DIY oil filter cutter

612
7
So, too many years ago I bought a set of pipe cutter wheels with the intention of making an oil filter cutter. At the time, they were still a little on the pricey side. So, every time I looked in my junk drawer they were staring me in the face. Time for action lol.
I made the body from 30mm square tube (steel).
The sliding part was made from some unidentified Australian hardwood that came from a pallet. I sized it to fit inside the tube. I drilled and tapped it to hold the bolt that holds the cutter wheel. Interesting note, after cutting the threads I drenched them with super glue and let it dry before putting the bolt in, which firmed up the fit of the bolt quite well. A piece of all thread bar pushes against the back side of the hardwood bloc. I used a nut with some washers welded on two sides to act as spacers, then drilled and tapped to use the two round head screws to secure it to the main body.
I initially had three cutter wheels, but early testing showed that one would cut through the filter housing in one spot first, and then the cutting would stop because I couldn’t turn the cutter any more.
So, hop onto eBay and order a pack of roller blade bearings and wait.
After this the cutter works great.
So, back to the cost of  buying one pre made; now they can be found on Amazon for as little as $17 dollars!

YH

This looks interesting.  Can you post a video of it working?


Petey

It works like any other, you turn the end with the threaded rod and rotate the cutter around the filer by hand.
Like this one
https://youtu.be/QA5MXTOP-Yk?si=k-qaRQ8tRviXzpEg
Cool. Why would one want to cut oil filters?

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Ryan, 
If an engine is starting to fail, you will find metal chips or shavings and other debris in there. Most times it’s cheaper to fix the problem before the engine fails. It’s a common procedure on piston aircraft engines.
nice. i love people that make tools. thanks for sharing.

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

Well, there you go! Thanks for the info.

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Well done. I love making tools.  I too would like to see some actions shots of how it works. 

Like Ryan, I had to google oil filter cutter to find out why one would want to do that.  I found a video showing a guy just using tin snips and it took him about a minute to cut it open.  Thought it might be handy for us mere mortals that would rarely need to do such a thing.  

--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.

More from Yhprum