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Cutting Small Tubes


Marvel Onkey

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How do people cut small tube without crimping it?

 

I've bought some 1mm x 0.25mm aluminium tube to use as replacement gun barrels etc, but it is too small to be gripped by my K&S tube cutter which goes down to 1/16" leaving me at a little bit of a loss...

 

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12 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Insert some wire inside it and gently roll it

back & forth under a new scalpel blade.

That should do the trick.

^This.

 Just mind out to keep the blade nice and straight, or it will start to slightly wander up the tube. I’ve found it best to do this on a cutting mat rather than a hard surface as the mat grips the tube slightly giving a bit more accuracy.

The rolling effect of the blade may ‘mushroom’ the end of your tube giving you a tiny lip that you will have to sand off.

 

27 minutes ago, modelmaker said:

It doesn't do the blades much good

^That.

 

A thin cutting disc on a Dremel can work as well for cutting small tube. I stick the tube in a pin vise to make it easier to handle.

 

Mart

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  • 2 months later...
On 15/07/2017 at 10:18 AM, modelmaker said:

It doesn't do the blades much good but it really does work. Consider using wire inside a tube when bending a piece of thin tube, the same as a plumbers pipe bending spring

 

If I can add another tip to this great tip ... I found that I get the best results when I bend the tube very, very slowly.

 

Pete

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