I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Thanks,

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Thanks.

The wheels that come with the two Ridgid tube cutters (apparently a
"pipe" something bigger), #10 and #20, are F-158 which are designated
to cut "copper, aluminum and brass". You can replace them with a
slightly more expensive E2990 which is designated to cut stainless
steel. If I understand you correctly to use these to cut brass would
not be a good option.

I use these manually although on occasions I have been known to grip
the end of the tubing in a chuck for ease of manipulation.

I have cut the rings on the lathe using a parting tool but that has
its own problems: The bigger the diameter and the thinner the wall of
the pipe the more difficult the procedure. Cutting the brass conduits
this way is impossible.

I wonder how many spare cutting wheels would I be able to buy for the
cost of one tool post grinder :-)

I suspect in the end the thing will be to try a new F-158, E2990 and a
sharpened F-158 side by side and see which performs the best.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

BTW asking the staff in the "specialist" plumber shop locally yielded
zero useful information in keeping with previous experience:-)

wrote in message
...
On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Thanks.

The wheels that come with the two Ridgid tube cutters (apparently a
"pipe" something bigger), #10 and #20, are F-158 which are designated
to cut "copper, aluminum and brass". You can replace them with a
slightly more expensive E2990 which is designated to cut stainless
steel. If I understand you correctly to use these to cut brass would
not be a good option.

I use these manually although on occasions I have been known to grip
the end of the tubing in a chuck for ease of manipulation.

I have cut the rings on the lathe using a parting tool but that has
its own problems: The bigger the diameter and the thinner the wall of
the pipe the more difficult the procedure. Cutting the brass conduits
this way is impossible.

I wonder how many spare cutting wheels would I be able to buy for the
cost of one tool post grinder :-)

I suspect in the end the thing will be to try a new F-158, E2990 and a
sharpened F-158 side by side and see which performs the best.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC


The last time I had to cut a large quantity of thin wall brass tubing I
used a jewelers slitting saw in an arbor chucked up in the lathe
spindle. I removed the tool post, drilled a piece of steel to accept
the tubing diameter mounted it on the compound and used the
power feed to advance the tubing into the saw blade. After the
setup was fine tuned (feed and spindle speed.) I cut thousands
of those parts within .001" length using only one .005" thick
saw blade. Jewelers saw blades are inexpensive and available
on ebay. If you want to get fancy you could use a 5C collet
block and you will reduce or eliminate marks on the tubing
OD.

Best Regards
Tom.
--
http://fija.org/

On 2014-07-18, wrote:
On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

[ ... ]

1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Thanks.

The wheels that come with the two Ridgid tube cutters (apparently a
"pipe" something bigger), #10 and #20, are F-158 which are designated
to cut "copper, aluminum and brass". You can replace them with a
slightly more expensive E2990 which is designated to cut stainless
steel. If I understand you correctly to use these to cut brass would
not be a good option.

I don't know for sure, but I would expect them to have a less
sharp edge, and to be a tougher alloy. Those for copper, aluminum, and
brass I would expect to be harder, and sharper.

But -- these are only what I *expect* -- not what I know from any
studies.

Maybe someone else knows for sure.

I use these manually although on occasions I have been known to grip
the end of the tubing in a chuck for ease of manipulation.

I have cut the rings on the lathe using a parting tool but that has
its own problems: The bigger the diameter and the thinner the wall of
the pipe the more difficult the procedure. Cutting the brass conduits
this way is impossible.

Hmm ... I'm presuming a 3-jaw chuck. A 6-jaw would do better on
thin material, as it supports the material a lot closer together.

What are the diameters involved? Holding them in a collet (up
to 1" if you can use 5C collets, smaller with 3C collets, and I don't
know what collets might fit your lathe -- if any. There are larger ones
as well, but I doubt that you have that big a machine.

I seem to associate you with a small import lathe, so 5C collets
are probably not an option.

Now -- if you have chucks (even 3-jaw chucks) with top jaws, you
can make soft jaws (from aluminum would be the easiest choice), and
shape them so the jaws almost contact each other. You then bore a set
to fit a particular size of tubing, and it gives you a *lot* better
support all the way around the tube -- and less chance of maring the
tubing itself, too.

I wonder how many spare cutting wheels would I be able to buy for the
cost of one tool post grinder :-)

Let's see --- $10.00 each you said above, and you can sometimes
get toolpost grinders used at quite reasonable prices -- say $140.00 or
so.

Or -- you could do a bit of work to adapt a Dremel tool to your
toolpost, and use it as the grinder.

Or -- if you have compressed air, it would be easier to start
with one of the pencil style die grinders driven by compressed air (a
lot smaller at the toolpost) and use it.

I suspect in the end the thing will be to try a new F-158, E2990 and a
sharpened F-158 side by side and see which performs the best.

O.K.

It might also be possible for you to make your own wheels from
something like air hardening drill rod -- especially if you set up to
sharpen them with your makeshift (or a real) toolpost grinder.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

BTW asking the staff in the "specialist" plumber shop locally yielded
zero useful information in keeping with previous experience:-)

Of course. They don't think in terms of resharpening tools, or
using them on materials other than the labels say they are for.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:05:58 -0700, wrote:

On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Thanks.

The wheels that come with the two Ridgid tube cutters (apparently a
"pipe" something bigger), #10 and #20, are F-158 which are designated
to cut "copper, aluminum and brass". You can replace them with a
slightly more expensive E2990 which is designated to cut stainless
steel. If I understand you correctly to use these to cut brass would
not be a good option.

I use these manually although on occasions I have been known to grip
the end of the tubing in a chuck for ease of manipulation.

I have cut the rings on the lathe using a parting tool but that has
its own problems: The bigger the diameter and the thinner the wall of
the pipe the more difficult the procedure. Cutting the brass conduits
this way is impossible.

I wonder how many spare cutting wheels would I be able to buy for the
cost of one tool post grinder :-)

I suspect in the end the thing will be to try a new F-158, E2990 and a
sharpened F-158 side by side and see which performs the best.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

BTW asking the staff in the "specialist" plumber shop locally yielded
zero useful information in keeping with previous experience:-)

Why not just sharpen the cutter wheels? I've been doing it for years.
I use a nail that fits the hole in the cutter and a short piece of
tubing that slides down the nail and keeps the rotating cutter from
skidding off. Hold the edge of the cutter against the side of a
grinding wheel at the correct angle to grind the bevel you want and
the grinding wheel will both rotate the cutter and also grind it. Flip
it over and grind the other side. If you've got the correct size nail
the whole exercise takes, maybe 5 minutes.

A finer finish can be accomplished by using a finer grinding wheel.
--
Cheers,

John B.

wrote in message
...
On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"

wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many
cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond
hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is
out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless
steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better
for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge
of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Thanks.

The wheels that come with the two Ridgid tube cutters (apparently a
"pipe" something bigger), #10 and #20, are F-158 which are
designated
to cut "copper, aluminum and brass". You can replace them with a
slightly more expensive E2990 which is designated to cut stainless
steel. If I understand you correctly to use these to cut brass would
not be a good option.

I use these manually although on occasions I have been known to grip
the end of the tubing in a chuck for ease of manipulation.

I have cut the rings on the lathe using a parting tool but that has
its own problems: The bigger the diameter and the thinner the wall
of
the pipe the more difficult the procedure. Cutting the brass
conduits
this way is impossible.

I wonder how many spare cutting wheels would I be able to buy for
the
cost of one tool post grinder :-)

I suspect in the end the thing will be to try a new F-158, E2990 and
a
sharpened F-158 side by side and see which performs the best.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

BTW asking the staff in the "specialist" plumber shop locally
yielded
zero useful information in keeping with previous experience:-)

http://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-203...JCS6HPG HMCWJ
-jsw

On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:05:58 -0700, wrote:

On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Thanks.

The wheels that come with the two Ridgid tube cutters (apparently a
"pipe" something bigger), #10 and #20, are F-158 which are designated
to cut "copper, aluminum and brass". You can replace them with a
slightly more expensive E2990 which is designated to cut stainless
steel. If I understand you correctly to use these to cut brass would
not be a good option.

I use these manually although on occasions I have been known to grip
the end of the tubing in a chuck for ease of manipulation.

I have cut the rings on the lathe using a parting tool but that has
its own problems: The bigger the diameter and the thinner the wall of
the pipe the more difficult the procedure. Cutting the brass conduits
this way is impossible.

I wonder how many spare cutting wheels would I be able to buy for the
cost of one tool post grinder :-)

I suspect in the end the thing will be to try a new F-158, E2990 and a
sharpened F-158 side by side and see which performs the best.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

BTW asking the staff in the "specialist" plumber shop locally yielded
zero useful information in keeping with previous experience:-)
Greetings Michael,
I've been thinking about your problem and how I would cut lots of
rings from thinwall brass tubing. What I would try is putting a plug
into the tubing so that it could be held tightly in the lathe chuck.
Then I would use an aluminum mandrel held in the tail stock to support
the tubing while cutting. I would make the mandrel about 15 thousandts
of an inch under the ID of the tube. Spin the tubing and apply the
cutting wheel. The tubing must stick out from the chuck enough so that
the tubing can flex against the mandrel when the cutting wheel is
applied. Since the tubing would only need to flex about .0075" you
could cut pretty close to the chuck. I envision a mandrel that extends
into the tubing about 3 or 4 inches. Use some oil on the mandrel. Then
cut off a ring, advance the carriage toward the chuck, cut a ring, and
so on. Then after enough rings are cut to lose the support of the
mandrel, loosen the tailstock and slide it towards the chuck until it
once again supports the tubing. Cutting against the mandrel should
lessen the amount the ring shrinks at the cut, and when the cutting
wheel touches the aluminum mandrel it won't be dulled.
Cheers,
Eric

On 17 Jul 2014 01:38:01 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-07-16, wrote:
I have a couple of Ridgid pipe cutters. They are fine for many cuts in
copper but when cutting thin brass conduits even a slightly blunt
cutting wheel causes problems.

Replacement wheels cost $10+ here.

Questions:
1) Has anybody tried sharpening them? I had a go with a diamond hone
while clamping the wheel on its mandrel in a lathe. The jury is out on
the result.

I would be more tempted to use a toolpost grinder with the
compound set to parallel the sides of the wheel.

2) There are at least two kinds of wheels: Copper and stainless steel.
What is the difference? Would the stainless steel cutter be better for
the thin-walled brass conduit? Will the stainless steel cutter cut
copper but not vice versa?

As in "made for copper" or "looking like copper"? If the
latter, I would suspect that in reality it is simply copper-plated
steel, intended to minimize rust.

If made for use on copper, I would expect it to be sharper, as
the stainless would take more force to cut, and might crush the edge of
a sharp and hard wheel.

I should mention that I use the cutters to cut rings of various
diameters in copper and brass which means quite a few cuts and
consequent expense if the wheels have to be replaced frequently.

Hmm ... the cutter makes for less waste material, compared to
even the thinnest grooving tool.

Do you use it in the lathe, or do you turn it around the
pipe/tubing by hand?

Is it possible to make a toolpost mount for the cutting wheel,
and use it up close to a collet for maximum support.

Enjoy,
DoN.

Check Ebay. Ive bought factory original cutting wheels for a couple
bucks each for Ridgid tools




--
"Living in the United States now is like being a Tampon.
We're in a great place, just at a bad time."

Gunner Asch fired this volley in
:

Check Ebay. Ive bought factory original cutting wheels for a couple
bucks each for Ridgid tools

It's also whatever your time is worth. It only takes about a minute to
touch up a wheel -- on a regular bench grinder, if you have a steady hand.

Lloyd

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 07:40:34 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

snip

http://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-203...JCS6HPG HMCWJ

Interesting. Have you used it yourself? I read all the reviews and
even some of the 5-star ones made me wonder. Would it mangle a brass
conduit with 0.030" walls?

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 15:03:42 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Gunner Asch fired this volley in
:

Check Ebay. Ive bought factory original cutting wheels for a couple
bucks each for Ridgid tools

It's also whatever your time is worth. It only takes about a minute to
touch up a wheel -- on a regular bench grinder, if you have a steady hand.


My concern doing it that way is that if you do not get the edge
perfectly symmetrical the cutter will thread the pipe rather than cut
it.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:00:59 -0700, wrote:

snip

Greetings Michael,
I've been thinking about your problem and how I would cut lots of
rings from thinwall brass tubing. What I would try is putting a plug
into the tubing so that it could be held tightly in the lathe chuck.
Then I would use an aluminum mandrel held in the tail stock to support
the tubing while cutting. I would make the mandrel about 15 thousandts
of an inch under the ID of the tube. Spin the tubing and apply the
cutting wheel. The tubing must stick out from the chuck enough so that
the tubing can flex against the mandrel when the cutting wheel is
applied. Since the tubing would only need to flex about .0075" you
could cut pretty close to the chuck. I envision a mandrel that extends
into the tubing about 3 or 4 inches. Use some oil on the mandrel. Then
cut off a ring, advance the carriage toward the chuck, cut a ring, and
so on. Then after enough rings are cut to lose the support of the
mandrel, loosen the tailstock and slide it towards the chuck until it
once again supports the tubing. Cutting against the mandrel should
lessen the amount the ring shrinks at the cut, and when the cutting
wheel touches the aluminum mandrel it won't be dulled.
Cheers,

You have hit the core of the problem which is the deformation of a
thin-walled conduit while cutting. Following on from your thoughts I
suspect I should get much better results even using a hand cutter if I
put a mandrel through the conduit first. Maybe even a wooden one.

Thanks.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

fired this volley in
:

My concern doing it that way is that if you do not get the edge
perfectly symmetrical the cutter will thread the pipe rather than cut
it.

Horse-pucky. Unless you're so ham-handed that you gouge the edges 20-30-
thou, the WORST it will do is cut a _slightly_ crooked cut. "Threading"
is caused by loose bushings in the wheel and the rollers. If the wheel
and the rollers roll 'true', it cannot help but cut true, so long as the
sheer edge of the wheel can find the old groove.

You can cut true with a wheel that's five or six thousanths out-of-plane,
and anybody with reasonable eye-hand coordination can do that on a common
grinder, by hand.

You don't just take the wheel off and try to hand-hold it! You put it on
a spindle (bolt, turned rod, whatever), and admit it to the side of the
wheel such that the angle of incidence doesn't spin it real fast -- just
a hundred or two RPMs. It's self-equalizing that way, and you'd be a
real klutz if you couldn't get it nice and evenly tapered that way.

And it takes more time to remove and replace the wheel from the pipe
cutter than it does to touch up the edge.

Lloyd

fired this volley in
:

You have hit the core of the problem which is the deformation of a
thin-walled conduit while cutting. Following on from your thoughts I
suspect I should get much better results even using a hand cutter if I
put a mandrel through the conduit first. Maybe even a wooden one.

ALWAYS use a close-fitting mandrel when cutting thinwall _anything_.

'Rule of thumb'


Besides, do you want to then have to chamfer the i.d.? I use the
closest-fit I can get, and hard enough material so that the pipe cutter
won't cut into the mandrel. I can always re-sharpen the wheel, but
sometimes it's tough to get a short piece of tubing off a mandrel where
the tube has been swaged into the groove in the mandrel.


LLoyd

wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 07:40:34 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

snip

http://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-203...JCS6HPG HMCWJ

Interesting. Have you used it yourself? I read all the reviews and
even some of the 5-star ones made me wonder. Would it mangle a brass
conduit with 0.030" walls?

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

I've used mine as intended, on steel tubing and exhaust pipes where it
works well enough. I suspect it would crimp thin brass no less than a
single-wheel cutter does.

I chuck brass tubing in a collet and part it with the thinned back end
of a cutoff blade. Before buying the lathe I cut it with a razor saw.

I just ordered one of these to try on thin sheet metal, specifically
the trim from an above-ground swimming pool.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0062IBH6A/...332200_TE_item

-jsw

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:33:37 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

fired this volley in
:

You have hit the core of the problem which is the deformation of a
thin-walled conduit while cutting. Following on from your thoughts I
suspect I should get much better results even using a hand cutter if I
put a mandrel through the conduit first. Maybe even a wooden one.

ALWAYS use a close-fitting mandrel when cutting thinwall _anything_.

'Rule of thumb'


Besides, do you want to then have to chamfer the i.d.? I use the
closest-fit I can get, and hard enough material so that the pipe cutter
won't cut into the mandrel. I can always re-sharpen the wheel, but
sometimes it's tough to get a short piece of tubing off a mandrel where
the tube has been swaged into the groove in the mandrel.


LOL!

I discovered this little fact probably as you were writing about it. I
grabbed the first piece of wood I could find which was a pick-axe
handle. I put the brass conduit as far as I could on the handle taper
which turned out to be too far. I cut a nice ring and now I have two
pieces of pretty brass decoration as neither piece will come off due
to the phenomenon you described.

I cut a second conduit lower down on the handle with a good result.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

fired this volley in
:

I cut a nice ring and now I have two
pieces of pretty brass decoration as neither piece will come off due
to the phenomenon you described.

MBG!!!

Heh! I like to use a mild steel or annealed stainless steel mandrel for
cutting thinwalled tubing. It doesn't injure the wheel (much), but gives
some positive feedback when you finally cut through.

Lloyd

On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:16:03 -0700, wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:33:37 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

fired this volley in
m:

You have hit the core of the problem which is the deformation of a
thin-walled conduit while cutting. Following on from your thoughts I
suspect I should get much better results even using a hand cutter if I
put a mandrel through the conduit first. Maybe even a wooden one.

ALWAYS use a close-fitting mandrel when cutting thinwall _anything_.

'Rule of thumb'


Besides, do you want to then have to chamfer the i.d.? I use the
closest-fit I can get, and hard enough material so that the pipe cutter
won't cut into the mandrel. I can always re-sharpen the wheel, but
sometimes it's tough to get a short piece of tubing off a mandrel where
the tube has been swaged into the groove in the mandrel.


LOL!

I discovered this little fact probably as you were writing about it. I
grabbed the first piece of wood I could find which was a pick-axe
handle. I put the brass conduit as far as I could on the handle taper
which turned out to be too far. I cut a nice ring and now I have two
pieces of pretty brass decoration as neither piece will come off due
to the phenomenon you described.

g I think we've all had to learn that particular lesson the hard
way.


I cut a second conduit lower down on the handle with a good result.

I was just about to suggest putting cutter just beyond the end of the
handle, so the handle lent support, but wasn't directly under the
cutter.

Carry on.

--
Liberalism is the result of severe pathogens in our society.

On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:16:03 -0700, wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:33:37 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

fired this volley in
m:

You have hit the core of the problem which is the deformation of a
thin-walled conduit while cutting. Following on from your thoughts I
suspect I should get much better results even using a hand cutter if I
put a mandrel through the conduit first. Maybe even a wooden one.

ALWAYS use a close-fitting mandrel when cutting thinwall _anything_.

'Rule of thumb'


Besides, do you want to then have to chamfer the i.d.? I use the
closest-fit I can get, and hard enough material so that the pipe cutter
won't cut into the mandrel. I can always re-sharpen the wheel, but
sometimes it's tough to get a short piece of tubing off a mandrel where
the tube has been swaged into the groove in the mandrel.


LOL!

I discovered this little fact probably as you were writing about it. I
grabbed the first piece of wood I could find which was a pick-axe
handle. I put the brass conduit as far as I could on the handle taper
which turned out to be too far. I cut a nice ring and now I have two
pieces of pretty brass decoration as neither piece will come off due
to the phenomenon you described.

I cut a second conduit lower down on the handle with a good result.

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
Greetings Michael,
The reason I suggested a slightly undersized mandrel is because the ID
of the tubing will shrink some. But the other important feature of the
setup I suggested is that it limits the deformation because only one
cutter is used. This is because the tubing is supported right at the
pressure point. If more than one cutting wheel is used the tubing will
not be supported at every pressure point and so will shrink.
Cheers,
Eric

fired this volley in
:

The reason I suggested a slightly undersized mandrel is because the ID
of the tubing will shrink some. But the other important feature of the
setup I suggested is that it limits the deformation because only one
cutter is used. This is because the tubing is supported right at the
pressure point. If more than one cutting wheel is used the tubing will
not be supported at every pressure point and so will shrink.

Eric, if the mandrel is a very close (nay, 'snug') fit in the tubing,
you'll get no noticable distortion of the diameter, regardless of how
many wheels are on the cutter.

If the mandrel fits well, only one is required, ever.

Lloyd