Bolt croppers

matt1

matt1

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Never owned, or used any.

Any recommendations for cutting away 10mm rigging in extremis? It seems they are classified by handle length rather than a specification for what they can cut, and of course prices vary considerably. Recommendations? Brands? Size? Real world experience of actually cutting wire with some.

I currently carry a hacksaw and battery angle grinder as part of the arsenal
 
There has been a lot of previous debate on the various methods of cutting rigging. If you plump for the bolt-cropper route it is perhaps better to go for a dedicated rigging cutter. This is similar to a bolt cropper but has a semicircular cutout in one blade that will hold the wire captive while cutting, whereas a common or garden bolt cropper has two straight blades which allow the wire to slide out resulting in repeated attempts at cutting having to be made.
 
I have bolt croppers with a curved blade and two large hacksaws with fresh blades protected with oiled paper. Never had to use in anger, but from my own tests on old standing rigging I reckon the hacksaws are more effective.

I also have a lanyard on each of the tools just in case.
 
18v angle grinder most likely for me. Obviously depends how 'wet and wild' things have got - but that's the tool I'd reach for in normal circumstances to cut something like that, so I'd that's also what I'd go for first if dismasted. Certainly quicker than a hacksaw.
 
I bought a fairly beefy pair of croppers from a boat jumble, "good idea at the time" syndrome, many years ago. They are about 1m long. I tried them once at the time of having the rigging replaced on my last boat. I'd now categorise them as "useless" for cutting away rigging while distressed resulting from a dismasting.
 
Hacksaw or mini grinder. Ideally both.

Advantage of a hacksaw: can't go wrong, can be handled by any old crew member without collateral risk. NB you will saw through all the bronze bottlescrews before you are halfway through the first stainless wire. I tried it on my old screws.

Take plenty of blades.

Grinder, yes it's quicker, but it takes skill and goggles and preferably gloves, and a novice can still lose a finger.

I have never done it in anger, but in all cases beware cutting through something under tension that could whip back and hit you in the face.
 
Racing seem to require us to carry bolt croppers.
So we had some cheap ones, although they were pretty chunky.
Using them ashore to cut concrete reinforcement, they were not very good.
So Kev took them to a man who hard-faced and sharpened the blades.
They cut now.
We also carry hacksaw, pliers to deal with lockwire and a hammer and punch to knock pins out.
Also tools to undo the bottlescrews.

I do know a few people who have lost masts. None in a storm. Racing collisions and random wire failure are the most common cause.
In a storm, you're going to be reefed and the mast may not be at its highest stress?
Generally, you want to bring the mast home, not litter the seabed with it.
 
A serious question is why would you wish to cut the mast away and allow it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Once the storm is over it the remaining could be used to jury-rig a sail to get you home
 
Rogershaw said:
A serious question is why would you wish to cut the mast away and allow it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Once the storm is over it the remaining could be used to jury-rig a sail to get you home
Click to expand...
Because a piece of heavy spar, still attached to the boat but in the water can do an awful lot of damage to the hull. Having a hole with water leaking in, in addition to the loss of the mast will make life a lot harder. However, if you can secure a piece, safely, in a big storm, then I guess that may make sense but with the boat bouncing and rolling securing a heavy spar is likely to be dangerous
 
Rogershaw said:
A serious question is why would you wish to cut the mast away and allow it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Once the storm is over it the remaining could be used to jury-rig a sail to get you home
Click to expand...
I can imagine that being short-handed on a big boat in rough conditions might make you want rid, especially if it's causing you to lie side on to waves. People also talk of the damage a mast might do to the hull, so that could be just cause. (We recovered ours).
 
matt1 said:
Never owned, or used any.

Any recommendations for cutting away 10mm rigging in extremis? It seems they are classified by handle length rather than a specification for what they can cut, and of course prices vary considerably. Recommendations? Brands? Size? Real world experience of actually cutting wire with some.

I currently carry a hacksaw and battery angle grinder as part of the arsenal
Click to expand...

Bolt croppers are designed to cut bolts, not wire rope, and definitely not 10mm wire rope.
 
We carry a pair of Felco cutters, tested on our 8mm rigging. They do larger sizes so I'm sure ones for your 10mm.
 
I think when Yachting Monthly's Crash Test Boat "lost" the mast they found the most effective cutter, by some way, was a simple hacksaw with a number of blades (special ones for cutting through stainless steel). I don't think battery powered angle grinders were around then.
 
Has anyone actually tried to cut 10mm stainless wire or fittings with bolt croppers? Wire squashes - it isn't easy to crop. I doubt it is possible. and certainly not while hanging on to a wildly gyrating wreck in a storm
Does a battery powered angle-grinder work under water, as it would need to do in a storm? I very much doubt it.
You'll be there all week with a hacksaw.
I fear this is not as easy a task as might be imagined.
 
Slowboat35 said:
Has anyone actually tried to cut 10mm stainless wire or fittings with bolt croppers? Wire squashes - it isn't easy to crop. I doubt it is possible. and certainly not while hanging on to a wildly gyrating wreck in a storm
Does a battery powered angle-grinder work under water, as it would need to do in a storm? I very much doubt it.
You'll be there all week with a hacksaw.
I fear this is not as easy a task as might be imagined.
Click to expand...
No, it's hard enough to cut 10mm stainless in a vice on the bench.. the best tools are probably mega-expensive hydraulic cutters.
A cordless grinder with tape over the cooling slots might work for long enough in rain or spray, and not all dismastings are in storms.
( I was tied up next to a mastless large bermudan in Norway, and heard that the mast had collapsed in the marina with a rigger aloft! He went in the water luckily..)
 
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