[Yeah, I think you're right Marc. Wish I had a copy of his book in front of me though.
If I remember right from MACNA, he breaks them up into the type of leather, and I think there's some very unstable leathers that you can't cut. I know you can cut sarcophytons, people cut up toadstools all the time and rubberband them down. But I think if you cut a sinularia the mother colony will fall apart basically. So, you have to slowly constrict the piece off and then tie it with a cotton string. It sounds wierd for a coral whose branches are so thin, but I think constriction is the key.]