Very timely for my

Very timely for my purposes,....manual turnout control cables / rods.

I just always use a Dremel

I just always use a Dremel with a cutoff disc. Simple and free, since I already have them on hand.

Problems with dremel

Problems with dremel Sun,

Mostly true.  I can get a pretty square cut on rail and but it definitely heats up and the rest.

Did this topic drift into

Did this topic drift into cutting rail vs cutting music wire?

Didn't take long for the

Didn't take long for the "topic drift" police to arrive on the scene.

Sometimes...

...I get the impression that folks consider their train rooms to be absolutely dust and particulate-free environments, like one of the ultra-clean rooms at Intel or NASA.

I'm not worried about a square cut. 75, 80 or 90 degrees makes no difference for the end of a turnout throw rod (and no, the cut doesn't leave the rod so sharp that you'll penetrate the skin if you even touch the end. It's not like a hypodermic needle). In fact, cutting off a throw rod below rail height, which the cutting tool shown could not do anyway, means the cut will have to be angled (and that's the only place I cut music wire on the layout).

As far as heating - yes it does get hot at the cut. But the heat stays very localized at the cut point unless you dilly-dally during the cut. The most heat I've generated is enough that the rod glows red about 1/8" around the cut. When it cools the rod is a bit discolored.

The term "iron filings" is a bit of a misnomer. Music wire is steel, not iron. And the cut debris is not shaped like iron filings - more like nearly microscopic pea gravel with some sharp corners. In any case, since I'm not cutting something the diameter of #3 re-bar, the amount of debris is minimal, and mostly caught by placing a paper towel over the area on the exit side of the cut, which I always make sure is the downward side of the not-square cut. Nearly all of the debris is caught in the fibers of the towel and not left on the layout.

Never had a problem, and I've been doing it this way for nearly 50 years (guess that means I'm old!).

...I get the impression that

Where, might I ask, are you getting that impression?   Nothing could be further from the truth, regardless of how hard we try.  Surely you jest! 

Yes, but ...

Yes, but the key concern here is that they're both *magnetic* ... and magnetic debris on a model railroad is bad. It can find its way into motors, for example.

Where, might I ask, are you

Concerns over a few micrograms of steel dust, for example. You'd think you were throwing a couple pounds of sand into a swiss watch or something.

If a motor magnet picks up a bit of the dust, that's keeping it from getting into the moving parts of the gearbox or the motor commutator. Best not to have the dust at all, sure, but a reasonable perspective on the amounts and the effects of those amounts is really useful, too.

The motors will attract a lot more stuff that's a lot more impactful than the microscopic amounts of steel dust we're talking about. Things like an errant track spike, a bit of a fractured track nail, or just the bits of magnetic contaminants that can be found even in the dust in the air.

rail vs music wire

A bit of music wire is not code 83 track. If you live in fear of the dust caused by cutting off a bit of music wire (and only one cut per turnout) you should be positively petrified by using a dremel to cut rail gaps (at least two per turnout, plus block gaps), to the point of never being willing to run trains again!

This is a case of a mote vs a plank.

For me, it would be a convenience thing

Your workbench might vary, but mine is not the sort where I can keep a Dremel-type tool permanently set up. 

For me the time saved in simply reaching for the hard wire cutters, going snip, and putting them back would be a great deal less than that to get out the motor tool, put in the right cutter, plugging it in, running it, and then putting it back, is worth the price of the cutters. Which I bought several years ago when I was installing Tortoii in my staging yard, and had to replace all the included wires since they weren't stiff/long enough.  

Yep, convenience

A basic question, Joe - will

A basic question, Joe - will those cutters clip a  throwbar wire protruding between the rails below the railheads? My impression from the photo is that they would not (unless you were working in a pretty large scale).

Good Cutters - Recommended

I've been using these cutters for at least 6-7 years now.  They work well, and I highly recommend them for cutting music wire.

I also have a Dremel, but don't care to use it for this purpose.

Nope, but these might

They will cut the wire off, but not below the railhead.

If you need something that will cut hard wire in tight spots, you might try these hardwire dental cutters ($14):
https://amzn.to/2DWXS9O

Bad shopping list link

The "shopping list" link on the bottom right of page 104 points to "https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/running-extra/2020-07/publishers-welcome" not the August "ah-hah-moment" article and shopping list.

Thanks, Joe!

I bought a pair after reading your article, and have used them several times in the last week.  They work quite well, are convenient, and — best of all — don’t leave a burr on either side of the cut.  

The dental cutters...

I know that in the next month you mention under .030 as being the limit for these.  That would be 0.75mm or there abouts.

But I was wondering; What size phosphor bronze wire would these cut?  I ask as I bought the 2 cutter set with the end nippers.  Was thinking of dedicating them for handrails etc.