Drill Rod Cutting Fixture

In making hundreds of my custom curved awls I have continued with the policy of upgrading the tooling every time I make a batch or two.

The 1st and one of the simplest operations is to cut the 4 different diameter drill rods to the proper lengths.

They are:

• 5/64 @ 2.75"
• 3/32 @ 3.00"
• 7/64 @ 3.38"
• 1/8 @ 3.75"

When there was only on size this was easy but as the range of offerings increased it became apparent that a fixture would make sense.

Initially I set up the bolt cutter like this to make it a one handed operation.

I would use a clamp and a right angle bracket to bump the rod up against and cut.

I realized that I need to design something that would jump from one length to another quickly and accurately, but couldn't see the answer clearly.
The 1st step to finding the answer is to layout the existing components. 
After that the design fell into place.

Each block of alum. swings out of the way for the next length block.

I think it takes about 30sec. to cut up a 3 foot drill rod into the correct lengths.