How I cut string

[rgerbitz]

Hello Julia,

You are welcome. The string cutter in the pictures was made at a local machine shop for me for $50. I have since bought a cutter that Brian Neubert sells it works a little better due to the ability to fine tune it for beveling. Something I could do with the other with a little time. I couldn't find it quickly, but someone here was making and selling a cutter/beveler that a few people have and seem to like. Maybe someone else can chime in with the details. I had some pictures of mine all taken apart but I can't seem to find them either. Yes you can make your own or have one made or buy ones that are already made to sell.

Hope this helps more than hinders,

Rob

[JAM]

Hello Julia,

You are welcome. The string cutter in the pictures was made at a local machine shop for me for $50. I have since bought a cutter that Brian Neubert sells it works a little better due to the ability to fine tune it for beveling. Something I could do with the other with a little time. I couldn't find it quickly, but someone here was making and selling a cutter/beveler that a few people have and seem to like. Maybe someone else can chime in with the details. I had some pictures of mine all taken apart but I can't seem to find them either. Yes you can make your own or have one made or buy ones that are already made to sell.

Hope this helps more than hinders,

Rob

Oh, yes, this helps. I already own the Neubert cutter/beveler, a cutter/beveler made by Wayne Jueschke, and a cutter/beveler made by the James's (recommended by Gail Hought). I keep looking for the perfect cutter - the problems with my imperfect strings are no doubt due to operator error, and I keep bouncing from one to another when I'm not quite getting the results I want. Yours (in the pictures) looks so simple and perfect that I wanted to know more about it. If you find the pics of it taken apart, please post them - I'd love to see them. And thank you again for the tutorial.

Julia

[rcsaddles]

Very nice, Rob. TThank you for taking the time to post this. Like everyone else, I look for ways to improve the way I cut my strings. There are no bad ideas, only different.

Julia, I think most people here would agree that the key to cutting good, uniform strings or lace is a very sharp blade and patience. The former is not that hard. Patience on the other hand.....

[JAM]

Julia, I think most people here would agree that the key to cutting good, uniform strings or lace is a very sharp blade and patience. The former is not that hard. Patience on the other hand.....

Yup. Patience. And it's amazing how fast rawhide eats up razor blades! I suspect part of my problem is the temper of the rawhide - it seems like it's always too wet or too dry, and if I ever get rawhide that seems to be perfect, it dries out before I can get it all cut/beveled. That's really frustrating, and I have not figured out the right technique/procedure for making perfectly tempered rawhide. There's lots of help available(Bruce Grant's books, folks like those here who work in rawhide, etc.) but when I'm in my own workshop it's hard to make it work. Yeah, I know - practice, practice, practice - I'll get it someday.

Julia

[rgerbitz]

Here you go Julia, there is some info on the string cutters here. And Whitebuff is the name of the guy here that is making a string cutter.

Rob

[JAM]

Thanks very much, Rob!

Julia

[seveneves]

how many finished strings can you cut from the 3/4" rough cut string? Just one?

[rgerbitz]

3 to 5 depending on how everything works out. I seem to end up with somewhere between 450 to 550 foot of the 3/4 strip depending on the size of the hide and how much gets trimmed out.

Rob

[seveneves]

I really like your string cutter. I made one kind of similar but it's not as neat. What kind of metal is that? Did you make it?

[rgerbitz]

The shop that made it for me mostly repaired hydraulic cylinders. It is part of a shaft off one of those. The metal is some kind of chrome or something. Not much of a metals guy sorry I can't be more specific.

Rob