  We discuss symplectic cutting for Hamiltonian actions of non-Abelian compact
groups. By using a degeneration based on the Vinberg monoid we give, in good
cases, a global quotient description of a surgery construction introduced by
Woodward and Meinrenken, and show it can be interpreted in algebro-geometric
terms. A key ingredient is the `universal cut' of the cotangent bundle of the
group itself, which is identified with a moduli space of framed bundles on
chains of projective lines recently introduced by the authors.
