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Sprung-Leg Tubing Cutter: a Bent Rod With a Disk Outside and a Roller Inside, the Handle's Screw Bends One Leg In (Zeiler, 1958)
Ward H. Zeiler · Public domain
Forge

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Forge

13. November 2026NO
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Sprung-Leg Tubing Cutter: a Bent Rod With a Disk Outside and a Roller Inside, the Handle's Screw Bends One Leg In (Zeiler, 1958)

Ward H. Zeiler of Holyoke, Colorado, received US 2,821,781, dated 4 February 1958, for a plumber's tubing cutter that cuts a tube square, to length, near its end. The frame is one springy rod bent into a U. The lower leg goes into the tube and carries a roller. The upper leg carries a cutting disk outside the tube. A handle slides along both legs. Its front end stops against the tube end, so the cut length is read off a scale on the lower leg. A screw in the handle bends the upper leg in and presses the disk onto the tube, and turning the tool cuts it off. All sizes are ours.
Intermediate
About 2 days

Instructions

1

Why the frame must spring

Loading Jupyter Notebook...
2

Read US 2,821,781

"The leg 7 is then inserted in the tube 22 and the roller 14 and the projection 24 are engaged in the upper portion of said tube. The screw 21 is then tightened for bending the leg 6 of the frame 4, thus engaging the knife 10 with the periphery of the tube 22."
3

Print the template

The bent frame, its ends, the disk, roller and handle at 1:1, with the oval bore, the screws and the scale. print at 100 % (check the 50 mm bar).
Design FilePDFCC0 - Free
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4

Bend the frame

Cut 470 mm of 6 mm spring steel wire. Heat the middle 40 mm red with the torch and bend it round a 10 mm bar into a U with the legs 16 mm apart, and straighten the legs parallel. Heat the last 25 mm of each leg red and let it cool slowly in the dying forge, so the ends are soft enough to file and thread. Leave the rest of the legs as they are: they must spring.

Materials for this step:

Spring Steel WireSpring Steel Wire1 piece

Tools needed:

Brazing TorchBrazing Torch
ForgeForge
Forge TongsForge Tongs
Bench ViseBench Vise
Ball Peen HammerBall Peen Hammer
HacksawHacksaw
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
5

Thread the leg ends

Turn or file the last 24 mm of each leg to 5 mm, leaving a square shoulder, and cut an M5 thread on the last 8 mm with the die.

Tools needed:

Metal LatheMetal Lathe
Lathe Chuck 3-JawLathe Chuck 3-Jaw
Lathe Cutting ToolLathe Cutting Tool
File SetFile Set
Tap and Die SetTap and Die Set
Digital Caliper 6-InchDigital Caliper 6-Inch
Cutting OilCutting Oil
6

Turn the disk and the roller

Disk: chuck a tool steel bar, turn 12 mm of it to 18 mm, drill it 5 mm, and turn the front 6 mm to a 50 degree edge, sharp in its middle. Turn the next 4 mm down to a 10 mm hub and part it off. Roller: turn 10 mm mild steel bar 16 mm long and drill it 5.2 mm, so it spins freely on the leg.

Materials for this step:

Tool Steel BarTool Steel Bar1 piece
Mild Steel Round BarMild Steel Round Bar1 piece

Tools needed:

Metal LatheMetal Lathe
Lathe Chuck 3-JawLathe Chuck 3-Jaw
Lathe Cutting ToolLathe Cutting Tool
Parting ToolParting Tool
Center Drill SetCenter Drill Set
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Digital Caliper 6-InchDigital Caliper 6-Inch
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
7

Harden and temper

Heat the disk to a cherry red, until a magnet no longer sticks, and quench it in water, moving it about. Rub it bright with a stone, warm it on a piece of steel plate over the fire, and quench again as soon as it turns a light straw colour.

Tools needed:

ForgeForge
Forge TongsForge Tongs
Small MagnetSmall Magnet
Quench BucketQuench Bucket
WaterWater
Sharpening StoneSharpening Stone
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
8

Make the handle

Saw 90 mm of 32 mm aluminium bar and face the ends. Drill two 6.2 mm holes through it lengthways, 16 mm apart, each 8 mm off the centre. With a round file, open the front 70 mm of the upper hole towards the lower one, 1.8 mm at the front face, tapering to nothing. Drill and tap M6 into the upper hole from the top, 12 mm from the front, and into the lower hole from below, 14 mm from the front. Saw and file away the lower half of the front 8 mm, leaving a 10 mm round boss round the lower hole. File three finger grooves underneath.

Materials for this step:

Aluminium Round BarAluminium Round Bar1 piece

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
Metal LatheMetal Lathe
Lathe Chuck 3-JawLathe Chuck 3-Jaw
Drill PressDrill Press
Machine ViceMachine Vice
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Tap and Die SetTap and Die Set
File SetFile Set
Needle File SetNeedle File Set
Digital Caliper 6-InchDigital Caliper 6-Inch
9

Make the guard

Cut a strip of brass sheet 12 mm wide and 50 mm long, bend it into a half round hood that reaches 12 mm past the handle's front over the disk, and fix its back end on top of the handle with two small screws.

Materials for this step:

Brass SheetBrass Sheet1 piece
Socket Head Cap ScrewSocket Head Cap Screw2 pieces

Tools needed:

HacksawHacksaw
File SetFile Set
Drill PressDrill Press
Drill Bit SetDrill Bit Set
Tap and Die SetTap and Die Set
Bench ViseBench Vise
10

Assemble

Slide the handle onto the legs from the open end, the upper leg in the oval bore. Put the disk on the upper leg's end, hub outwards, then a washer and an M5 nut, snug enough that the disk still turns. Fit the roller the same way on the lower leg. Screw in the M6 feed screw on top and the setscrew below.

Materials for this step:

Flat WasherFlat Washer2 pieces
Hex NutHex Nut2 pieces
Socket Head Cap ScrewSocket Head Cap Screw1 piece
Cup Point Set ScrewCup Point Set Screw1 piece

Tools needed:

Adjustable SpannerAdjustable Spanner
Hex Key SetHex Key Set
11

Mark the scale

Slide the handle so its recess face is 20 mm from the disk's edge and lock it. File a nick across the lower leg at the handle's back face and mark it 20. File a nick every 10 mm towards the bend, deeper every 50 mm. The handle's back face now reads the cut length.

Tools needed:

Needle File SetNeedle File Set
Digital Caliper 6-InchDigital Caliper 6-Inch
12

Cut a tube to length

Set the handle to the length you want and lock the setscrew. Push the lower leg into the tube until the end bears in the recess, with the roller and boss against the inside. Tighten the feed screw until the disk touches. Turn the tool round the tube, giving the screw a little more each turn, until the end drops off. Clean the cut with a deburring tool.

Materials for this step:

Copper TubeCopper Tube1 piece

Tools needed:

Bench ViseBench Vise
Deburring ToolDeburring Tool
Hex Key SetHex Key Set
Digital Caliper 6-InchDigital Caliper 6-Inch
13

Troubleshooting

Sprung-leg tubing cutter troubleshooting.

Flow

Loading...
14

History and honest limits

**Ward H. Zeiler** of Holyoke, Colorado, US 2,821,781, dated 4 February 1958, filed 23 November 1956. He claimed "a substantially U-shaped resilient frame including legs extending slidably through the bores" and "a feed screw ... for bending said one leg within the confines of the handle for engaging the cutting disk with the tube". His frame was "suitable resilient metal"; ours is spring steel wire. His handle was a metal sleeve with a guard formed on it; ours is aluminium bar with a brass guard. The patent gives no sizes; all of ours are ours.

Materials

10

Tools Required

28

Design Files

1

This blueprint makes

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Tube Cutter

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