Hi Jan-Erik,

I have used a bandsaw in the past to cut tubes for PLCC68's - it works - but
not really very good. It leaves a lot of *fuzz* on the cut end. Then I had
to trim off the fuzz with an X-acto knife and use an air hose to blow the
cut off fuzz out of the inside of the tube. I have also tried a small shear
that we have, but shearing the tubes with the inside unsupported tends to
squash and deform the tube before it cuts. I have wanted to make a steel
insert to slide into the tube to keep it from squashing when trying the
shear, but I never have found the time. Anyway, without an insert to support
the tube the small shear didn't work very well so I went back to the
bandsaw. I never tried a hot wire. I'd be worried about stringers and toxic
fumes too. If you have some Kanthal wire maybe give it a try (outdoors). We
have some Kanthal wire here so I'll probably try it next time I need to cut
some tubes.

Good luck to you. If you find something that makes a clean easy cut please
let everyone know what worked for you.

-- Mark


> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu]On Behalf
> Of Jan-Erik Soderholm
> Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 11:37 AM
> To: piclist@mit.edu
> Subject: [EE]: Cutting DIP/TO220 tubes.
>
>
> Hi.
> I've just got a batch of surplus components (mostly power MOSFET's)
> that I'm going to sell. Each tube has 50 (TO220) MOSFET's and I
> thought of cutting them into lots of 25 or 10.
>
> Now, how do you cut tube (the clear plastic types) ?
>
> A hot kanthal ("resistor") wire ?
>
> A knife or similar will leave rough edges, as far as I've seen.
>
> Best Regards,
> Jan-Erik.
>
>
>
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