hot knives

[FergusM]

I will be doing quite a lot of rigging work shortly, and I was thinking about getting one of the gas-powered hot knives to cut and seal the ropes. I saw in the Force 4 catalogue which came with PBO that they offer a hot knife at £35 or so, and a combined hot knife, soldering iron, blowlamp and hot-air gun at £45. Has anyone experience of these? I am tempted to go for the dedicated hot knife, as it does the job I want at the moment, but the idea of a soldering iron appeals. On the other hand, a 12 v soldering iron is also available in the catalogue at about £7. The money is not as important as getting the right tool. I am a bit suspicious about multi-role tools as against dedicated ones.

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[steve28]

They work really well, provided they are at the right temprature for the job.
If its too hot when using as a knife then it tends to blacken the rope!.
I keep mine on board and keep a good few refils .
Also can be used for silver soldering.

steve

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[Talbot]

Go to maplin. They have one of these that is a gas powered soldering iron, knife for rope, and paint melter and is cheaper than the Draper version. Mine worked recently through 12mm rope with no problem. I posted about this one at Xmas when it was on offer at abt £15!

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[bigmart]

I've got one of the Hot Knife, Soldering Iron & Mini blowlamps jobs. My kids bought me mine from Machine Mart last Fathers day. Pretty much the same as the all singing/Dancing jobs from the Chandlers but an awful lot cheaper.

Martin

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[tcm]

i am unsure of multitools too. I have a hot knife thingy for cutting ropes, 240V, not sure if 12v wd be good enough. The way to cut the rope with hot knife is to tape it tightly with fusetape where you eant the cut or anyold tape actually will do, then cut through the middle of the tape - otherwise the rope splays open instead of melting into a tight end. I spose this is obvious.

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[anchorhandler]

Before i got hold of one of those fance hot knives, i used to use my heat gun (diy hairdryer used to strip paint)...just slowly lower the end of the rope towards the nozzle of the gun (held vertically upwards) and when its an inch or so away it will start to melt back onto itself leaving a sealed rounded end. Just got to remember to keep your fingers clear!!

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[snowleopard]

mine is a hot knife with interchangeable soldering tip, both equipped with catalytic heater. apart from sometimes being a bit tricky to light it's a very useful tool and is used more than anything else in my toolbox except the bottle opener.

refilling is from a generic butane lighter refiller which is still going strong after 10 years.

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[andyball]

beals will sell you a portasol pro solder/hot air/hot knife thingy for £27.95+vat . extra 3.95 for knife tip. Cracking little thing.

Hot knife takes a good while to get hot enough to go through like butter, then excellent. Soldering performance excellent, hot air tip a waste of time except indoors, just use the bare torch for heat shrink etc.

good catalogue of "workshop supplies". 0113 253 8888. They'll beat any competitors price for anything they sell. Very cheap for heatshrink,stainless jubilee clips, small hoses, wiring connectors etc.

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[whisper]

Yes, agreed, I got a hot knife from Maplin as well - very cheap and as good as another I got at twice the price.

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