DIY Oil Filter Cutter

[yhprum]

So, too many years ago I bought a set of pipe cutter wheels with the intention of making an oil filter cutter. At the time, they were still a little on the pricey side. So, every time I looked in my junk drawer they were staring me in the face. Time for action lol.
I made the body from 30mm square tube (steel).
The sliding part was made from some unidentified Australian hardwood that came from a pallet. I sized it to fit inside the tube. I drilled and tapped it to hold the bolt that holds the cutter wheel. Interesting note, after cutting the threads I drenched them with super glue and let it dry before putting the bolt in, which firmed up the fit of the bolt quite well. A piece of all thread bar pushes against the back side of the hardwood bloc. I used a nut with some washers welded on two sides to act as spacers, then drilled and tapped to use the two round head screws to secure it to the main body.
I initially had three cutter wheels, but early testing showed that one would cut through the filter housing in one spot first, and then the cutting would stop because I couldn’t turn the cutter any more.
So, hop onto eBay and order a pack of roller blade bearings and wait.
After this the cutter works great.
So, back to the cost of buying one pre made; they can be found on Amazon for as little as $17 dollars[ATTACH=CONFIG]47653

[DIYer]

Thanks yhprum! We've added your Oil Filter Cutter to our Miscellaneous category,
as well as to your builder page: yhprum's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Oil Filter Cutter by yhprum

tags: cutting tool

[gordken]

Hi yhprum
pardon my ignorance but why would you need a oil Filter cutter? when i change oil, i drain and discard the old filter. . it looks like a handy tool but for what purpose would you cut open an oil filter ?

[Frank S]

I agree that filter cutters are among the dew things which have gone down in price over the years. I cut most hydraulic filters open and examine the filter media for particulates. This tells me if there is something going on in the systems to keep an eye on if there are nonmetallic particles it is an indicator of a possible eventual seal failure. very fine particles in small quantities means the filters are doing their jobs and usually nothing to be concerned with larger quantities mean the filters should be changed more often. As equipment ages there will almost always be some metals in them. If particles are increasing in size and quantities, then it is time to start keeping a closer eye on things and change the filters more frequently. Browning or discoloration of hyd. oil can mean it is time for a fluid change and or overheating. large chucks of anything are an indicator of bad things to come. Possibly time to start doing pressure testing of the individual cylinders for internal leakages, large pieces of metal are always bad. an entire system can be at risk of needing a total rebuild and time to worry about the pumps motors and valves. Generally, when I would cut open a filter, I would send samples of the filter media to a testing lab since just sending an oil sample from a large system will not yield accurate results if I suspected something going on.
A lot of times when I change the engine oil in a truck, I will cut the filters open and inspect them rather than just sending an oil sample to a lab. I can often find things that need attention going on in an engine before the results come back from the lab.

[tlnixon]

Thank you for asking, and thank Frank S. for replying. I had the same question. Once explained, it makes perfect sense!