I swore by cable housing cutters for 10 years, then tried a $10 dremel bit on a whim

I used those fancy Park Tool cable cutters for over a decade at my shop in Toledo. Thought they were the ONLY way to get clean cuts on housing. Then last Tuesday I ran out of town for a job and forgot my cutters at home. I grabbed a cheap Dremel cutoff wheel from the hardware store as a backup. Honestly, the cuts came out way cleaner with zero fraying on the ends. I felt like a fool for spending $80 on cutters that still gave me burrs sometimes. Has anyone else found a random tool that beat the standard bike-specific stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_scott1mo ago

Well now, that takes me back. I remember when I was building my shed last summer and I kept fighting with a hand saw for the trim work. My neighbor came over, saw me struggling, and handed me this beat up old oscillating multi-tool he got at a garage sale for five bucks. I thought no way, that little thing ain't gonna cut it. But it zipped through the wood like butter and left edges so clean I didn't even need to sand. Made me wonder how many other "right" tools I've been wasting money on over the years.

johnson.faith1mo ago

Wait what kind of cutoff wheel did you use exactly? The thin ones or the thicker reinforced discs?