tictictic - the sound of aluminium just about to separate - cutting handlebars....

[2manyoranges]

To shorten handlebars (it's traditional language but it's weird use of shorten...should be 'to narrow...') I have always hacksawed them. Freehand seems more accurate than using one of the guides. weirdly enough. But more recently I have been using an old but very precise Ridgid pipe cutter from the 'States. Used with cutting paste it give an incredibly precise cut with little need to clean up the cut - just a quick use of file. I worried about the stress of the rollers on the tubing - compared with hand hacksawing - but I can't see that this is an issue. And it goes tic tic tic just as it's about to separate, which is nice. Park carbon hacksaw blade for carbon bars though, of course.

 

[benjabbi]

I just use two old ODI lock on lock rings as a hacksaw guide as you can make the slot exactly the right size for the blade which keeps it accurate. I've used pipe cutters for steerers in the past but have found, even winding the blade in as slowly as possible, that it tends to flare the end of the tube slightly, not a massive problem but totally avoided with a saw.

 

[2manyoranges]

Exactly the kind of insights I am interested in....
Craft knowledge....

 

[novocaine]

Fine for bars. As Ben says, not great for head tubes. Soesn't matter how slow you go, you are pushing material out of the way of the blade so it will always flare slightly.

When you look at the rollers on the cutter, you will see that on one side is a grove and on the other it's smooth. Put the smooth side on the piece you want to keep and it will reduce the flare considerable, but it's still there. On thick walled aluminium steers it won't stop it enough but on steel steerers it can reduce it enough to not matter.

the force from the rollers is irrelevant, it's not at a high stress point of the the bar or of a steerer.