Generally, there are two parts that can break or be damaged – the wheel
and the barrel.
Wheel
If
the wheel is damaged or worn, you can replace the head. When
considering that, look at the cost of the head and consider whether
the small cost difference indicates you should buy a new cutter
instead.
The
most common damage is a flat spot on the wheel. You can check for
this, immediately after dropping the cutter, by lightly moving the
cutter across a smooth piece of glass. If you hear a regular ticking
sound, the wheel is probably “flat spotted” and will need to be
replaced.
A
worn wheel is more difficult to detect and is also much less likely
to occur. I have been using some of my cutters for 15 years without
any sign of being worn.
Plastic
barrel
Sometimes
the plastic barrel cracks or breaks. This will mean that the oil in
the cutter will leak out. So you can consider continuing to use the
cutter without oil, or by dipping the head in an oil soaked bit of
cotton wool or similar material before each cut.
If
the break is at the threaded end and you want to continue to use the
ball at the end for tapping purposes, you can glue the barrel back
together with an epoxy resin. Make sure the pieces are free from
oil. Then glue and allow to cure. After curing, sand down any
excess resin to make the cutter comfortable to handle.
Then
for additional strength you can wrap with dental floss or extremely
fine wire. Start below the glued area and go to the end of the break
and back again. You could coat this wrapping with epoxy again both to
secure the wrapping and to further increase the strength.
Another
solution is to cut the cracked end off and re-thread the remainder.
It makes the cutter a little shorter, but will continue to hold oil
and give good service.
Or, you could buy another cutter.
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