Cutting steel cable

C

cqziji

Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
3
Will the hard wire cutter on a Leatherman (or other multitool) cut 1/8" stainless steel cable?

I'm not talking about not cutting it routinely; I mean in an emergency where damaging the tool is acceptable.

I have a regular wire cutter on my small sailboat for cutting rigging, but something I could carry on my person would be handier in an emergency.
 
Braided cable is the most challenging thing to cut with a plier or multitool. It is oftentimes too hard to be cut with the soft wire cutter section; the individual strands simply squeeze between the cutting surfaces. And the hard wire cutter section of the tool is designed to "break" solid steel wire like fishhooks and the like, not "cut" tiny strands.

The only tool that has worked for me reliably on cutting braided wire has been the Gerber tools with the carbide triangle wire-cutter inserts. They slice through like butter. Starting in 2006, Gerber now offers the carbide cutters on several models in their 600 series.

~Bob
 
JOOLIESEWS said:
Braided cable is the most challenging thing to cut with a plier or multi-tool. It is oftentimes too hard to be cut with the soft wire cutter section; the individual strands simply squeeze between the cutting surfaces. And the hard wire cutter section of the tool is designed to "break" solid steel wire like fishhooks and the like, not "cut" tiny strands.

The only tool that has worked for me reliably on cutting braided wire has been the Gerber tools with the carbide triangle wire-cutter inserts. They slice through like butter. Starting in 2006, Gerber now offers the carbide cutters on several models in their 600 series.

~Bob
Click to expand...

Dang! I am having an interesting time, here. Several multi-tool issues I have been mulling over just these last few days (in some cases, hours) have materialized as topics on Bladeforums. Too supernatural, except I don't believe in that stuff. :rolleyes:

Last night I tested my several multi-tools upon a length of braided wire to find out which cut best (Swisstool original) to worst (Leatherman Juice CS4). The others were inconsistent. One cut would be clean, another less so, but some were more consistent than others.

This was not a comprehensive test and I don't think any general conclusions can be drawn. It just showed me how my multi-tools were performing. All the wire cutters had been used to one degree or another, but Swisstool less than the Leatherman Super Tool 200, which has been used for that a lot (didn't do that badly, BTW). And I think maybe the CS4 might have been just a little abused in that department, one reason I usually prefer big tools.

So maybe I can think up another topic and see if it shows up. What fun!
 
Thanks for the input, guys, but I wasn't talking about braided cable.

I meant wire rope (as used on sailboats) like this:

http://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1|118|107602&id=297597

1/8" is about the largest you'd encounter on a boat of 18' length or less.
 
The wire rope is made of steel, which is tougher and harder than the regular wire cutter section on most multitools is meant to cut. The steel wire will simply dull the cutting edges after a few cuts.

Maybe the 1/8" diameter wire rope you are describing would fall within the "hard-wire" section of the multitool. Most hard wire sections I've seen have been smaller than that though.

I'm still thinking your best bet would be the Gerber tool with carbide inserts.

~Bob
 
Just out of curiousity, would the hacksaw on an LM (e.g. Surge, Core, Wave,etc.) work better in cutting wire rope of that size? Or maybe it's too rough because of the doube-row of teeth?

But in an emergency like what cqziji is asking, could it work, you think Bob?
 
I findmyself needing to cut braided bicycle derailluer/brake cables a few times and the Vic Spirit could not cut it, but my SOG powerlock did (not easily). I sent in the Vic Spirit to see if they can tighten up the pliers so that the strands dont sandwich into the pliers (forcing them to get stuck in the closed position).
 
sparkee said:
Just out of curiousity, would the hacksaw on an LM (e.g. Surge, Core, Wave,etc.) work better in cutting wire rope of that size? Or maybe it's too rough because of the doube-row of teeth?

But in an emergency like what cqziji is asking, could it work, you think Bob?
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Gee, I dunno. I would think the wire strands would get "stuck" between the saw teeth. Maybe the edge of the file blade would work better?
 
JOOLIESEWS said:
Gee, I dunno. I would think the wire strands would get "stuck" between the saw teeth. Maybe the edge of the file blade would work better?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I supposed they would. But maybe if the wire strands were held real taut?

Hmmmm....... I see a field test coming on............anyone?

Test 2 would be how long it would take using the file?

I can imagine you guys already going out to buy some wire rope, hehe! :D


Some additional info, in case anyone's interested:

Courtesy of Clead on another thread, check out this extra blade option for your LM-Surge-

http://www.amazon.com/Pack-T118B-14...7/ref=sr_1_1/102-3986196-9982502?ie=UTF8&s=hi

I think that in an emergency this will work just fine for cutting wire rope. It may take more elbow grease but still, in a pinch.....

Big Thanks to Clead for sharing this info.
 
How about the additional wire cutters on the rear side of the plier heads on the Surge and Core? AFAIK they were made for the purpose of cutting braided wire. Has anyone had the chance to use them on such? =)
 
I cut 2-3 mm thick steel cables with my Bucktool many times. The multitool handled it without any major problems, although once the blade of the wirecutter suffered a small chip. Heck once I even used my Swisstech to cut a somewhat thinner cable and the tiny thing came through it with flying colors. Keep in mind, the Swisstech is made from toolsteel, not SS.
 
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