Does anyone have some tips on how to cut the stems of the plastic ORA plugs? I want to cut them off so i can mount the disk to my rock.

dremmel?

that would work great, but I don't have one.
I do have a home depot gift card.... how much does a cheap one cost?
plier? hacksaw?

mind you there is a frag on the other end.

what is it a frag of, often i can pry a frag off a plug with a sharp flatblade screwdriver.

acros that are encrusted nicely over the top of the plug.

maybe try wire clippers. i use that to break off the plug part on my frag plugs. but they are arganite (sp) ones.

Your best bet is to drill a hole in a rock and set the plug in. They will encrust overtime but I've ####ed up more ORA frags by trying to mess with the plug than anyone. They are hard to cut, dremel or sand. Just submit to the ORA demons and drill a piece of rock.

can't take the rock out. those that I can are too thin to drill.

I'm thinking buying a dremel might be the best thing to try.

a pair of wire clippers work great on aragonite plugs, but won't work on these, unless you had bolt cutters.

I use channel locks and a good grip! If you use enough pressure, I've had the frag "pop" off. The other way I've used is a hacksaw. I put the frag in a vise grip and saw it.

Good luck man Ive tried dremeling them.


Your best bet is to take a plastic bag and poke a small hole through it. Put the plug out of the hole and cover the coral so no crap gets on it. Dremel, hacksaw whatever away with the best of luck.

i use dremmel and it's so easy a cavemen can do it.

What bit are you using with the dremel? I was lazy so I tried the diamond wheel but shot the plug out onto the floor of my garage.

Why does ORA use retarted ass plastic plugs anyway??

Ive never dealt with them but i hear they are a pain. I would be very careful and slow with the dremmel b/c the plastic will heat up real quick. If not that a good large pair of wire cutters should do the trick.

ya, m'akoy what bit did you use?

diamond wheel.the trick is put the dremmel in full power and it cuts like a hot knife on a butter.

the hot part is what i would be concerned about.

that's what I would think. If the dremel is spinning too slow it may snag on the plastic and send it flying like kraylens.

The hot part is no where near the coral though. cut it where the head meets the stem.

I had it up to 35k RPMs, it melted the plastic then grabbed and vrooom it went.

and always wear a eye shield/protector.now got get urself a dremmel tomorrow and cut those damn ora stem plugs..

^this ive had hot plastic i was grinding melt right in my eye, not fun.

haha. I wear glasses.

where do I get the diamond wheel at? I couldn't find it on home depots site.

diamond seems way overkill on plastic, i think any ceramic wheel will more then do the trick.

Just cut the coral off the stupid plastic plug

the hot wire foam cutters looks scary

Steve, there is some good encrusting gong on there with new branches coming up. don't want to ruin those.

thier pretty cool, i know a guy that built one to cut high density foam airplanes. http://www.combatwings.com/catalog/product...0to%20Fly%20XE2

the key is high amps if your cutting someting that is dense

+1 for the dremmel and diamond wheel. High speed cuts like a knife through butter like stated. Home depot sells the wheel. It's located with all the other dremmel stuff. Very worth the money for many a reefing project (go cordless if you can).

If you have one nearby Harbor Freight sells a rotary tool just like a dremel for $10
Harbor Freight

I wouldn't use pliers/cutters as you could tweak the plastic and crack the coral. Drilling a hole in the rock would be the safest/strongest way, but a rotary wheel with any cutting disk should cut the end off just fine. Use the plastic bag idea someone had and just apply light, even pressure (do NOT press hard or it will go flying) and just whittle down the plastic, stopping every few seconds to avoid heat buildup. FYI this also works well for ceramic plugs, but you'll want a more durable cutting wheel and a mask as the smell is horrible for some reason.

You guys are going to way too much trouble. I have popped off many ORA plugs with a pair of channel locks. It worked and even with the encrusting part. No need for dremmels or diamond wheels or whatever. Save your money for more corals!

how would a channel lock work? it's just like a plier...

something like this?


i have a pair of these in my tool box, but i cant imagine them making a clean cut on the plastic.

zactly what I use



it will grow back

^not channel locks,


^channel locks

Both are Channel Locks. Thats a brand name not a type of tool. The ones poidog is refering to are called end cutters, the ones nanoreefnovice is refering to is tounge and grove pliers. But they are both made by the same company, being ChannelLock....you can tell by their signature blue handle. I would probably reccomend a small set of cable cutters. would easily cut plastic a little bigger than your thumb.

on the harbor freights add they had one for 6.99 with some add ons i think it was the drimmel and 30 peices which is a hella deall lol

The 9 inch channellock brand cable cutters will cut 4 ought aluminum wire which is a little under half an inch in diameter.

when say channel locks i mean that type of adjustable pliers. kleenex makes tissues and toilet paper, but when i ask for a kleenex i want a snot tissue. Crescent makes a lot more then a crescent wrench but if im in a tight spot and i ask for a crescent wrench i would be pretty pissed if you gave me cressent brand end cutters just b/c i didnt ask for an adjustable wrench.


^channellocks are this smart ass, i dont give an eff if thier made by ChannelLock or not.

I own both a real dremel and one of the harbor freight rotary tools mentioned above and trust me they are nothing alike. Either one should work for this purpose though except with the HF one you will have to go much slower as it has approximately 0 torque. If you are concerned about heat you can stop several times during the cut and dip the plug in water to cool it down but remember you are just cutting through plastic... Not sure why this thread makes it sound so complicated

You are correct, most tool types are refered to by the brand that either started making them or were most widly used, just wanted to clarify for everyone so somebody didnt go buy tounge and groove pliers when they wanted slip joint pliers, or end cutters or any other tool that channel lock makes.

like vise-grip.

But again how are you using regular adjustable wrench to cut the stem off.... I don't get it

i think their talking about prying the plug from the frag.

ya, umm.... no

oh the hf isn't good? idk i was gunna tell my dad to go pick it up lol guess i shouldn't, yeah i ment rotary tool its not really a dremal

Man almost everyone in this thread is an idiot.


DREMEL NOT DREMMEL

did i miss spell it??? Kinda need to move over to the drung thread now...

It happens Carl dont be mad.

^ This what I use. If you'll take the pliers and apply pressure aound the large round part of the ORA disk, the pic you provided. When enough pressure is applied, the whole frag will pop off, even the encrusting part. My tank is full of ORA corals and this is how I do it without any problems.

I'll try the plier thing on one of the plugs and see how it goes. Otherwise I got myself one of these

I'm so sick of those BigA FHI frag rocks, why don't they just jam the damn thing in a 5 lb live rock?