Best way to cut stainless pipe?

[tearlessj]

Hello there,

I'm having a hell of a time finding a easy way to cut Sch 10 1.5" stainless pipe for a turbo manifold. I currently have a Makita cold cut saw with a new MK Morse blade. It seems to get the tube too hot no matter how slow or fast I go. It also sends hot chips everywhere. It's not pleasant or easy to use. It's also very noisy. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm thinking about trying the Northern tool benchtop band saw. I had a full size bandsaw before the cold cut saw but it took up too much space. Does anyone have any recommendations?

The saw i'm looking at,

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200660083_200660083

 

[Mark_17]

I used a big chop saw with that grinder type cut off wheel. It wasn't fun or easy but it got the job done.

If I do it again, I'll invest in a portable band saw

 

[anavrinIV]

Bandsaw IME. Early this year I had to cut stainless pipes out of an oven - a sawzall was first choice for accessibility but we did not have good enough blades and it chewed the teeth off half way through one pipe. the port-a-band did the job fantastically when we found it.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Hello there,

I'm having a hell of a time finding a easy way to cut Sch 10 1.5" stainless pipe for a turbo manifold. I currently have a Makita cold cut saw with a new MK Morse blade. It seems to get the tube too hot no matter how slow or fast I go. It also sends hot chips everywhere. It's not pleasant or easy to use. It's also very noisy. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm thinking about trying the Northern tool benchtop band saw. I had a full size bandsaw before the cold cut saw but it took up too much space. Does anyone have any recommendations?

The saw i'm looking at,

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200660083_200660083

I have the Femi saw that the Northern is copying and it would be my choice for what you're doing. The Femi blades are an odd length, so you might not be able to find them locally (don't know about the Northern), so definitely order the blades when you get the saw.

 

[ez-duzit]

...
I'm having a hell of a time finding a easy way to cut Sch 10 1.5" stainless pipe...
have a Makita cold cut saw...
I'm thinking about trying the Northern tool benchtop band saw...

Both exceedingly poor choices for this job.

Best tool is a (4x6-size or better) horizontal bandsaw.

 

[tarbellb]

I bet the NT bench top will handle it no problem....

BTW, I have one, it cuts SS all day.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I bet the NT bench top will handle it no problem....

BTW, I have one, it cuts SS all day.

I agree....with regards to the type of saw.

 

[Noworries]

If all the dia is just 1.5" I would use a grinder with a good quality thin cut off wheel like Camel NOT dewalt or some other rebranded wheel.. the thin wheels reduce friction so less discoloration...

 

[pbon]

I bet the NT bench top will handle it no problem....

BTW, I have one, it cuts SS all day.

1.5” Schedule 10 is about 2x as thick as typical 16 gauge SS. I agree a bandsaw is best, but I’d go with a larger horizontal if I had to cut a bunch of Schedule 10. I have cut 16 gauge with my portaband but the blade will sometimes not give as straight a cut as I want when doing angles. Planning on buying a larger 4x6 horizontal.

 

[LXCam]

Milwaukee makes bandsaw blades specifically for stainless that I’ve used with great success. But they don’t make the length needed for that saw per the spec. And just my $.03, at the price I’d drop a little more coin and go with Milwaukee long before I’d consider that one.

 

[Darby9]

Best way? A Georg Fischer saw. Doesn't do bevels or angles, costs way too much, has expensive consumables, and never shows up on the used outside of an auction. But it's a hell of a tool for doing the one thing it does do .

Posted just as tool ****. Two blades cost as much as a NT bandsaw..

https://www.orbitalumusa.com/products-cutting.shtml

 

[karoc]

Bandsaw IME. Early this year I had to cut stainless pipes out of an oven - a sawzall was first choice for accessibility but we did not have good enough blades and it chewed the teeth off half way through one pipe. the port-a-band did the job fantastically when we found it.

Same here using a Porta band,slow rpm cut plus add little cutting oil or just plain ole oil while cutting

 

[ez-duzit]

...NT bench top will handle it no problem...cuts SS all day.

Come on!

Even on a job like this I'm not cutting stainless all day.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Pipe cutter with a stainless cutting blade.
Swage lok makes a version of a Ridgid cutter for cutting stainless tubing/ pipe.
The cutting wheel for stainless is the game changer.

 

[shockwave]

Sawzall with patience

 

[tarmy]

Cut and clean up with these...

 

[LXCam]

Pipe cutter with a stainless cutting blade.
Swage lok makes a version of a Ridgid cutter for cutting stainless tubing/ pipe.
The cutting wheel for stainless is the game changer.

The problem with that is it’ll cause a ridge on the inside of the tubing. And unless you burnish it dead flat and only ream it leaves the **** joint very thin. And since this is all about airflow, you don’t want any ruffles in the equation.

 

[foghorn1966]

Pipe cutter with a stainless cutting blade.
Swage lok makes a version of a Ridgid cutter for cutting stainless tubing/ pipe.
The cutting wheel for stainless is the game changer.

The Swagelok stainless tube cutter wheels are a direct fit into the medium sized imperial tube cutter.