tool to cut a slit lengthwise down copper pipe?
 

what kind of tool would be suitable to make about a 40cm long cut/slit lengthwise down a class 1 15mm copper pipe?

dremmel cutting wheel?

damn
 

replies are flying now... its insane.

erm, i dont have a dremmel, would it be possible to hook a dremmel blade up to a drill? alternatively what nice knock off of dremmel should i get, ive been pondering it for a while now...
waht type of dremmel do i need, and what features are imporant?

yea, you can buy the dremel cutting disk and mount and hook it into a drill. It would be a pain in the ass to operate though. Not the most ergonomic design for this application, but should in theory work.


I haven't heard anything bad about that "rotor tool" thing, or whatever its called. The one they show on TV. Whats wrong with getting an authentic dremmel? Is the price that different.

Also, I believe Black-and-Dekker makes a rotary tool

Just go to your local big orange box and ask for rotary tools.


<edit>changed my dumbass spelling errors

Not sure about where you are, but the price difference is about 120%... ( 70$ vs 220$NZD)

Depends on the application too, lopedogg. Whats it being used for? slits down both sides of the pipe, or just one?

If you want it beautifully straight, a cutting wheel may be a bit of a pain - cheaper alternative is a hacksaw, but after about 250mm you'd have to take the blade out and do it by hand, which can be time consuming (and hard on the arms)

damn, that is a lot.

Possibly improvise? Route out a slot in a 2 x 4 or something to secure the pipe in it, and then use a table saw with a thin abrasive cut off blade. Straight cut, will cut the metal and really smoke the wood, but you should get it done before it got hot enough to start a fire.

Oh, your trying to cut all the way through lengthwise? I thought you only wanted to make some slits, but not all the way through.

thanks...
i dont have a table saw, hacksaw is definitely not suitable...

what id really like, is a device which is shaped like a jig saw, but instead of a blade that goes up and down, it has a cutting disc that spins there. then you put on different sized discs to make different depth cuts... like a mini circular saw for metal...

i guess ill try get a rotary cutting blade :/ if that doesnt work, ill try find a decent dremmel knock off.

I think dremel has an accesory to do that.

Other rotary tools might also.

I would use a sawzall or a cutoff tool.

http://webpages.charter.net/chew_toy/saw.jpg

the rotary tool on the left looks like it uses a mini angle grinder disk... i saw those at the hardware place. maybe if i can find a thin one and hook it up to my drill, that would work.
how does that tool on the right work?

I think 2Busy has the best approach for an even slit in the copper tubing. You want to crank the blade up just enough to cut the slit but not enough to go through the whole tube.

Another approach is to use an air compressor driven grinder/cutoff disc. Then, create a jig to hold the grinder in place and on while moving the copper tubing past it. This is much more likely to fall apart and shove tubing through you or the nearest wall. However that depends quite a bit on the quality of the jig you make. You could use a dremel (a standard 15k rpm hand held rotary device available under many names) in the same spot as the air-driven grinder.

Those would be my thoughts.

I'm still not getting what he wants.

Does he want to make one large slit, from end to and?

Or 1 or more small slit(s) that aren't in contact with the end(s) of the pipe?


And out of cureosity, why are you making these slits in the first place?

If only the tube were shorter than a hacksaw blade, he could put the blade into the tube, then mount it on the hacksaw frame, clamp and cut straight without any trouble.

How wide the desired kerf (slit)?

Here's another approach, that will cut clean blind slits:

Make a jig of course (Hi I'm Kobuchi). Screw two 2x4s together along their lengths to form a long "L" profile cradle for the tube. Secure the tube into this with clamps or screws through the oversized pipe's ends.

Now fashion a cutter. This could be a block of wood with the point of a long sheet metal screw (or drywall screw - both are hardened and will deeply scratch copper) poking through it, the block simply worked back and forth until the cut is complete.

A better cutter would be made by sawing half way through a wood block with an old worn out hacksaw blade, then snapping the blade (the broken ends will be sharp and obviously hard enough to cut even steel) and securing a blade shard in the block with one ordinary wood screw, as a setscrew. A point of hacksaw blade will scratch off a nice thread of copper at every pass.

This method will yield cuts only as straight as the 2x4 cradle. 2" or 3" angle steel would be an improvement, if you have it. The cutter needs a bearing surface, or you're just cutting freehand (yuck).

well, the slits could be the whole length down a pipe, or in the center of the pipe, it doesn't matter. the actual slit could be 1mm wide, or 3mm wide, its not critical.

i like the idea of putting the hacksaw blade into the tube *g*
unfortumately there aren't anyhacksaw blades long enough for this... (40cm cut)
its for a radiator i want to build.
i could possibly make two 20cm pipes with slits in them, and join them together, or make the radiator from 2 seperate halves.
im not keen on complicating it though.


the idea of the cutter using a screw is interesting, and it probably wouldnt be too hard to cut through the copper with it, but ive never done anything like that, it might be a total PITA, with the screw getting stuck all the time etc *shrugs*

the idea of the hacksaw blade in the wooden block is also good but the whole jig and slider assembly would have to be pretty damn good.

my jig saw has 1.5cm of travel... i was thinking, i could maybe use 22mm pipe instead of 15mm, and cut my hacksaw blade off at about 17mm from full extension. then simply clamp the copper pipe and cut it with the jig saw, i think that will be simplest and cheapest.

maybe a jig to hold my drill with a rotary blade in place and a slider thing that holds the pipe, then just slide it through and its done?

its times like this we dream of the ultimate workshop *g*

thanks for the input guys...
ive had quite a nice breakthrough, new design, which doesnt need this pipe being cut.
thanks for the help. ill be back with a phat radiator, mad temps and fanless coolage next time we speak. (gotta wait for copper place to open)

happy new year.