Cutting Pipe

Date 10-10-2008 20:35

How about simply just cutting the pipe with a big grinder? People should be able to cut theese small diameters fairly straight.

3.2

By pipeliner 798 (**)

Date 10-11-2008 01:23

do you cut pipe ?

By 3.2 Inspector (***)

Date 10-11-2008 04:35

No, I am home now....

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-13-2008 00:49

A grinder isn't very efficient. I used to build alot of rail out of 1-1/4 to 2" pipe, and tried on a few occasions to cut sch. 40 pipe with a grinder. It didn't work so well for me. even with cutoff wheels and a 4-1/2" grinder.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-13-2008 03:43

I used a chop saw with a 14" wheel for a railing job, that size wheel works a lot better and is pretty fast, but cost per cut is higher than with BiMetal blades and a bandsaw.

There just isn't much usefull life in small diameter cutoff wheels.

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-13-2008 05:05

I also used a 14" chop saw, and a cold saw. A large band saw worked when you had hundreds of the same cut if you could secure the pipe for cutting. The grinder worked OK for making a cut or two rather than chasing down a saw. but like I said earlier, its not real efficient and its harder to get a straight cut!

By sbcmweb (****)

Date 10-16-2008 13:06

If you can use a cold saw to cut with, that's about the best cut you'll ever get. I have one & use it all the time. It's on wheels with a really long cord & I use water, antifreeze & dishsoap for coolant.

Of course, in the field, that would not be practical or applicable. :-)

By 3.2 Inspector (***)

Date 10-13-2008 14:26

Thats why I said a BIG grinder :)
A 10" disc will cut straight through a 2" pipe.

3.2

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-13-2008 14:32

Maybe my helper, but I don't like to work that hard :)

By 3.2 Inspector (***)

Date 10-13-2008 14:44

Thats why I quit welding years ago :)

3.2

By johnnyh (***)

Date 10-13-2008 14:39

When using a big bladed saw the tendency would be to also use the blade to remove the OD burrs after cutting. This should not be done as it weakens the blade unevenly and could lead to an accident.

Attachment: surfside.jpg (152k)

By 3.2 Inspector (***)

Date 10-13-2008 14:45

Indeed....
Been there, done that :(

3.2

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-14-2008 05:36

I will agree that a 10" disk will cut through a 2" pipe, I disagree with the "straight" part.

After several cuts that disk is no longer 10" in diameter, and will not cut through a 2" pipe.

By jrw159

Date 10-14-2008 13:46

Ladies and Gentlemen,
One thing to remember/realize is that when cutting pipe with a stone type cutting disk on a chop saw is technique. If you force the disk through with a lot of pressure, it will cut fast but will have a tendancy to veer of track, producing an unsquare cut. If you cut through it too slow you wear the disk out quickly. From my past experiance you kind of have to find that happy medium between the two technique's to get consistant straight cuts in a timely fashion. This happy medium also applys to the disk thickness as well. Too thin and you wear it out quick and it tends to wander on you. Too thick and you end up taking more time, and the clean up of the burrs is more extensive.

jrw159

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-11-2008 04:06

That sounds like a handy trick.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 10-11-2008 15:47

I agree. And while I feel I am fairly good at 'eyeballing' a freehand cut with a grinder or portaband, I have seen few guys who could even come close to consistant straight cuts without some kind of mark or guide. Anything to help without taking all day to prep is great advice.

Thanks, Have a great day, Brent

By Shane Feder (****)

Date 10-13-2008 22:07

Hi guys,
There is a cutting disc that fits on 4, 4.5 and 5" grinders that is only 1 mm thick (not sure what that is in imperial but 1.6 mm is 1/16)
Cuts through any pipe like a knife thru butter but is especially good for small bore piping.
A combination of a couple of turns with a cold cutter to mark it and then slice through it with a very thin cutting disc.
And johnnyh made an excellent point about NOT using cut off discs to remove burrs.
Regards,
Shane

By mcostello (**)

Date 10-14-2008 02:25

Hay Shane, they are called razor blades here,their life is fairly short due to lack of thickness, but, they cut reasonably fast.

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-14-2008 03:06

I believe your talking about the .045 cutoff wheels. which is what I should have included in my previous post.
they also come in different thicknesses, 1/16, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 etc.
Regards,
Carl

By Bob Garner (***)

Date 10-15-2008 16:17

Anybody tried those new Tenryu steel cutting blades?

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-15-2008 19:12

No, but I have cut 3/4" steel fairly easily with a carbide blade and a skill saw!

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-16-2008 05:04

   I guess Tenryu is a brand? No I havn't used them.

   One of My friends used a carbide steel cutting blade to scrap out an old steel boiler, I lent Him a worm drive circular saw similar to a Skillsaw, but it turns slower. It did work for a while, but He figured sawing through the welds killed the blade.

   Another friend got one of those German made steel cutting circular saws and was using it to cut 1" thick steel plate. They really arn't rated for this thickness. Altho it worked fairly well, He later decided that it was not the best way for this particular job.

   Still another friend has a Dewalt carbide blade chopsaw, He likes it.

By sbcmweb (****)

Date 10-16-2008 13:02

I use those Sait Abrasive .045" Z-TEC wheels to cut a variety of things. No, I'm not a pipe guy. They work fabulous though.

The Sait Pipeliner 1/8" are good to for smaller diameter tubing too.

Those .045" wheels cut better (in the hands of the right individual) than a torch or plasma in some cases. Just depends on what you're doing.

By uphill

Date 10-18-2008 21:38

Those .045 wheels also dont hurt as much a 1/8 pipeliner wheel when they go poof. The 1/8 ones will go through your leathers and stick into your arm.
Dave

By Steve.E (**)

Date 10-19-2008 03:45

Hi guys , just wondering ,has anyone tried one of these units ?
http://www.norwesttools.com.au/page/shop/flypage/product_id/116/a/category/e/2.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-19-2008 04:44

I havn't tried one, Sears sells a 6" unit much like it in the USA.

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-25-2008 03:06

thats a 7"unit, but it will only cut 1/8" wall

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 10-25-2008 04:12

Have You used it, or know anybody that has?

By ctacker (****)

Date 10-25-2008 04:49

no, but the specs say "cuts up to 3.5 mm"

By uphill

Date 10-19-2008 11:58

We bought a similar single bladed Makita metal /skill saw type. It works good up to 1/2 mild steel plate but paying over $50 per blade gets spendy if your not extra carefull. The carbides they use tend to get popped off by the welded seams and hard slag found on pipe and structural metal. I cut a 5x10 sheet of 1/2 plate to a 3x8 workbench top in about 15 minutes, very square edge that only needed deburring. The twin blade looks interesting but if it looses a carbide the chain reaction would be spendy.
Dave

By TozziWelding (**)

Date 10-19-2008 12:09

I had an .045 one go poof on me in an elevator pit I was working on, next thing I know my hand was leaking and took 3 stitches. All of the whizz wheels will do damage to our soft bodies.