hot rope cutters - what would you pay?

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Sailingsaves

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What is the cheapest hot rope cutter you know of?

How much would you pay for a:

1) 12Volt version that plugs into cigar socket with a long length of thin flexible wire (in case you wished to work on deck)

2) A 3Volt portable device that works via 2 AA cells (they could be rechargeable AA cells at a lower voltage)

A friend is letting me stay in their spare room and I was bored so have made myself a hot rope cutter whilst I tinkered with lines and soft shackles.

Thinking of making a webpage selling such devices to stave boredom and make pennies or pounds.

I don't think this breaks any forum rules because I am not selling on the forum.

Thank you
 
I bought a Lidl AA battery powered soldering iron some time ago. It's very good for limited short jobs in awkward places. Cost about £6-7. Guess it would be easy enough to put a hot wire/blade on it, but haven't tried. Spare room sounds a bit more comfortable for you though :)
 
Silly money here:

HSGM Rope Cutter - Portable Hot Knife - Cuts Sailing Ropes, Industrial Ropes: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

£20 seems cheapest

12 volt hot knife rope cutters - Google Shopping

My sums mean I can make one (if I buy materials in bulk) for about £3. Sell on ebay or my own website for say £9 with 3 year guarantee.

But it looks like a frayed knot idea. Back to tending to pot plants.:)

Edit: £6 for a gas soldering iron (if it does the job) is cheap. I have a cheapish £15 one that just about does all I want on windy days and a cheaper one that is only of use in still weather (and even then is pretty useless - "Workzone" I think). Neither have a blade for cutting rope.

I have been making soft shackles for fun and had a few electrical bits in the car to knock together a rope cutter and hence my idea grew. At least I have a cheap rope cutter until I run out of rope...

Cheers
 
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I'd definitely buy something to cut-and-melt synthetic cloth, dacron, sunbrella etc.. Now either I use scissors, then do a quick pass with a lighter along the edge to melt the fraying, or I cut with a gas soldering thing with its "cut rope" tip, but then one needs to have a metal plate underneath, or make burns on the pontoon as I did.
Ropes are dealt with a knife, then melting the end with those pocket blowtorch lighters, they can handle at least 25mm rope.
 
Sailingsaves said:
Silly money here:

HSGM Rope Cutter - Portable Hot Knife - Cuts Sailing Ropes, Industrial Ropes: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

£20 seems cheapest

12 volt hot knife rope cutters - Google Shopping

My sums mean I can make one (if I buy materials in bulk) for about £3. Sell on ebay or my own website for say £9 with 3 year guarantee.

But it looks like a frayed knot idea. Back to tending to pot plants.:)

Edit: £6 for a gas soldering iron (if it does the job) is cheap. I have a cheapish £15 one that just about does all I want on windy days and a cheaper one that is only of use in still weather (and even then is pretty useless - "Workzone" I think). Neither have a blade for cutting rope.

I have been making soft shackles for fun and had a few electrical bits in the car to knock together a rope cutter and hence my idea grew. At least I have a cheap rope cutter until I run out of rope...

Cheers
Click to expand...
You might find a bit of a market for the soft shackles too, not everyone wants to make their own.
Apparently setting the knot needs some sort of powerful tensioner, which could be improvised no doubt, and adding a strain gauge to that would mean you knew what it had been tested to.....
 
I have a hot knife blade which fits into a mains 'solder gun'.
That is pretty good for cutting sailcloth.
About £15
This kind of thing:
100W Electric Soldering Iron Gun Kit + 3 Tips + Solder Wire + Stand Magnifier UK 5010559714216 | eBay

I do own a lot of soldering irons due to my line of business.

There might be a market for something portable, instant heat, maybe running from a LiIon battery.

For cutting ropes, I normally use a scalpel or stanley knife, then melt the ends with a lighter.
If the rope is even a bit damp, you do need a fair amount of heat. so using a 12V or whatever drill battery that I've already got might appeal.
Likewise soldering outdoors, you want a 50w iron if it's not dead calm.
 
Rum Run said:
You might find a bit of a market for the soft shackles too, not everyone wants to make their own.
Apparently setting the knot needs some sort of powerful tensioner, which could be improvised no doubt, and adding a strain gauge to that would mean you knew what it had been tested to.....
Click to expand...
Yes, good point.
I used to tension soft shackles with a jib sheet winch.
I currently use a hi lift jack with anti chafe strops so as not to damage the dyneema.
 
thinwater said: "Or hammer your own from a length of coat hanger wire and use it to trim fabric too (free, 5 minutes)."

Brilliant, the way to go. How do they charge over £100 quid for them.
 
Buy blades? I sharpen hacksaw broken blades. I have used them, with a handle to cut rope when the blade has been heated with a blow torch (creme brûlée torch (from Aldi) - essential equipment in every galley - or workshop)

Jonathan
 
Sailingsaves said:
Silly money here:

HSGM Rope Cutter - Portable Hot Knife - Cuts Sailing Ropes, Industrial Ropes: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

£20 seems cheapest

12 volt hot knife rope cutters - Google Shopping

My sums mean I can make one (if I buy materials in bulk) for about £3. Sell on ebay or my own website for say £9 with 3 year guarantee.

But it looks like a frayed knot idea. Back to tending to pot plants.:)

Edit: £6 for a gas soldering iron (if it does the job) is cheap. I have a cheapish £15 one that just about does all I want on windy days and a cheaper one that is only of use in still weather (and even then is pretty useless - "Workzone" I think). Neither have a blade for cutting rope.

I have been making soft shackles for fun and had a few electrical bits in the car to knock together a rope cutter and hence my idea grew. At least I have a cheap rope cutter until I run out of rope...

Cheers
Click to expand...

Anyone else mentioned that you need to consider product liability protection? Either through insurance or clever , creative trading structure. Simplest would be to pretend to be a Chinese company and change the name and ebay account every few weeks.
 
I picked a German one up from a rigger who abandoned it on the boat. I called him and he assured me it was bust. Managed to fix the dodgy switch. Vastly over engineered, but has served me well for many years
 
I also have the German hsgm cutter - bought on ebay a few years ago, also bought a 'V' cutter for sailcloth & acrylic which seals the edges. Very useful, sometimes used on board with a cheap inverter.
 
Gwylan said "Anyone else mentioned that you need to consider product liability protection?"

That's a red herring, there are plenty of products available which will have product liability insurance which retail for much much less.

In addition to which there is an assumption that the user is competent to use the equipment and reads the instructions. Burning yourself with one is something that you would be deemed competent to avoid. It is a hot knife. Only if the product was faulty would you have a claim.

I went through this when selling multi-meters. One model didn't have finger guards on the probes. There was no liability, if you use one you are assumed to be competent and know to keep your fingers out of the way.
 
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