[Closed] pipe cutter for steerer tube?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=10222

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£17.99

i can't recommend the wrong tool for the job, but i can recommend you buy a hacksaw and a cutting-guide, you can use them in the future as well

Alu steerer or steel steerer?

i can't recommend the wrong tool for the job

Aluminium pipe cutter to cut an aluminium pipe? It works for me! I used this one:

[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Expert-10580-tubing-cutter/dp/B0001K9O9W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=diy&qid=1279271038&sr=8-2 ][/url]

I'm sure I got it for less than that from a hardware store...?

I use a couple of old crap stems as a guide, prior to that I used jubilee clips.

If it's alloy and you don't trust yourself to cut it square, just cut it a bit longer then take to it with a file. Obviously you can also file steel, but it's more work.

it doesn't actually have to be straight - no-one's ever going to see it once you fit the fork

[url= http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=343764&Trail=searchtext>PIPE+CUTTER ]£4.19 from Homebase[/url]
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This one worked fine for me. 😀

i have used a pipe cutter in the past but it leaves a nasty ridge that you can't get the stem over, or have to file it away invarably doing a bad job so it doesn't look any better than if youd taken a saw to it.

find a guide of some type (even tape is good enough) and a good sharp bladed saw.

i need to trim the steerer on my fancy bike, and will do on my pompetamine when i get home, too.

using the pipe cutter method, can you perform the op without taking the fork out of the frame and all the associated disassemblage? (i'm wuite lazy...)

@Mulletus Maximus

that looks too small to fit a steerer tube? must be ok if you have done it though, will it work on alloy steerer tubes ok??

may just go down the hacksaw route in all honesty, probably making a mountain out of a mole hill type scenario and worrying 🙁

Have done 3 forks in about 3 years, all using a pipe cutter. Sure a little bit of filiing required, but take it low and tighen up the cutter a little at a time and its fine.
Remember MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE!!!

i use a hacksaw and a vice - using the edge of the vice to approximately guide, though other methods work (I've used the bike as a restraint before, with the fork installed. It doesn't have to be straight, flat or anything... as long as it's about the right length. After sawing, I take the sharp edges off with a file. tis a doddle. a hacksaw is also useful for much more stuff than a pipe cutter.

Mine was an alloy steerer. You just need to take the tension on the blade and gently rotate whilst tightening as you go. You need to take care at first so to get a straight line but once there's a definate groove cut it's easy. Once cut i beveled the edge with a fine file. Job done.
Can't comment on doing it with the assembled fork though.
Remember, measure twice, cut once.
Size wise, as long as it opens to about 30mm then you'll be fine. Take a tape with you when/ if you buy one so you can measure how far it opens.

flatboy - yes.

i can't recommend the wrong tool for the job

Well if your using a pipe cutter designed for alloy tubing in what way are you using the wrong tool? Many pipe cutters will also cut stainless as well as alloy and copper.

cheers, al - i've been putting off doing it despite it being glaringly obvious for over a year that i need to, on the basis of not really having much space in the flat for disassembling everything. think a trip to homebase will be in order!

"[i]Well if your using a pipe cutter designed for alloy tubing in what way are you using the wrong tool? [/i]"

because pipe-cutters are very good at cutting, er, pipes which are usually made of very thin and ductile materials as opposed to steerers which are on the whole thick and hardened, tending to wreck a pipe-cutters blade, and as mentioned they leave a ridge that needs to be filed away before you can get the stem over

and let's not even think about the terminal damage a pipe-cutter can do to a carbon-steerer

in the OPs case it makes sense, as he has none of the tools, for him to get the right tools straight away rather than blunder into the usual STW bodge, and as mentioned, a hacksaw is quite a useful tool for other jobs

a cutting-guide for steerers (and handebars and even seatposts should you wish) is one of the best tools i've ever bought, it makes a potentially faffy and error-heavy job into a quick and easy affair, and the tool can be lent to friends in return for beer, it's paid for itself many times over in ease, efficiency and alcohol

Use a hacksaw with an old stem as a guide, you can't really go wrong

Use a hacksaw with an old stem as a guide, you can't really go wrong

I would say this is the best option 2nd to getting a cheap steerer cutting guide 🙂

BTW the X-tools one above allows you to cut other tubes such as ends of bars, seat tubes etc 🙂

jo's now got me in turmoil - it's a trade off between doing the job properly and the lazy, bodge approach.

Up 2 U - Fork Cost vs tool cost ? 🙂 However I have cut mine wonky in the distant past then just filed it flat again in a vice 🙂

Ooh look even the Park website tells you how to do it.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=111

They could sell you a Park branded pipe cutter but they don't. I wonder why.

Oh FFS. Just use a pipe cutter, take your time, think about what you're doing and check everything lots. It'll be fine.

I'm with JoB.

I bought a Park cutting guide about 14 years ago and have probably used it for over 100 forks by now, not to mention the carbon bars I've not 10 minutes ago cut down. no slipping off mark, no 'on the piss' cuts. I do however always file the end of the tube to a slight radius to make it look nice and to take the burrs off.

ignore JoB, he's a fusspot
last time I did it I left the bike assembled and just used a hacksaw - it wasn't the tidiest, but no-one sees it and it only takes about 2 minutes
only thing you've got to be careful of is stopping the swarf getting anywhere you don't want it - like in the headset or on the brakes

At the end of the day its down to wether or not you [b]want[/b] to spend another £17 - if you don't then just cut it with a hacksaw using an old stem, tape around the tube, in a vice or what ever you have to hand and then just file the swarf off like bakes said 🙂 DONE 🙂

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£1.52 🙂

Pipe cutter works well for me. I use some gritty sand paper to make the edges smooth.

Mine came from a pound shop, used it about ten times so far.Turn the screw in slowly and carefully without rushing it and trying to cut to deep every turn, and you get a perfectly neat cut with no burring, internal or external that needs filing.

A hacksaw seems like an awful lot of effort to me. Even if you do trust yourself to cut it square, a hacksaw is a very long winded way of doing it if you need to take the fork out of the frame or keep swarf and cuttings from going everywhere as well.

"using the pipe cutter method, can you perform the op without taking the fork out of the frame and all the associated disassemblage? (i'm wuite lazy...) " yes, just make sure you're cutting where you need to.

the pipe cutter method is sounding more appealing again!

I've used hacksaws and pipe cutters; I find the pipe cutter is easier even on steel steerers - if you knacker the cutting wheel throw it away and replace it, they only cost a few p. Only drawback of the pipe cutter that I've found is that unless you're gentle with the final cut you'll have a slight ridge on the inside of the steerer that makes it harder to get a SFN in. If you go for the saw make sure the metal dust doesn't get anywhere near any of the functioning parts of the fork (or the headset if you're trying to do it in-situ 😯 ). Pipe cutter may generate swarf but is generally less messy so less of a risk unless you're filing off the aforementioned ridge.

so rio, if i make sure the SFN is located in the right spot in the steerer, relative to the new steerer length, before cutting then the inner ridge shouldn't be an issue?

Pipe cutter for me and then file the burrs off

I have the X tool that Foxy recommended at the top and it's been great. Used it on 3 or 4 forks now and also some handlebars and it really helps with a nice straight cut. Had to buy a hacksaw as well (a good one) but that's always a handy tool to have around anyway.

I'd spend the cash cos the tool will (should) last you a lifetime and does come in very handy.

better to fit the SFN after cutting, more chance of it going on the piss hammering it further down the steerer tube before cutting.

i didn't bother with the pipe cutter method, concluded it's for wimps. just cut the pomp steerer with a hacksaw, didn't bother with a guide, didn't even use a vice. seems to have gone ok. 😀

Pipe cutter! Much neater job than using a hacksaw. Used one to cut steerer tubes, seatposts and bars...

Blimey. A hacksaw with a blade for metal and a bit of tape for a guide takes about a minute, absolute tops. If you're nervous, you can have a practice go further up the steerer, before cutting where you want. And you can still make a pretty shoddy job of it with no detriment to the function, as GW said.

Having said that, if you don't mind spending on the guide, and you can see yourself using it more than a couple of times, why not?

And if you don't have a vice, a dining chair and a knee work quite nicely too!

Edit: flatboy, good work. Not really that tough is it!? I think all of this pipe cutter, cutting guide stuff is because it doesn't seem quite right, or really in keeping with the rest of bike maintenance to take a £2 hacksaw to a pair of forks that cost a few hundred quid.

>>>>>>throws Mitre Block into range of options for own amusement

i actually cut my steerer down last night. i fitted an old stem as a guide and used a junior hacksaw, the stem ensures a straight cut, then all you need to do it a little bit of filing to smooth off the edges. I have used this method before and it works perfectly. I have had mixed results using pipe cutters.

I think I paid something like a fiver from Wickes to cut my steerer down and file it straight and true.

Did the job but take your time when doing it and use eyewear as the blade can snap/shoot off!

nedrapier - Member

Edit: flatboy, good work. Not really that tough is it!? I think all of this pipe cutter, cutting guide stuff is because it doesn't seem quite right, or really in keeping with the rest of bike maintenance to take a £2 hacksaw to a pair of forks that cost a few hundred quid.

yeah exactly - i realised it was fear of messing it up, not laziness that was putting me off before. it was a bit easier to convince myself to attack a £40 pair of forks than whatever the fox on my other bike cost!

measure twice, cut once

Or measure twice, cut three times, as I did. 🙂

ok, having finally got round to trimming the steerer on my proper bike and getting rid of the ridiculous stack of spacers that was on it i have further conclusions to report.

firstly, the junior hacksaw i did the previous one with was complete shit. got a decent hacksaw for this job and it went through the steerer in seconds, lovely and smooth.

secondly, i can't believe i left it so long to do it - such an improvement! 🙂