How space exploration made the Wireline Rod Cutter possible

Launched in March 2026, the Pilot & Co, Drillware Wireline Rod Cutter was designed to solve a common drilling challenge: cutting rods that are stuck in a borehole reliably and in less time. 

Background

Drillware Tools, based in Smithers, British Columbia, develops innovative drilling technologies and offers its products under the Pilot & Co banner. Working closely with drilling contractors and field crews, the company focuses on solving real operational challenges encountered in mineral exploration drilling. 

One of these challenges came from Hy-Tech Drilling, a contractor specializing in deep-hole and remote fly drilling operations where helicopters are often the only practical transportation method to access drill sites. In northern British Columbia, drilling seasons are short, and stuck rods can compromise the completion of an entire project. 

Traditionally, recovering stuck rods is a costly and time-consuming process. Conventional casing cutters require lowering an additional drill string inside the stuck rods and using the drill rig’s rotation to cut through the string with a high-speed steel blade. Beyond the downtime involved, this method also requires transporting additional drill rods and equipment to site—a major challenge in remote operations. 

To address this issue, Hy-Tech Drilling challenged the Drillware team with a simple but ambitious question: how can we design a battery-operated rod cutter that can be lowered directly down the hole to cut stuck rods quickly and safely? 

That challenge became the foundation for the development of the Wireline Rod Cutter—the first product of its kind. Designed for fast and efficient downhole rod cutting, this battery-powered tool is deployed directly on the wireline to the required depth, where it performs the cut using an advanced timer-operated cutting system. 

From idea to prototype

When it comes to product development, the first and most fundamental step is to create the project scope. In this case, it was critical to understand the depth where the rods could be cut, how the cutter is triggered or controlled, the amount of power necessary, the type of cutting inserts that are needed to do the job each time, in addition to developing a repeatable and reliable procedure to complete the cut. These steps required multiple brainstorming sessions with the drillers and the engineering team before the scope was fully defined. 

After assessing several design iterations, a prototype was created. Prototyping was crucial so the team could see and touch the mechanism. Then they refined it, making improvements with each iteration.  

After developing the cutter head design, the Drillware team had to test multiple motors, drive systems, battery systems, and seal combinations. Not many mechanisms can resist the high torque, heat, and other harsh conditions found deep in a borehole; the motor is isolated by a seal that would need to be able to withstand pressure of 2000 psi. After testing multiple different motor models, the team eventually found a supplier that builds motors used for Mars Rovers and space exploration. In collaboration with them, Drillware identified a motor capable of performing both in space and deep downhole: from outer space, to around 2000 meters (6562 ft) closer to the center of the Earth. 

Development challenges

The first design hurdle to overcome was related to reliably clamping the rod cutter to the rods; the team needed to develop a clamping mechanism that is reliable, robust, compact, and can operate with fluids that can reach over 3000 psi. 

Secondly, a lot of engineering and material science expertise was dedicated to creating a high-quality drive system for the cutter head. As the tool has to operate in the challenging conditions downhole, the Drillware team selected a high-precision motor from a supplier whose technology powers aerospace and satellite applications. 

The final challenge was to create a seal inside the cutting mechanism that could handle the speed of the cutter head and withstand the pressure of cutting within a deep hole (up to 3000 psi). The seal also needed to be unaffected by the grit and polymers in drill muds.  

‘One of the biggest engineering challenges was developing a compact system capable of delivering enough torque and reliability to perform consistently in harsh downhole conditions. The final design combines high-precision motors and drive systems, advanced sealing technology, and electronic control systems in a tool compact enough to be deployed directly using the wireline,’ said Alexander Christie, General Manager and Lead Engineer at Drillware Tools. 

How the Wireline Rod Cutter works

With traditional methods, the only comparable product that exists on the market is the standard casing cutter, which is lowered by another, smaller drill string. For example, in NWL size, you would use a BWL drill string to lower the cutter. Once the cutter has reached the area where you want to cut, the drill rig would be used to rotate the cutter. It would be activated with water pressure, rotating until the rods are thought to be released. The cutting rod string is then removed to test if the cut was successful. With drillers that aren’t experienced, the casing cutter could get stuck halfway down the hole, as sometimes the cutting tool is released prematurely.  

With the Wireline Rod Cutter, no additional equipment is required: the tool is lowered down the hole using the overshot on the wireline. The cutter itself comes in a case with all necessary accessories. It can be easily transported in checked baggage and brought to the drill site quickly.  

When deployed, the cutter gets activated according to a pre-set timer. To set the timer, it is important to understand how long it takes for the cutter to reach the desired depth. The calculation is made with a ‘dummy’ cutter that weighs the same as the cutter and is lowered down the hole to measure the time of descent. This also confirms that there are no belled joints or obstructions in the hole and tests the wireline stretch. The method eliminates guesswork and ensures the cut is made at the correct location, typically just above the core barrel.

Next, the cutter’s timer is set to match the descent time of the dummy, and the tool is sent down to the desired depth. The cut sequence will begin when the time has elapsed, which should be sufficient to reach the desired location. The cutter’s anchoring pins clamp the cutting system to the rods, and the tool will activate when it is stable. Cutting time is approximately 15 minutes. Generally, the tension in the string is released when the cut has been completed, indicating that the cut was successful. If the tension does not release, applying torque can complete the break in case a portion of the rod remains uncut. 

Sometimes, the rods are stuck above the cut. In this case, another cut can be made higher up without losing a lot of time. Slowly making more cuts as you progress up the string helps recover the maximum amount of rods from the hole. It’s quick and easy to make multiple cuts to test where the rods are stuck—minimal time is lost because you are not pulling the drill string all the way to the surface as you would with a conventional rod cutter; it’s just a quick wireline trip!  

When the cut is completed, the rod cutter is retrieved on the wireline. In most cases, drilling operators choose to wedge directly off the cut—if the rods are stuck at the core barrel, losing only about 3.5 m (11.5 ft) before drilling resumes. 

Advantages of the Wireline Rod Cutter

The traditional recovery process when rods are stuck is long, costly, and labor intensive. The Wireline Rod Cutter can be easily transported and rapidly deployed, making it a cost-effective and time-saving solution; when the rods get stuck, you can cut fast and get back to drilling.  

In deep holes, rods are most often stuck at the core barrel, but this is not always the case. Having a rod cutter on site gives you the ability to always cut the rods if you get stuck, reducing risk and allowing you to go deeper in the hole. In many ways, the Wireline Rod Cutter is like an insurance policy: you hope you never need it, but when a difficult situation happens, having the tool available can prevent operational disruption and save significant time and money. 

In addition to that certainty and control, the Wireline Rod Cutter offers the following benefits: 

• Acquisition cost for the initial cut is comparable to traditional methods. However, the tool becomes significantly more cost-effective over time as it can be reused multiple times with minimal mobilization and setup costs;  

• Can be set up in a day;  

• Lightweight and easily transported, even in checked baggage, reducing freight costs and the need for handling heavy equipment;  

• Cutting process is audible from the surface, providing confirmation that the tool is operating as intended;  

• Provides immediate feedback on whether the cut was successful;  

• Drastically lowers downtime associated with stuck rods. 

‘This took time to develop and required believing in the project from the start. Once we had it dialed in, it became a complete game changer for our drilling operations. It gave us the confidence to push deeper without the constant risk that a stuck string could compromise the efficiency of the entire campaign. It also eliminated the need to keep a full BWL rod string on site, which alone represented major savings in transportation and mobilization costs,’ noted Mark Seilstad, Special Projects, Field Operations at Hy-Tech Drilling. 

The use case for drilling contractors

The Wireline Rod Cutter is an ideal tool for any contractor who needs to cut stuck rods so they can return to drilling, but it fits two specific types of customers best.  

The first type includes contractors who drill deep holes, especially in grounds where there is a greater chance of the rods getting stuck in the hole. The product has been successfully used at depths of up to 1600 meters (5249 ft) and has been tested at pressure that replicates the hydrostatic pressure at the bottom of a 2000-meter hole (6562 ft). When a rod gets stuck in a very deep hole, even more rods need to be lowered and retrieved to perform a traditional cut; the opportunity for cost savings and reduced downtime by using the Wireline Rod Cutter is therefore much higher in deeper holes than in shallow ones.  

The second type of customer are contractors who perform fly jobs. The Wireline Rod Cutter is compact and lightweight and can be transported to a drill site in a single trip with a helicopter. This eliminates the need to helicopter the smaller drill string from the laydown or staging area to the drill site. 

Product launch and the road ahead

The Pilot & Co, Drillware Wireline Rod Cutter was officially launched in March 2026 following years of development, testing, and refinement in collaboration with Hy-Tech Drilling. The tool was field tested for over seven years at multiple drill sites across British Columbia, where numerous successful cuts were completed prior to commercialization. 

Throughout development, the engineering team continuously improved key aspects of the product, including battery performance, sealing systems, electronics, and overall reliability in harsh downhole conditions. Since the launch, the Wireline Rod Cutter has been very well received by the diamond drilling community. 

‘We are extremely proud to launch a true innovation for the diamond drilling industry,’ said Hélène Coulombe, VP Sales & Marketing at Pilot & Co. ‘As drilling programs continue going deeper and becoming more technically demanding, contractors are looking for solutions that reduce risk, downtime, and mobilization challenges. The response so far has been very positive, and we see strong potential for this technology worldwide.’ 

The Wireline Rod Cutter is currently available in NWL size, with HWL expected to launch within the next year. Pilot & Co also offers limited on-demand emergency rod cutting services in Canada and plans to expand this support offering in the future. 

For more information: Visit pilotnco.com or contact us at info@pilotnco.com