Thread: Cutting PVC Pipe

I run a square piece of paper around pipe, mark off where cut needed, get 'friend' to hold down then out comes trusty 9" angle grinder

Marking off from a square edge in 4 or 5 places around the circumference and then joining the dots also works. 5" and a thin disk is my weapon of choice.

That miter box design is a very good trick.
I need that to cut some soapstone into slabs for carvings.
Thank you

Do you have or have access to a drop saw,I found that gives a good straight,clean cut

Looks good Dave given it solves the holding problem at the same time
Wish we had done something like that for the mens shed.

For shorter pieces such as making bast gates bits I find a bandsaw does a good job and then the burrs can be removed on a large belt sander.
Just make sure you hold the pice firmly especially until is cuts through the first layer of pipe as it wants to turn the pipe and it may drag any fingers than are in he way into the band.

Some folks think that PVC will gum up sanding belts/discs whereas it actually will clean belts and can be used as a cheap belt cleaning material.

I also use a belt sander to add an external bevel to pipe openings.
This makes it much easier to place into fitting and more importantly remove the pipe from fittings if required.
If you don't bevel the pipe you may be able to belt the pipe in but it will be a nightmare taking it out.

A stainless steel 'curly girl' scourer does a fabulous job of cleaning up the cut ends.

I mark square using a block or gauge, cut with a coarse hacksaw close to the line, then dress square to the mark on on the 300 mm disk of the sander. This cleans up all of the burrs and leaves a "store bought" edge which is perfectly square.

Are you all set up to cut 6" and bigger pipe with accuracy?

For large PVC pipe, I mark the cut with a very long piece of adding-machine/cash-register paper tape. Masking tape at the inner end, then wrapped around several times with the edges aligned, and a final masking tape fixing. I cut to the edge of the paper with a hacksaw in several shallow passes, rotating the pipe. After separation, I dress the cut by scraping with a utility knife.

Cheers,
Joe

Did you consider renting a plumbers pipe cutter. The type with two rollers and a circular knife. As you tighten the handle the knife cuts into the pipe. Swing the cutter around the pipe and for each rotation tighten the handle ½ turn.

The cutter that I have is good up to about 65mm but I have seen larger models.

Originally Posted by rrich

Did you consider renting a plumbers pipe cutter. The type with two rollers and a circular knife. As you tighten the handle the knife cuts into the pipe. Swing the cutter around the pipe and for each rotation tighten the handle ½ turn.

The cutter that I have is good up to about 65mm but I have seen larger models.

Those cutters are nice to use and because we had so much to cut at the mens shed I looked around and the biggest one I could find was 66mm.

With PVC pipe you don't want to be renting as it's inevitable that there will be updates, down dates, side dates and back dates.
I think David's solution is probably one of the best for solo DIY'ers because it solves the problem of holding as well as cutting straight.
While I use a BS the problem (as will be the case for most DIY) will be tackling those first couple of cuts on a 6m length as this length will sometimes be longer than a DIYer's shed.

Garage sales and/or guys like plumbers who are retiring are the place to source those BobL. I picked up a pipe cutter years ago that will cut 90mm pipe and I think from memory I only paid about $25 at a garage sale being run by the son of a plumber who had passed away. At the time I think the good quality ones like Rigid or Rothenberger were around another $120 on top of that brand new. I'd hate to think what the 4" or 6" ones would cost now. The other good thing about using one of these is that as you cut, it chamfers the outside edge slightly. Before that I used to cut any 90mm PVC pipe on my older Makita 14" drop saw.

Stewie

Originally Posted by Stewie D

Garage sales and/or guys like plumbers who are retiring are the place to source those BobL. I picked up a pipe cutter years ago that will cut 90mm pipe and I think from memory I only paid about $25 at a garage sale being run by the son of a plumber who had passed away. At the time I think the good quality ones like Rigid or Rothenberger were around another $120 on top of that brand new. I'd hate to think what the 4" or 6" ones would cost now.

Here we go, for only $427 Ridgid Reed Steel Pipe Cutter 4-6" Hinged 4 Wheel (Wheels not included) | eBay That is without cutting wheels which cost $100 for s set of 4.

6" pipe is fine but any larger pipes will need a new jig as they are only good for one size