Cutting wire

Aeolus

Aeolus

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Had to cut some 6mm galvanized wire rope at the weekend and blunted my hacksaw. Ended up cutting it strand by strand with wire cutters.

I now suspect that the hacksaw would be useless if I had to cut away standing rigging (e.g. if the mast fell). Are there any tougher hacksaw blades available? What tools do others have for this purpose?
 
Aeolus said:
Had to cut some 6mm galvanized wire rope at the weekend and blunted my hacksaw. Ended up cutting it strand by strand with wire cutters.

I now suspect that the hacksaw would be useless if I had to cut away standing rigging (e.g. if the mast fell). Are there any tougher hacksaw blades available? What tools do others have for this purpose?
Click to expand...

I have a set of boltcroppers. Fortunately never used, so far.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-1400...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0002BUHOG
 
I've never had to cut rigging away but I keep a pair of 24 inch bolt croppers on board, big I know, but they were free..:D
If ashore and I'm splicing 7x7 galvanised or any other size for that matter, I lay it on an anvil and cut it with a sharp cold chisel and heavy hammer. I find that gives a nice clean cut for cutting the tucked strands off.
 
When I renewed my 5mm s/s rigging with Stalok terminals I had to cut the wires myself. I found it relatively easy using a Junior hacksaw with a new blade providing the wire was held firmly. Some insulation tape around the cut site helped but in an emergency you wouldn't be able to do that.

The recent 'Dismasting Video' on Scuttlebutt showed that a hacksaw worked quite well presumably because the weight of the fallen mast kept the wire tight.
 
To those who carry bolt croppers to cut away rigging if dismasted I strongly recommend getting a bit of scrap wire of the same size as your rigging to see how well your cutters work. You could be in for a nasty surprise. Stainless is harder to cut than galvanised. One method that will do the job is the 'Shroud Shooter' that uses a blank .22 cartridge to provide the force to cut wire. Pretty expensive for something you are very unlikely to need.

Bi-metallic hacksaw blades were mentioned. They are the best type to get as they combine a flexible back with hardened teeth. The one to avoid is 'all hard' which will snap if misused.
 
Agree with snowleopard... we thought ourselves well sorted until we tried a scrap of wire.... it would have been quicker to chew through the wire with my teeth!

We now have a set of bolt croppers with 1m handles (yes, that's 1 metre)... they'll cut 10mm rigging, but not without effort....

If you have anything smaller, unless as mentioned above, they are the massively expensive ones, then you'll struggle IME
 
snowleopard said:
To those who carry bolt croppers to cut away rigging if dismasted I strongly recommend getting a bit of scrap wire of the same size as your rigging to see how well your cutters work.
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Very well, thankyou :)

1m handles, force-multiplying pivot design, and most crucially...


... small rigging wire :)

Pete
 
Aeolus said:
Had to cut some 6mm galvanized wire rope at the weekend and blunted my hacksaw.
Click to expand...

Regardless of the whys and wherefores of it being rigging, galvanised rope shouldn't blunt your hacksaw (not until you've made a few hundred cuts, anyway).

Decent quality bi-metal blades should last almost forever cutting mild steel.

Starrett or Eclipse are good brands (IMHO). If it's un-branded from B&Q or Halfords, it will be the cheapest, poorest quality s#1t imaginable.

Andy
 
The ratchet cutters that Salty J comments on are fantastic (albeit a bit pricy); I have a pair and they slice through stainless wire as if it were butter. I was surprised that YM didn't include a pair on their recent test.
 
snowleopard said:
Bi-metallic hacksaw blades were mentioned. They are the best type to get as they combine a flexible back with hardened teeth. The one to avoid is 'all hard' which will snap if misused.
Click to expand...

You also need blades with fine teeth 32 teeth per inch minimum.

My boat came complete with a huge pair of bolt cutters, with about 3 foot long handles, but I still doubt I could cut 10mm 1x19 shrouds with them.

I have a pack of 1mm thick grinding disks designed for stainless. What I need to go with them is a rechargeable angle grinder.
 
I have a pair of 24" cable cutters on board just in case. Better than bolt croppers as the blades 'wrap' round the rigging so that it can't escape when being cut. Possibly have to bin them after use but hopefully i will never have to find out.
 
Norman_E said:
You also need blades with fine teeth 32 teeth per inch minimum.
Click to expand...

Not so, the hacksaw blade in the video was 18tpi, and you can see how it worked





The blade used and hack saw used were mine. The blade was a 18tpi High Speed Steel blade - "for use on steel and non-ferrous metal"

Made by centurion - Link here

0038038-CTB_Dismasting-GS.JPG


The blade was white, and they cost £2.99 for two from a DIY shop in Gosport

But (thanks to google) you can get them for £1.18 each here

Sadly we didn't have enough wires to do a live test on SJ's ratchet cutters, but they have performed well in the past.
 
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The type of wire cutters you need have a bypass type action as opposed to anvil type cutting of bolt cutters.
They need to be sharp.(they look a bit like a parrot beak). I have a pair that I use on SS wire both 1X19 and 7X19 up to 3/16 inch diameter and they work well despite being only about 25cms long. A larger pair would be good for heavier wire.
You can use a hack saw but the teeth tend to catch on a strand and pull rather than cut.

I think for dismasting I would be looking at removing clevis pins to release the stay as a first choice but if you must cut it away you might do better with bolt cutters on the solid part of the rigging screw rather than the wire.
One thing for sure if you try to cut rigging you need to have proven the capability of the method before hand.
good luck olewill
 
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