I need a better way to shorten bolts

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi guys.
I use bolts and screws that are between 1/8" and 5/16" in diameter. Seems like I never have the right length on hand and have to hacksaw-off a bit. The dang things never clamp well in the vise and the motion of the hacksaw makes it more bothersome to cut. Is there a better way - perhaps a special fixture for the vise, a different cutting tool, etc? (Other than "go buy the right size, silly." :) ) I tried a diamond disk in my dremel - surprisingly, that was slow and tedious.

How do you folks do this?

Thanks,
Fred

[lowell holmes]

I would double nut the bolt at the cut off point. Then I would put the bolt and nuts in a vise and cut the end off at the nuts.

[Sebastien La Madeleine]

I have to cut bolts on a regular basis and I use a die grinder with a really thin disk. Buy a good quality disk (I like Walter). They wear a little faster but they cut in a hurry! 1/4 inch bolt in about 5 seconds.

I like those: https://www.walter.com/en_CA/products/abrasives/cutting/zip-xxtreme

And then, when I need a fancy end, I take then over to the bench grind and put a 45 degree chamfer at the end.

[Bruce Page]

If I have several to cut I do it in the lathe with a parting tool. For 1-2, vice & hacksaw. I try to clamp on the waste end whenever possible.

[John Lanciani]

For up to #10 size, nothing beats a decent screw cutter; http://www.kleintools.com/catalog/combination-stripping-cutting-tools/multi-purpose-6-1-tool

for 1/4-20 and up, a cutoff wheel in a grinder is the easiest. Thread a nut on first, clamp the cutoff end in the a vise, cut the bolt, and run the nut off to chase the threads.

[William Young]

All good advice above. Another good way, especially if the cut-off end is too short to hold in the vice, is to place a small softwood block against the threads on each side and squeeze this in the vice. Make sure the blocks are thick enough to keep the bolt head from contacting the vice faces. This allows even pressure against the threaded part of the bolt without damage to the threads. It is still a good idea to screw a nut onto the bolt above the cut. Grind or file the cut edges before removing the nut.

[Edwin Santos]

Hello Fred,
Have a look at post #99 in the Tips and Tricks thread here:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?196398-The-Tips-and-Tricks-Thread/page7

I hope this is useful to you. It's not my tip, but I think it's a good one so I saved it.
Edwin

[joseph f merz]

if your cutting alot get one of those electrician cutters previous poster showed .i have several .they work very well and fast. as a trim carpenter you always need to be trimming the screws for drawer nobs .

[Edwin Santos]

I would double nut the bolt at the cut off point. Then I would put the bolt and nuts in a vise and cut the end off at the nuts.

Good suggestion, but when I read it, the last part made me cringe.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys! All of these are good ideas. I'll try several to see what works best for me.
(I have some of those multi-purpose electrician's cutters but never thought much of them. Will try that too!) I appreciate everyone's help!

Edwin - darn good find. I missed that on in the Tips thread. Thx!

Fred

[Alan Schwabacher]

Drill some holes in a scrap of wood the diameter of the root of the thread, and turn in the bolts or screws so the amount sticking out is what you want to cut off. Now use an angle grinder to cut them all flush with the wood. You can clean up the threads by grinding a small chamfer on the end of the bolt. I find this more effective than threading on a nut before cutting, to clean up threads on removal.

[Andrew Hughes]

I just bite them off with my teeth :)

[glenn bradley]

I would double nut the bolt at the cut off point. Then I would put the bolt and nuts in a vise and cut the end off at the nuts.

I do as Lowell suggest and use a pair of bolt cutters. Then grind the tip on a bench grinder and back the nuts off. This works great for jigs and such as I can get just the length I want. Much faster than a hacksaw or a Dremel. That silly pair of Harbor Freight bolt cutters bought with a 25% off coupon have paid for themselves dozens of times around the shop and house.

[James Pallas]

If I have many to cut I drill and tap a hole in a 1/8 or 1/4 plate run the bolt through the plate. Pu the plate in the vise and take the angle grinder to it. Very quick unless you are cutting grade 8 bolts. Angle grinder cuts it off and you can smooth the end with the grinder and back the bolt out of the plate and done.
Jim

[Matthew Curtis]

I just bite them off with my teeth :)
Good idea Andrew aka. Chuck Norris.

[Prashun Patel]

"Drill some holes in a scrap of wood the diameter of the root of the thread, and turn in the bolts or screws so the amount sticking out is what you want to cut off. Now use an angle grinder to cut them all flush with the wood. You can clean up the threads by grinding a small chamfer on the end of the bolt. I find this more effective than threading on a nut before cutting, to clean up threads on removal." (Alan Schwabacher)

+1. Exactly how I have done it. It has also worked to pre-thread a nut on the bolt. After the cut, when you unthread the nut, it helps to debur and cut the threads on the very tip.

[Victor Robinson]

Perhaps overkill, but I often use a small portable bandsaw (Milwaukee M12). Super fast and clean.

[michael langman]

If I had a lot of bolts to do I would use a pair of vise grips to hold them by the end of the threads the correct distance to get the length I needed and use either a dremel or a 4" grinder with a thin cutoff wheel set in a vise or on the bench and cut them off.

[Bill Dufour]

I use wood scraps as soft jaws in the vise on my chop saw. Or now that I have lathe chuck the waste end and use a parting tool.
Bill D

[lowell holmes]

Bolt cutter and a grinder to square the cut end also works for me.

[Ted Phillips]

I double nut them and then use a reciprocal saw blade in a plastic/rubber handle. I can cut through most bolts in just a minute or less.

TedP

[Mike Kees]

I just went out and bought a proper bolt bin and keep it stocked. Saves me a ton of time,I live 30kms from the nearest town with a hardware store.

[John K Jordan]

I usually use a small metal-cutting abrasive disk in a Dremel. This doesn't leave much burr but I do chamfer a bit at a grinder.

JKJ

[Bruce Wrenn]

Stanley used to make, and probably still does, a tool just to cut bolts (up to 1/4".) I bought one over thirty years ago when installing metal doors and their hardware.

[Matt Mattingley]

If I have one or two to do and they’re small(under 1/4”), I’d probably use a hacksaw. If I had 20+, 5/16”+ I would put a fibre wheel blade in the surface grinder with a small set up and a V block.

If I’m only taking off a little bit 1/8”, I’d probably do that all on a pedestal grinder. Up to half inch diameter.

If I had 6+ that I need to take off half inch that are 3/8” or bigger, I would probably do on the vertical bandsaw with a vice. Then touch up on the pedestal grinder.

It really depends on diameter, amount needed to be taken off, original length, and how many.

The fastest handheld way is with a 4 1/2” disc grinder with a Zip cut wheel.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks for the additional ideas guys. Appreciate it!
Fred

[Art Moore]

I use the Dremel with 426 cutting wheels, then clean the end up on my belt sander.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Good idea Andrew aka. Chuck Norris.Nope - that would be Mike Rowe that did that..... ;)

[Jesse Silver]

The diamond dremel is the wrong bit. Dremel has a series of metal cutoff disks that work really well!

[Brian Holcombe]

Buy the correct length bolts :D Truly, I buy one up and one down of every length I need when sourcing bolts or screws for projects, it saves a lot of grief and crappy threads.

[Peter Christensen]

Metal lathe. :)

[Martin Wasner]

How do you folks do this?

Handheld cordless bandsaw.

My electrician turned me onto it. It's stupid how well it works

[Martin Wasner]

Good idea Andrew aka. Chuck Norris.


Chuck Norris doesn't have to bite the bolt. The bolt cuts itself to length.

[Charles Coolidge]

Chuck Norris doesn't have to bite the bolt. The bolt cuts itself to length.

Out of fear!