Oil filter cutter reviews needed

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
Searched without success, if you know of a previous thread - please link.

I have struggled with my cutter somewhat over the last year or two and now it has latched onto the threaded end, with no indication that it plans to let go. I could get out the torch and hydraulic ram to release it, but I keep hearing "Why?" in the back of my mind, when I think this through.

(I can't find mine listed in ASSCo so I presume they discovered it's crap and have yanked it, or at least put an AD on it.)

So, does anyone have a cutter they love which has worked for multiple filters without grief or anxiety?

I know, a good mech does not blame his tools but I am ready to fling this pos off the nearest tall building and take all the blame.
 
sure, it's called a bench vice and a hack saw. blades are cheap.
 
I've had this one for a dozen years and it's worked flawlessly.

I certainly don't recall paying over $100 for it though...I must have been nuts...temporary insanity. Or I got it somewhere else cheaper.

This one looks like it would work just fine for 1/3 the price.
 
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timwinters said:
I've had this one for a dozen years and it's worked flawlessly.

I certainly don't recall paying over $100 for it though...I must have been nuts...temporary insanity. Or I got it somewhere else cheaper.
Click to expand...

I've got that one too and have been satisfied with it. The price listed has definitely gone up since I bought mine and I suspect the price I paid for mine 5 or 6 years ago is more than what you likely paid.

I searched a lot to determine what the cheapest and best option for a filter cutter was and found that there really weren't any good options that were cheap. One mechanic I know has a cutter that works similar to a can opener that couldn't be too expensive but I've never figured out who made it or where he got it from. It's probably pretty old if he has it.
 
I've heard good things about Harbor a Freight pipe cutters. Measure the size of your filter, or take a new one to the store. I never buy anything there unless it's on sale.
 
I bought this one and it works just ok. The problem is that the cutting wheel pushes the crimp cap off of the shaft. The only way to prevent this is to make a deep cut that will cut the filter in a pass or two. Anymore than that and is walks the wheel off of the shaft.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/fb/maintenance_oilfiltercutters/acsoilcancutter.php

Hacksaws are fine but don't they have a tendency to add metal to the mix?
 
I can't imagine a hacksaw filling the need of being easy or convenient, so I might pass on that.
Does the Summit one use readily available and replaceable cutting wheels?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I can't imagine a hacksaw filling the need of being easy or convenient, so I might pass on that.
Does the Summit one use readily available and replaceable cutting wheels?
Click to expand...

The hacksaw works well for cutting the filter media...not the filter "can" itself.

I THINK you were asking about cutting the filter can.

I THINK a few of the responses thought you were asking about cutting the media.
 
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This one, made by Champion, is easily the nicest one I've ever used:

ideal-aviation-ct923-filter-oil-can-cutter.jpg


Dan
 
I gotta think that the $40 summit racing cutter is by far the best bang for the buck as long as you don't need the hole for a studded filter (I don't).

It's just amazing how much cheaper the same product is for cars than airplanes. Eh?

BTW I found a site selling the champion cutter for $99.00...a far cry from the $167.00 price at the first site I found it on.
 
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Chuck the filter can base in a metal lathe & use a parting tool next to the base. Does a beautiful job,
 
Jaybird180 said:
Why not a Dremel type roto tool?
Click to expand...

Hacksaws and roto tools and lathes all make metal chips, some of them small enough to end up in the filter and look like engine metal and alarming everyone. Proper filter cutters slit the can without introducing swarf like that.

Dan
 
What is the "studded" feature on a filter? How do I know if I have one?
 
Dan Thomas said:
Hacksaws and roto tools and lathes all make metal chips, some of them small enough to end up in the filter and look like engine metal and alarming everyone. Proper filter cutters slit the can without introducing swarf like that.

Dan
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Whats wrong with ignoring that and looking for metals embedded in the filter medium?
 
Jaybird180 said:
Whats wrong with ignoring that and looking for metals embedded in the filter medium?
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The metals are laying on the outside of the filter medium, just like the swarf from your Dremel will be. Most guys will pull the media out, rinse it in solvent, and see what's in the bottom of the can after the solvent is poured off. Magnetic stuff includes your swarf. Swarf can look like bits of gears.

That's why all filter cutters slit the can instead.

Dan
 
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Since there is no sophisticated review of metallurgy or measuring for percentage of each metal (like an oil analysis) in the filter it cracks me us that people use unscientific means to derive a scientific result. That's all I'm saying...it's a WAG.
 
Done correctly, a parting tool in a lathe has only a few very large chips and makes a very clean cut.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Since there is no sophisticated review of metallurgy or measuring for percentage of each metal (like an oil analysis) in the filter it cracks me us that people use unscientific means to derive a scientific result. That's all I'm saying...it's a WAG.
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Yup, and it's badly skewed by any swarf in the can.

When we cut the filter and rinse the media, we're looking for iron particles (cylinders and rings), bronze (rocker bushings), aluminum flakes (piston pin plugs and cam bearings) steel flakes (gears) and so forth. Your Dremel leavings could be interpreted as something serious failing in the engine, and maybe result in a completely unnecessary teardown simply because the mechanic was too cheap to buy a filter cutter.

Is that a good idea? Or should we bother cutting the filter open at all because it's just a WAG anyway??

Dan
 
nrpetersen said:
Done correctly, a parting tool in a lathe has only a few very large chips and makes a very clean cut.
Click to expand...

And takes way longer and a lathe costs a lot more than a filter cutter, and if that parting tool snags as it breaks through the can it'll yank the can right out of the chuck.

I have thousands of hours of lathe time. I will use the filter cutter. I cut open a filter yesterday using the Champion cutter; it took me less than a minute to clamp the hex on the can in a vise and spin the cutter around about four times and have the filter opened just like that, no swarf, no hassle, no oil flinging around.

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
Yup, and it's badly skewed by any swarf in the can.

When we cut the filter and rinse the media, we're looking for iron particles (cylinders and rings), bronze (rocker bushings), aluminum flakes (piston pin plugs and cam bearings) steel flakes (gears) and so forth. Your Dremel leavings could be interpreted as something serious failing in the engine, and maybe result in a completely unnecessary teardown simply because the mechanic was too cheap to buy a filter cutter.

Is that a good idea? Or should we bother cutting the filter open at all because it's just a WAG anyway??

Dan
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Good question. The only thing that you would find would be larger than the filter media would pass, thus trapped there. When I send oil samples to Blackstone for my car (for example) they never request the filter and provide a metallurgical breakdown of what they find suspended in the oil.

My quick review of Champion Aviation filters website did not reveal the specification of how small a particle is filtered, so I cannot reliably answer your question. However if you see a piece of metal in the filter large enough for the naked eye you could either be alarmed or you could make an assumption that its a spiked result and refer to the oil analysis for verification; the metals should be there in some proportion that approximates your oil filter findings. If it doesn't, you could categorize any oil filter result as subjective and believe whatever you want.
 
timwinters said:
I've had this one for a dozen years and it's worked flawlessly.

I certainly don't recall paying over $100 for it though...I must have been nuts...temporary insanity. Or I got it somewhere else cheaper.

This one looks like it would work just fine for 1/3 the price.
Click to expand...

I needed a replacement cutting wheel for my cutter after ten years so I dug the paperwork out of the filter cutter box when I was at the hangar yesterday.

Mine is made by Deal Associates (dealassoc.com, 336-599-3325) and is identical to the one shown in the aircraft spruce link above...which is probably where I bought mine.

Anyway, while talking to the guy, I asked how much their cutter costs these days. He said $79 (I think).

I responded with "man, I've had mine for ten years and I'm pretty sure I only paid $30...$40 for it.

His response?

"You likely did, a few years ago the liability insurance on our aviation related products went from $2,000/yr to $15,000/yr. We had no claims, they offered no justification. The prices of our aviation items doubled just to cover the add'l insurance cost."
 
timwinters said:
I needed a replacement cutting wheel for my cutter after ten years so I dug the paperwork out of the filter cutter box when I was at the hangar yesterday.

Mine is made by Deal Associates (dealassoc.com, 336-599-3325) and is identical to the one shown in the aircraft spruce link above...which is probably where I bought mine.

Anyway, while talking to the guy, I asked how much their cutter costs these days. He said $79 (I think).

I responded with "man, I've had mine for ten years and I'm pretty sure I only paid $30...$40 for it.

His response?

"You likely did, a few years ago the liability insurance on our aviation related products went from $2,000/yr to $15,000/yr. We had no claims, they offered no justification. The prices of our aviation items doubled just to cover the add'l insurance cost."
Click to expand...
Fix the courts and we solve a lot in this country.
Hmmmm.........
 
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