My swager has started to fail to cut my snare cable cleanly. I’m not smart enough to adjust it I guess. I have fiddled with it, but I can’t seem to adjust the cutting function well enough. I can’t find any videos online. Any tips from my fellow snare makers would be appreciated. It is a bench swager. Thanks.

I would guess it is dull, maybe search for ways to sharpen it?

The other thought is it has got too much gap between surfaces. Is there a bolt that you can tighten to get shearing surface of jaws closer or are they fixed?

I never had luck with cable cutters, but there might / should be away to adjust the jaws..?

I don't cut a lot of cable, I use a cold chisel and a piece of RR track, one whack with the hammer and you get a clean cut.

I cut a lot of cable , my favorite cable cutters happen to be rather inexpensive or cheap which have held up very well they sell for under $ 20.00 the last time I checked .

Post many quality pics and we all can help.

Greenlees 722 is a very good cable cutter. If you are looking for excellence the Knipex 95 can handle almost any small (up to 1/4" cable, even stainless cable with no problems.

I’ll see about posting some photos.

But I’m talking about the cable cutting part of the bench swager. It is just up from the swaging jaws.

If there is wear or damage we will need to see in pics.

Tighten the big nut that holds the bench swager/handle together. When mine get loose it will not cut due to the small amount of side play.

Thanks. That did the trick. I was afraid to tighten it too tight. I guess it needs to be tighter than I thought. Works fine now.