Cable cutters or make do with side cutters

small_bloke

Hi, are Park Tool cable cutters worth buying? Will they give me a better finish than my high quality (Eliott Lucas branded) electrical side cutters. Surely they both crush the cable anyway?

I was thinking of buying this from Wiggle
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tools-prof ... 5360064342

But already have these side cutters in my tool box
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cutter-Side-125 ... de+cutters

BillyMansell

The problem with the side cutters is they'll crush the cable before cutting which can lead to fraying and splaying making it hard to feed the cable through holes or fit end caps whereas the cable cutters will cut the cable in the round.

hypster

BillyMansell wrote:

The problem with the side cutters is they'll crush the cable before cutting which can lead to fraying and splaying making it hard to feed the cable through holes or fit end caps whereas the cable cutters will cut the cable in the round.

+1 . You'll probably be okay cutting the inner cable with the side cutters but the outer cable is spiral wound and will usually just squash making it hard to feed the inner cable through as BillyMansell says. Quality tools will last a lifetime and repay the time, money and effort spent fixing a bodge every time. This is coming from a long-time bodger as well!

ben-----

I bought those Park Tool cutters and sent them back. They cut the inner cable well but then so does a lot of things, I bet, like your cutters you've already got. And the PT cutters crushed the outer cable, which is what I really wanted them for. So from my very limited experience, those PT cutters aren't much good. Not for the outer cable. Maybe I wasn't using them right. Or maybe they're not much good.

I never actually bought these, but I think they might be a better choice than the PT ones: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_242558

hypster

I have the Shimano cable cutters which are an older version of these:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... 90#reviews

I've had them for about 15 years and they have been fine. They have a curved cutting edge to both blades which cuts the outer cable cleanly every time. If the Park Tools ones don't do this then there must be something wrong with the design of their jaws.

Monty Dog

You don't really get enough leverage with a side-cutter IME - unless they're really sharp and you have strong hands. I have some 6" Oetiker end-cutters but I have to re-grind occasionally to keep them sharp. The scissor-cut of a cable cutter is pretty effective.