Anyone use a dremel to cut cable housing?

[BobC]

Looking for a good recommendation, something simple & hard to mess up

[ColonelJLloyd]

Yes. You seem to have already arrived at the solution, though, so I'm unsure what more to say. I use both the regular cut-off discs and the HD reinforced ones depending on what's already loaded in the Dremel. Hold the housing on a block of wood and make a decisive and perpendicular cut through it.

Use a razor blade or the Dremel cut-off disc on low speed to smooth the plastic coating of it is melted or otherwise would encumber the end cap.

Use a small awl to gently open up and smooth the inner liner of the housing.

[rccardr]

Yep, been doing it for...well an awful lot of years.
Also use a cut off cable end to burnish the inside of the housing after it’s cut.
My stuff shifts like...buttah.

[bikinchris]

I've been wanting to build a chop saw for that. Jaws would hold the housing in the right place and a high speed cut off wheel would make finishing the housing with a grinder or file unnecessary. Just use a pointed tip dremel to clean up the liner and you're ready to go.

[Louis]

Yes. Super easy. Takes seconds.

[binouye]

Originally Posted by Louis

Yes. Super easy. Takes seconds.

Plus then you don't have to file the end smooth (so that it nests nicely in the end cap and won't go out of adjustment later).

[PTinz]

Originally Posted by rccardr

Yep, been doing it for...well an awful lot of years.
Also use a cut off cable end to burnish the inside of the housing after it’s cut.
My stuff shifts like...buttah.

+1, indeed! although i find with the dremel that the "pinched" liner is much less pinched than with standard cable/housing cutters. On occasion I would miss the liner with the awl and instead be prying away at the space between the liner and the wire housing......with the dremel, the pinch is less so, therefore the liner opening is very apparent, so no mistakes on inserting the awl to the proper, liner, location.

[DeBike]

I recently bought a dremel with this purpose being one of the main reasons. I have not tried it yet. I am going to use some old cable/housing first to get the process right. Thanks to anyone posting how to and use suggestions.

[martl]

i used my Proxxon for that for a while but i returned to a good quality cutter (i use an ELDI one) - no power chord, no hunting for the tiny cutoff wheels, no fiddling around with that microscopic clamping bolt, no need for eye protection, etc

[dave thompson]

Originally Posted by DeBike

I recently bought a dremel with this purpose being one of the main reasons. I have not tried it yet. I am going to use some old cable/housing first to get the process right. Thanks to anyone posting how to and use suggestions.

When you’re cutting the cable housing with your Dremel, use pressure to cut it quickly. Otherwise it generates heat and can melt the liner and/or housing.

[dddd]

The Dremel is totally the wrong tool for this job.

All proper derailer housing ferrules have a plastic seating surface inside for the sharp ends of the wires to seat against. This embedding is actually useful to help distribute the compressive force equally among the wires, preventing distortion of the housing's trajectory and reducing stress on the plastic matrix giving the housing it's structure.
The sharp ends also better resist migrating toward the small hole in the ferrule, which sometimes occurs over the course of lengthy service.
Blunt ends of the wires prevent all this, especially as the effective lengths of the wires may shift as the housing is routed in a curved path. So the ends of the housing are better not ground or filed.

There is also the matter of the heat damaging both the liner and the housing matrix (plastic), as well as the torrent of fine abrasive material introduced into your pre-lubed and perfectly clean new housings.

As if the extreme amount of time and care needed to cut housings this way wasn't enough, there is also the need to don eye protection and having to breath the dust and fumes from the burning plastic.

The design and effectiveness of the cables, housings, ferrules and cutters are all consistent with the normal shop method of cutting.

I've had good, inexpensive cable cutters from Performance give 20 years of frequent service, so wouldn't cut cables or housings any other way.

Even brake cable housing can well do without any dressing with a file if a judicious second cut is made to the end of the housing coil. I've used a file here as well, sometimes still do(!), but there is diminishing return going beyond a quick second cut.

Lastly, I've seen and experienced injuries associated with the use of hand-held rotating cutters including the Dremel, it must be used with care at all times.

[Hellgate]

I've used the same Shimano SIS cutters for the past 30 years. Is an excellent tool that cuts cable and housing cleanly, and crimps ferrules. Well worth the money. Right up there with a Campy peanut butter wrench in terms of most often used tools.

[KJMUNC]

Originally Posted by Hellgate

I've used the same Shimano SIS cutters for the past 30 years. Is an excellent tool that cuts cable and housing cleanly, and crimps ferrules. Well worth the money. Right up there with a Campy peanut butter wrench in terms of most often used tools.

Funny, I read a similar statement on this forum 10+yrs ago and bought some....I must've gotten a bad version as they separate when I cut and have always done a terrible job. I use another snip, but have always wondered why mine were such garbage.

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by KJMUNC

Funny, I read a similar statement on this forum 10+yrs ago and bought some....I must've gotten a bad version as they separate when I cut and have always done a terrible job. I use another snip, but have always wondered why mine were such garbage.

How odd. Has been used only for housing and cables? I've used a number of them and they've been consistent.

[Velocipede]

I have done different things over the years. Just cutting with Shimano cutters. Cutting and grinding on the grinder wheel. Dremel. The all work about the same. Shimano and other brands housing come cut by a carbide wheel of some kind. So they obviously think it's ok. You just need to do it quickly. I like cutting with Shimano cutter(the best ever made still) and then grinding on a bench grinder. I only do it on higher end client builds. Ones I am spending more time on. Not basic repairs.