Oil filter cutter recommendation

[denverpilot]

Big huge recommendation for cancutter.com from Sacramento Sky Ranch and their filter holder thing. Easy to make if you have the welding tools.

Lordy that makes that chore easier. Almost too easy in fact. Not cheap but sheesh...

Opens the filter in about 30 seconds flat and that's only because my small vice isn't bolted down. (So I can use it for this job at the hangar. The big one is bolted to the workbench at home and isn't going anywhere.)

Side note: Here's what you find with your magnet when you're a way too aggressive with the hacksaw taking the filter off the can... and it's a cheap soft Jr. Hacksaw blade you use just for this job...

No other evilness found. Had a couple of filters we hadn't gotten around to doing yet.

The can cutter makes it so easy it'll get done right away. Nice.

 

[bgdriveway]

I've seen that cutter. Never used it. Always used the ones with a pipe cutter wheel. It'd be nice to have a cutter that you don't have to keep replacing the cutting wheel.

Also, as an additional tip, instead of taking a box cutter to the paper and cutting it from the metal frame you can pull it off very quickly. Once you have the can cut, take the inside part and clamp it in a vice. Just one side of one end. Clamped properly, the filter will be angled away from you about 45 degrees from vertical. Then grab the whole filter and pull the filter towards you. It will bend the one end cap down and around the vise and media will be separated from the end cap. Flip it over, repeat, and you should have the filter media separated from the frame in about 10 seconds. I like using a paper towel just to hang onto the filter a little better, and keep from grabbing any sharp edges.

It sure beats having to use a box cutter.