Cutting Carbons

[lenbow]

G'day guys, I'm making up my first set of carbons and was wondering what is the best/safest way of cutting them to length ?

[Clinglish]

I use an angle grinder with the thinnest cutting blade I could buy .I wear a mask and glasses

[chris]

and a nappy

[Chuditch]

and a nappy

hehe :P funny

[lenbow]

Angle grinder ? mmm hadn't thought of that I'll give it a go, cheers.

[TexNAss]

I use:
A respirator and some eye protection.
A Dremel with a high speed diamond tipped cutting wheel. http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=545 Works really well with a set of V-Blocks to support the carbon shaft. Never tried standard cutoff wheels....

If you do a search through the forums you'll find a guide on what some people do..
http://www.aussiebowhunter.com/showthread.php?t=3759&highlight=dremel
http://www.aussiebowhunter.com/showthread.php?t=12146&highlight=cutting+carbon

There is a howto somewhere in there too.

[Tomalophicon]

Using a tool that spins quickly is your best bet.
Those little dremels are fast enough, you can buy very cheap alternatives from bunnings that do the job very well. They are Ozito and spin up to 8000rpm I think.

[Wayne]

I use a small pipe cutter and spin the shaft in one of my drills. Speed of the drill determines the quality of the cut. Don't get too carried away with tightening the chuck, use a keyless one if possible. Another method is to use a crimper with the cutter/stripper between the handles. It has sharp doublesided edges and works far quicker than the pipe cutter.
I found the dremel wasn't as accurate as the above approaches. The arrow off cut is too long to be accommodated as the dremel body is thick and doesn't allow the shaft to be cut straight.

[Tomalophicon]

I use a small pipe cutter and spin the shaft in one of my drills. Speed of the drill determines the quality of the cut. Don't get too carried away with tightening the chuck, use a keyless one if possible. Another method is to use a crimper with the cutter/stripper between the handles. It has sharp doublesided edges and works far quicker than the pipe cutter.
I found the dremel wasn't as accurate as the above approaches. The arrow off cut is too long to be accommodated as the dremel body is thick and doesn't allow the shaft to be cut straight.

Yes with the dremel you'll most likely need to cut in increments.

[OldBushDog]

A 1mm cut off disc works well , A stranded 3mm tears the crap out of em

[JaysonI]

Bunnings sell an Ozito muti tool.(cheap version of a dremel). They are about $50. The carbon will ruin the motor evetually. Wear a dust mask and goggle as a minimum. That stuffs nasty if it gets is your system.
Cheers.

[lenbow]

Thanks for all the info guys, appreciated.

[elemental]

Hey Mate,
Had the ozito and blew it up in a few weeks, bought a cordless dremel for $50 more than the ozito and its taken a beating and still going strong.
If you get the dremel get the quick release chuck, it makes life alot easier, and spend the money on a good respirator, 3M make some good ones, ask at the store for specialist filters designed to prevent the carbon dust getting in.

[Tomalophicon]

Hey Mate,
Had the ozito and blew it up in a few weeks, bought a cordless dremel for $50 more than the ozito and its taken a beating and still going strong.
If you get the dremel get the quick release chuck, it makes life alot easier, and spend the money on a good respirator, 3M make some good ones, ask at the store for specialist filters designed to prevent the carbon dust getting in.

I've had the Ozito for almost 4 years and it's still going strong.

[JaysonI]

The carbon will eventually bugger the motor on any electric cutter. Cheap is good in this case. Remember to use some sort of set up to align your cuts square. There was a bloke with photo's of a setup he made for cutting carbons on this site. I pretty much copied his and it worked like a treat.

[Clinglish]

Don't forget the nappy, it's for if the grinder gets away from you .LOL

[pete w]

There are plans for making a saw on my site from a sewing machine motor. {Apple saws use singer sewing machine motors}. www.peteward.com
You can also mount a Zip disc on an angle grinder, bench grinder, or table saw.