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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Cutting Tubing for mini-bottles


Mastercraft 1/8 to 1-1/8-in. Tube Cutter

Ideal for most copper tubing plumbing jobs. Includes built-in reamer. Extra wheel stored in the handle. Cast-metal construction



Chris in Canada wrote:
I have tried everything I could think of to easily and evenly cut sections of
hard plastic tubing (pump cream dispensers, spray bottle tubes, ballpoint pens,
syringes etc...) for mini items, but too often the cuts were not straight no
matter what I did so out would come the craft knife, file and Dremel to 'try' to
even things up and smooth the edges. On Sunday I was looking around at Canadian
Tire for some 2-part epoxy putty to repair a RL stove knob. I finally found it
in the automotive section, and right next to the putty was a row of Mastercraft
tube cutters.

I looked at the one labelled "Mini" which said it was for cutting hollow copper,
brass and aluminium from 1/8" to 7/8" diameter, all soft metals, so I bought one
knowing that if it didn't do the job on plastic tubing I could return it for
refund. However, it works so well that that anyone who wants to steal mine will
have to pry it out of my cold, lifeless fingers! Not only does it make a
very clean cut, but as long as you ensure the tube is inserted straight into the
opening and held there while you set up the tension knob, you get a perfectly
level cut, and I've a nice supply of 1:12 and 1:24 coffee mug bodies and water
glasses to prove it!