to cut my cable to prevent heat buildup and melting of the outer cover. Basically just cut a few seconds, blow on the cable to cool it, cut a bit more and blow again, and 3rd cutting usually gets me through with a final cooling bit of breath.
I then do a final true up of the end using the side of these Craftsman stone discs, something you can't do if using a metal saw type cutter in your Dremel or other flex shaft. I still have my heavy duty aluminum frame and handpieced Foredom jewelers lexble shaft machine that's 25 years old and i used a LOT every day in my jewelry work. I put new brushes in every year or two and a new armature once or twice over that time, but at $400 to $600 today for a new one worth the rebuild.
OH,...and then you of course have to open the hole in te center t feed the cable in. One of my smaller diamond setting burs works great or this, Push it in as a tight fit and it pulls out the bit of cable liner.
Even though I posted advice about how to grind the end of the housing square square, the face is that it isn't necessary if a decent cut is made with a cable cutter. It won't be perfectly square, but that's OK because a decent ferrule will take care of it. 99.9% of bikes, including the top end stuff ridden by the pros are put together with housings that weren't ground square, and work perfectly well.
All this obsessiveness is really a case of gilding the lily. If the newly cut housing is that far off, you don't need a grinder, you need a decent cable cutter.
All this obsessiveness is really a case of gilding the lily. If the newly cut housing is that far off, you don't need a grinder, you need a decent cable cutter.
......but i use the stone cutting discs for lots of chores, like cutting down eyelet screws for a good fit without sticking out. (especially the cassette side where a too-long screw interferes with the chain on the smallest cog :-)
1cm is a LOT of grinding!
Last edited by joejeweler; 12-07-12 at 10:59 AM.
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For an enthusiastic home mechanic who refurbishes a bike every month or so, what's wrong with gilding the lily?
#36
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My post is for them. They don't need to feel it's necessary and can keep it simple if they want, or they can grind if they choose. When I say something isn't necessary, that's all I'm saying. I have no feelings one way or other about what people choose to do.
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An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
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I use the Park cable cutter and then round out the inside of the housing with an old ice pick. Never a problem.
#38
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"A very common source of excessive cable friction or "sponginess" is improper cutting or failure to shape the ends of the cable properly."
https://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html
https://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html
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I've always used a Dremel to cut housing (in fact I'm still using the same one I got for my 14th birthday); I've never worried too much about the less-than-a-millimeter off-angle cut, it doesn't seem to affect anything. I guess if I absolutely had to be precise, I'd rotate the housing while cutting it so that the angle remains consistent throughout the process, then smooth it out and ream it with, respectively, cross-cut & rat-tail jeweler's files.
Aside from wearing safety glasses, a bit of advice- when you cut, use the highest speed setting and cut with the top edge of the cutting wheel, not the bottom (so that the sparks & shavings are being spun AWAY from your eyes & clothing), and cut slowly. Cutting too fast torques the cutting wheel and can cause it to shatter; cutting too slowly however, will melt the housing. The cutting wheels are actually kind of fragile when it comes to lateral force. They'll also shatter when you wear them down too far.
Aside from wearing safety glasses, a bit of advice- when you cut, use the highest speed setting and cut with the top edge of the cutting wheel, not the bottom (so that the sparks & shavings are being spun AWAY from your eyes & clothing), and cut slowly. Cutting too fast torques the cutting wheel and can cause it to shatter; cutting too slowly however, will melt the housing. The cutting wheels are actually kind of fragile when it comes to lateral force. They'll also shatter when you wear them down too far.
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Finish it with a file. Might be low-tech but avoids melting the inner or outer plastic and you probably don't have much to go anyway. A grinder works better in the shop only because a Park Tool or equivalent cutter deforms the housing and there's more material to be removed to get a decent end.