Oil filter cutter.

[danny_galaga]

Is this one ok? I anticipate using it once a year. And I assume it will work on a Rotax 912 filter? I don't have a filter onhand but from memory the Rotax is less than 5"

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com.au/catalog/topages/acsoilcancutter.php#

[danny_galaga]

My second question is answered on the FAQ 😄 

 

 

Q: Will the ACS oil can cutter cut Rotax filters?

Yes, it will cut Rotax oil filters.

[Blueadventures]

I use the AIRWOLF CAN CUTTER size for ROTAX FILTERS,  sent you a pm as have a second one in its box package and never used.

[Moneybox]

1 hour ago, danny_galaga said:

Is this one ok? I anticipate using it once a year. And I assume it will work on a Rotax 912 filter? I don't have a filter onhand but from memory the Rotax is less than 5"

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com.au/catalog/topages/acsoilcancutter.php#

That's very expensive for a rarely used tool. I think I paid about $40 in Ebay for a similar tool and it does the job nicely.

[onetrack]

I can't see where an oil filter cutter can be declared "aviation grade". An oil filter cutter is an oil filter cutter, regardless. Those prices are stupid for a simple workshop tool that never leaves terra firma.

 

Edited Monday at 11:36 AM by onetrack

[Moneybox]

 

It's nice to buy local but - AliExpress....

[T510]

I use a $15 cheapy, has worked well for years now

[skippydiesel]

I'm amazed, all you guys with your cheepo, non aircarft certified, oil filter can cutter haven't YET been attacked by the aircraft certified, lest you fall out of the sky, only way to go, chaps.😈

[facthunter]

Cut it when OFF the engine so no metal can get anywhere near where the filter sits. You can easily make a dummy holder, There's only 2 thread sizes. One NF One Metric. You can check them on the web.  Nev

[danny_galaga]

 

 

 

[facthunter]

HE makes it look easy. Nev

[facthunter]

Think I'd rather a circular rotating cutter. Those single tipped things are pretty touchy how they are sharpened..  Nev

[danny_galaga]

38 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Think I'd rather a circular rotating cutter. Those single tipped things are pretty touchy how they are sharpened..  Nev

I didn't notice what one he had to be honest. The one I ordered has a circular blade 

[Blueadventures]

6 minutes ago, danny_galaga said:

I didn't notice what one he had to be honest. The one I ordered has a circular blade 

It has a circular cutter; they all have a circular cutter; same as copper pipe cutters.

[Moneybox]

Anything that is going to leave metal fragments from the cut can give you a false reading. All the years I worked in Automotive I never saw a filter cut open. Once he slices each end of the paper an stretches out the folds it's a great diagnostic method I could have used many times over the years.

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, Moneybox said:

Anything that is going to leave metal fragments from the cut can give you a false reading. All the years I worked in Automotive I never saw a filter cut open. Once he slices each end of the paper an stretches out the folds it's a great diagnostic method I could have used many times over the years.

I never heard of such a thing until I started building my plane. The video is from a race car mechanic so I guess popular in those circles, as well as aircraft. 

[onetrack]

He should be wearing good quality nitrile disposable gloves. You don't want to paddle in used oil with bare hands, it is one of the most carcinogenic products in existence, full of toxic by-products of combustion.

 

It's been proven that full time mechanics have a 5 year shorter lifespan than office workers, and paddling in used oil with bare hands, is a big factor in that figure.

[Moneybox]

29 minutes ago, onetrack said:

He should be wearing good quality nitrile disposable gloves. You don't want to paddle in used oil with bare hands, it is one of the most carcinogenic products in existence, full of toxic by-products of combustion.

 

It's been proven that full time mechanics have a 5 year shorter lifespan than office workers, and paddling in used oil with bare hands, is a big factor in that figure.

 

All these toxins we face these days. It's great they've identified a lot of these things but it seems we are not all affected in the same way so safety measures must be taken but we never had those options back in the 70's and 80's. Some pulled through unscathed and some didn't. It's a bit like smoking and drinking, some live into their nineties and some fall off the perch at 40.

 

If they are truly identifying those things that kill us why are so many still dying so young? I started my apprenticeship removing old asbestos and relagging boilers and steam pipes. I carted bags of asbestos out of Barraba NSW and used to blow down air filters, brakes and clutches. We never had safety glasses, ear muffs dust masks or gloves. We washed the workshop floor with petrol and car parts with kerosine. We welded, sand blasted and painted in confined spaces and I was not alone, it was just the way tradesmen worked.

 

I'm not saying we shouldn't take care wherever possible but just about everything in life is going to kill us, sugar, fat, salt, caffeine, asbestos, silica, mercury, lead, radiation etc. etc. It's quite surprising any of us are still alive.

[onetrack]

Unfortunately, there's a lot of my mates and associates who aren't still alive, Moneybox. A lot died in their 60's and early 70's. It is true, a number of people seem to be "unkillable", and just keep going into their 90's, and even 100 or more.

But for every one of those "unkillable" people, there's a dozen who developed some terrible forms of cancer, and who failed to make their allotted lifespan.

I do tend to agree, a lot of the current OH&S regulations and rules are lawyer-driven, not driven by sensible approaches - especially in the mining area. But there's nothing wrong with being prudent with sensible personal protection.

As with you, I did all the same stuff, and have survived so far to 76 without incurring any major tumours. Hopefully, I'm one of the "unkillable" ones, but at least I've got excuses now, for all my sub-standard brain cells. 

[T510]

I cut open the filters on my race car, never bothered with my road cars.

 

Always do it with my aircraft

[danny_galaga]

9 hours ago, Moneybox said:

 

All these toxins we face these days. It's great they've identified a lot of these things but it seems we are not all affected in the same way so safety measures must be taken but we never had those options back in the 70's and 80's. Some pulled through unscathed and some didn't. It's a bit like smoking and drinking, some live into their nineties and some fall off the perch at 40.

 

If they are truly identifying those things that kill us why are so many still dying so young? I started my apprenticeship removing old asbestos and relagging boilers and steam pipes. I carted bags of asbestos out of Barraba NSW and used to blow down air filters, brakes and clutches. We never had safety glasses, ear muffs dust masks or gloves. We washed the workshop floor with petrol and car parts with kerosine. We welded, sand blasted and painted in confined spaces and I was not alone, it was just the way tradesmen worked.

 

I'm not saying we shouldn't take care wherever possible but just about everything in life is going to kill us, sugar, fat, salt, caffeine, asbestos, silica, mercury, lead, radiation etc. etc. It's quite surprising any of us are still alive.

What are you talking about? People have never lived longer than they do today. Even in 3rd world countries. And people died of all the things we imagine are modern, just that no one had described it yet. Go back 150 years, and if you died of something unknown, there just called it epilepsy and moved on. But it was probably lung cancer, or lead poisoning, or leukaemia or even just a small infected wound that no one noticed.

 

Go back 1000 years and Europeans didn't even name their children until they were about five because they were probably going to die anyway.

 

I feel the most massive thread drift coming on 😄

[danny_galaga]

On the subject of that video, I'm a bad one for not wearing gloves. Never used to, even washed parts in petrol as an apprentice. It's a bad habit now that I know better. I figure it's safer than smoking though 😊

[onetrack]

The important thing with cutting open an oil filter is to know what you're looking for, and identifying what you find. Pour the oil in the filter through a funnel lined with paper towel and let it drain for an extended period to see with better clarity, what was in the oil.

Check the bottom of the filter can and spray it with some carburettor and throttle body cleaner, to separate the carbon and other deposits from the heavy metal components. Scrape the bottom of the can onto more paper towelling and let it drain.

Spread the filter element treated paper out on paper towelling and let it drain. Run a magnet on an extension wand over the gunk to see what sticks to the magnet.

Aluminium particles are bright and easily seen. Iron particles attach to the magnet. Copper particles are ... well, coppery colour. Rubbery bits are pieces of gasket material. Chrome (from ring faces) is harder to identify, because it can look a bit like aluminium. Chrome, of course, is largely non-magnetic, but it depends on the alloy, and whether what it was plated onto, is still attached.

But the important thing is, the size of particles. Very small particles shouldn't be concerning, they are part of normal wear patterns, but chunks of metal, and substantial amounts of coloured metals, or serious amounts of iron particles on magnets should raise concerns.

[onetrack]

Danny - Today, we have a vast range of industrial chemicals and products that didn't exist in the early industrial age - and we have vastly improved medical knowledge and some amazing medical technology. 

But most importantly, we also have MDS's, and they yield important information gained from research and studies, and you ignore the recommendations in the MDS's at the peril of your long-term health.

 

And yes, people do live a lot longer today, and I'd have to opine that is because of better medical knowledge and intervention and the efforts of OH&S trying to ensure people don't do stupid things.

I have a spray painter mate, of Southern Italian ancestry, and he has been notorious for shrugging off paint manufacturers paint-spraying advice - to the point of just using a dust mask for spraying 2-pack paint.

 

As you might likely know, 2-pack paints contain iso-cyanates, amongst the more deadly of the manufactured chemical products today. The MDS warns of the risk of kidney tumours if you fail to use breathing apparatus that can catch iso-cyanate compounds.

At 70, he developed a major kidney tumour, and had to have it removed. He didn't even know it was there, but left untouched, it would've killed him within a few years. I believe his kidney tumour was almost certainly a result of his casual attitude towards masking up.

[danny_galaga]

Living longer is a holistic thing. From running water to MRI scanners to vaccines to safety helmets. We all die eventually. I don't want to live forever, but I'd rather die at 85 nowadays because of some strange illness caused by microplastics or something, than 200 years ago at 35 from dysentery, or cutting my finger. And that after living slightly better than an animal my whole life. 

Edited Wednesday at 01:10 AM by danny_galaga