Koil Kutter - help !

[Petal]

I bought the koil kutter, as my hands are not up to hand sawing thousands of jump rings any more and needed a bit of kit to do the sawing for me. Since purchasing, I've watched the videos and read the various instructions on how to set up and use one with my dremel, but just can't get it to cut nice smooth edges without any marks on the tops of the jump ring coils or the major burs I am getting.

I am using lube on the blade and on the coils as they sit in the channel. I am cutting with the dremel on the high speed and slowly, as Kevin Potter advises. I've tried loosening the screws on the top, to see if that eliminates the marks on the top of the rings. This doesn't work, as that makes the jump rings fly out of the cutter mechanism. I've tried tightening the screws; this then produced better cut rings, but there is still a large burr, which doesn't come out after an hour in the tumbler.

I am getting more and more frustrated with this bloomin bit of kit, which is costing me more and more time I haven't got!

What do other users do to get smooth cuts and unmarked rings??

HELP - what am I doing wrong...?

[mizgeorge]

I rarely use my koil kutter as I prefer hand cut rings, but there are a couple of things you haven't mentioned.

Firstly, what length are your coils? You need to be able to place the blade in a clear space after switching on and before swiping across the coil. I have an original version, which uses a shorter coil than the version now being sold, but you need a good inch of space in front of the coil, making sure it's well butted up against the stopper on the back of the top piece. I run dry lube along the length of the coil before clamping it in place, and tighten the screws only enough for the top part of the clamp to remain straight - if it bows you risk losing contact with the centre of the coil.

Is your blade undamaged? One badly cut coil can nick the teeth in a saw (especially if you're cutting copper) and this can leave every subsequent coil mangled.

Are you using a corded dremel? The cordless ones don't have enough oomph.

If your rings are flying around too much, try running a bit of elastic through the coil and use that to hold them together, you can loop it around the back of the clamp, which stops it from sitting absolutely flat, but is easy enough to manage with a bit of practice.

[Petal]

I've been cutting my coils to fit in 3" lengths, so they fit snugly next to the stopper. The top clamp does bow when I tighten the nuts, but if it sits straight on top of the coils, which needs the screws loosening quite a lot, it then wobbles when you slowly push the cutter along. I've checked the blade under my magnifying glass and it looks the same as the new ones. Yes, I'm using copper and I'm using a corded dremel, so its got plenty of oomph.

The only other thing I haven't tried, is to put some masking tape on top of the coil to hold it in place.

[mizgeorge]

masking tape will just clog your blades Jules - it's horrible stuff and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near coils of metal!

I just went and had a look at the video you're referring to, and he's cutting way, way slower than I ever would. I zip across my coils pretty quickly.

It sounds like the problem is with the clamp. Have you tried putting a couple of washers under the loose end (ie the end you start cutting from) to help stop the bowing and let you clamp down a little tighter? As I said earlier, you only want enough room between the end of the coil and the end of the slot to allow the blade to fit - too short a coil will encourage the top to bow when you tighten the screws.

Can you take a picture of what's happening?

[Petal]

I'm glad I didn't try the tape idea then, though I have had a bit of wooden dowel inside the coil to steady it.

I'll try and take a pic of what I'm doing and what the result is. I was looking at the clamp today and thought there needed to be a mirror piece the other end, so that when you tighten the nuts, they are then level. Similar concept to the swanstrom, where you cut silver and put a corresponding piece on the opposite side. ummm, so you think he cuts slowly with the dremel. What speed do you have it running at when you do cut rings? I started on 2, but when it stopped cutting, I moved up to a 7 or 9....well to be honest I've tried pretty much everything in the last couple of weeks and I'm running out of patience. Thanks G.

[mizgeorge]

You shouldn't need anything inside the coil at all, the blade needs to cut through just the metal without snagging on anything inside it.

I cut at 33,000 rpm, which is the highest speed on my fairly old Dremel.

(I'm afraid I'm very sloppy about using shims in my swanstrom though )

[Di Sandland]

Glad to hear of your estrangement from shims, George, I just can't be bothered either!

[Julian]

Yes my circular blade work better at high speed, but they are very agressve at speed. I don't like diamond blades a stick to busche metal ones

Julian

[MeadMoon]

I use a Proxxon with my Koil Kutter at the highest speed (20,000rpm) and, like George, zip along quite quickly. I have had trouble when cutting copper with the blade clogging and causing damage, so now use one blade just for copper and keep the blades used for silver separate.

Even if the coils seem a little loose, I make sure that the top plate is not bowed - the rings can twist a little as the blade goes through, but the cut is ok and any small burrs come off after about 30 minutes in the tumbler.

What lubricant are you using? Maybe it's clogging the blade and then sticking a bit.

[Petal]

I use a Proxxon with my Koil Kutter at the highest speed (20,000rpm) and, like George, zip along quite quickly. I have had trouble when cutting copper with the blade clogging and causing damage, so now use one blade just for copper and keep the blades used for silver separate.

Even if the coils seem a little loose, I make sure that the top plate is not bowed - the rings can twist a little as the blade goes through, but the cut is ok and any small burrs come off after about 30 minutes in the tumbler.

What lubricant are you using? Maybe it's clogging the blade and then sticking a bit.

I've been using cutlube as a lubricant, which is the same as I use for my saw blades. I'm just having another go and will let you know the outcome....