Screw & bolt cutter-offer thingy.

[DICKEYBIRD]

I finished this screw cutter gizmo recently and thought ya'll may be interested in it. It's made from a cheap-o HF 4" angle grinder, scrapbox rect. steel tubing and plate, 1/2" alum. plate, some misc. hardware, couple oilite bronze bushes, a bit of drill rod and some rubber feet. It works great and is set up to cut 4-40 through 3/8" screws & bolts. I looked at the cheapy grinder stands on eBay for under $20 but they looked like a cheezy waste of money. This one's overbuilt but it sure works nice.

I buy most screws in longer lengths & then cut them to length as needed. Less inventory needed. I used to cut them in the bandsaw with a fine tooth blade but have been using coarser blades lately. The smaller screws often jam and strip off a few teeth so I decided to make this dedicated cutter. Gonna use the Christmas Home Cheepo gift cards to get myself a better angle grinder for regular use.

I'll probably make a vise/fence for it later to slice off dowel pins. I buy them long too. ;D

 

[b.lindsey]

Nice idea and it sure looks sturdy!! I would think the aluminum dissipates some if not much of the heat from cutting them off too. Thanks for sharing the idea and pictures.

Bill

 

[rleete]

Nice re-purpose of a tool.

Just one suggestion. If you made the holding fixture out of steel and threaded it, it would take off the burr when you unthreaded the screw. However, you'd have to use some sort of locknut instead of clamping them like you do now. I suppose it's a trade off either way.

 

[miner49r]

Great Idea Dickeybird,
The fulcrum looks precise and sturdy. I may have to rethink the lever for my portable bandsaw.
rleete idea is good, altough you would need more blocks (fine, coarse, metric, etc...) and the theads would get sloppy after awhile. I am sure you already thought of this. My Olde Dad taught me to put a nut on the threads before cutting/grinding to length.
Alan

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

Thanks all!

I posted it on another forum and they said I should'a threaded the clamp as well but I like it the way it is. Minimum number of holes, easy-peasy to adjust the length before clamping plus in the past whenever I've used the old standard put-the-nut-on-before-you-cut-it method, the screw always ends up with a needle sharp burr that has to be filed or ground off anyway. I just slice them off real quick-like, step over the 2 steps to my homemade disc sander and chamfer the ends nice & neat. It makes me happy anyway. ;D

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

If you made the holding fixture out of steel...

It is made out of steel; I guess the lighting makes it look like aluminum in the photos.

It was actually mystery metal from a Westfalia trailer hitch bracket that was possessed with the devil. It files nicely, is magnetic, bandsaws nicely, drills nicely with medium sized drills but work-hardened in a flash and killed a #36 drill, a 6-32 tap and 2, 1/4" endmills when I tried to make a couple slots in it. Yuck! :

 

[John Rudd]

Nice bit of lateral thinking there DB....
I too would have said about the nut bit...cleans the threads up after cutting....

Nice job...

 

[Blogwitch]

Very nice indeed DB.

I love little machines that do a specific job.

I too always buy the longest screws and bolts there are. Mainly because when I shorten them, the cut off bits are saved and used as studs whenever needed. It works out a lot cheaper, plus you can always make the right length bolt without having all the sizes in stock.


John

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

I too always buy the longest screws and bolts there are. Mainly because when I shorten them, the cut off bits are saved and used as studs whenever needed.

It must be the Scottish twist in my DNA that loves that kind of stuff too!

The frame was made from pieces of a parted out treadmill frame and the rubber feet came from same. The rusty plate on top was found in the bushes alongside the path where I do my lunchtime walks at work. The metal for the clamp (devil metal) was scrounged from the dumpster at work.

Even if I could afford to go out & buy new stuff, I'd still enjoy re-purposing life's flotsam. ;D

 

[AussieJimG]

Great idea DB, and I like the idea of stocking just the longest screws (although they each cost a little more). And, of course the bits cut off will come in handy - does anybody throw them away?

Jim

 

[Omnimill]

I cut my screws to size and chamfer them on the Lathe : I've made a number of turned "buckets" for want of another word into which the screw is inserted - washers act as spacers for correct length. I cut the screws to size and then chamfer, normally running the lathe in reverse and chamfering from the back. It takes a little while to make the "buckets" and washers but once you have them it's quick and easy to produce the sizes you need with perfect results using equipment you already have

Vic.

 

[Blue_Rock]

Nice machine DB, it's now on the ( long ) list. Thanks for sharing.