nipping thick murrini

[Cheryl]

Is there such a thing as a mosaic nipper with a bigger opening? I have leponitt (sp?) nippers with great blades, but they are limited in the size that I can cut. Sometimes I get wonderful vitrigraph cane that's about 1/2-7/8 inches thick. The tile saw just eats it (plus it's no fun to hold it to the blade). Ideas welcome...

[Morganica]

Well, I do it with the aid of a hammer, like this http://www.morganica.com/bloggery/2011/ ... ellyrolls/

It works pretty well and once you get the hang of it is reasonably accurate.

You can also buy murrini guillotines, but they're expensive. This one, by Carlo Dona, is something like $2,500, or was the last time I checked about two years ago:

$2500 buys a lot of cheap choppers and hammers...

[Cheryl]

I can't always get my nippers around the cane....

2500. wow. That's insane!

[Morganica]

Get bigger nippers...some of them open to an inch or more.

[Tom Fuhrman]

get a very thin and small blade for your tile saw. I got mine from www.lopacki.com , 4" dia. and very thin, use lots of water and go slow, even buy several and make a motor with multiple blades and cut several slices with one pass. little wasteage to rod with this setup.

[Cheryl]

any mfrs on those bigger jawed nippers? Tx

[williamslaybaugh]

You could also try a color bar cutter for blown glass. I have not used this model, and most take a bit of practice to get a good brake. They will handle a good thickness of glass though.

http://www.glasscolor.com/products/defa ... 0&pID=1570

[Tony Smith]

You could make a tool like this
http://hobbyglass.com/Murrini-Chopper-P458592.aspx

The arbor press can be bought from Enco for $40. Then you need someone to weld cutters onto the arbor and table.

Tony

[Cheryl]

...I could....but I don't have ready access to welding and frankly I am feeling a bit lazy on this. Unless you're volunteering?

[RHunter]

Hi All,

A woman that was in my glass class , had picked up a pair of regular tile nippers from Lowe's or Home Depot....they opened wider than the glass nippers we use, and were pretty sweet...they might be just the ticket for larger cane.....glass blowers must have something similar to cut their canes.

Randy

[Morganica]

any mfrs on those bigger jawed nippers? Tx

As Randy says, look at tile nippers at hardware stores. Mine (not the wheeled nippers in the photo, but rather straight-bladed jaws) open to about an inch and a quarter.

[Valerie Adams]

I was just in my local Home Depot and they didn't have anything that opened more than 1/2". I'll continue to search.

[Tony Smith]

Cheryl,

Channelock makes nail cutters that open pretty wide... about an inch, but not more than a half inch deep. Home Depot has them. Sneak in a piece of your murrini in and see if they'll work.

Tony

[Tom Fuhrman]

Starrett makes some very good nippers with replaceable blades but they are quite expensive. $100+ if I recall, but very good.