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View Full Version : Cutting 6 inch PVC Thin-Wall Sewer and Drain Pipe



John Hollaway
05-23-2023, 9:42 PM
30-some years ago when I installed my 6" S&D dust collection piping, I think I got the best cutting results with a fine blade in a jig saw. But to tell you the truth, I don't really remember for sure. I'm helping a friend with his DC piping, so I'm wondering what tool everyone is getting good results with. Thanks

Dave Sabo
05-23-2023, 9:58 PM
Table-saw or bandsaw for me. Just depends on which is easier to clean off when I need to cut a piece.

Phillip Mitchell
05-23-2023, 10:41 PM
I use a simple hacksaw unless I’m cutting it all day and in that case I would use a battery powered reciprocating saw (sawzall)

Darrell Bade
05-23-2023, 10:48 PM
I take a long piece of paper or poster board, wrap around and mark all the way around with a marker and cut with a jigsaw.

Jack Frederick
05-24-2023, 12:01 AM
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/hand-saws/2017176?x429=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjtO87IeN_wIVUx19Ch3N9g6SEAQYAyAB EgJ9yPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds (https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/hand-saws/2017176?x429=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjtO87IeN_wIVUx19Ch3N9g6SEAQYAyAB EgJ9yPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)

I’ve run miles and miles of pipe. About 15 yrs ago I bought one of these Lenox saws and it does a fabulous job of making straight cuts. Get a good wrap around and walk the line.

Jim McCue
05-24-2023, 7:57 AM
When I have time and space I mark around the pipe and cut with a japanese saw, rotate the pipe a few times to keep seeing the line. When I am cutting existing pipe or in a tight space I use a reciprocating saw.

roger wiegand
05-24-2023, 8:02 AM
I've used both an ordinary carpenter's hand saw and a 12" blade in a sawzall. Both worked fine, the choice was based on which was closest to hand.

Bob Riefer
05-24-2023, 12:24 PM
I just use the miter saw and rotate the piece to finish the cut.

Walter Mooney
05-24-2023, 2:33 PM
John, if you use any power tool to cut the pipe, be sure your pipe is securely clamped to something — the fence, a table, whatever — before you cut it, because the power tool blade will grab the pipe and try to rip it out of your hand.

David M Peters
05-24-2023, 3:08 PM
A cheap triangle-tooth big box store handsaw is what I used on 4" and 6" thinwall PVC.

glenn bradley
05-25-2023, 8:03 AM
I take a long piece of paper or poster board, wrap around and mark all the way around with a marker and cut with a jigsaw.

This is what I do for DC pipe. I use thin wall (ASTM-2729).
501809

Lee Schierer
05-25-2023, 4:25 PM
I use a simple hacksaw unless I’m cutting it all day and in that case I would use a battery powered reciprocating saw (sawzall)

This is what I do. A band saw is limited in lengths you can cut off and has a very small table for working with 10 foot lengths. Table saws can also grab and rotating a piece on a table saw to make a complete cut would be dangerous.

Tom M King
05-25-2023, 7:04 PM
As many types of saws as I have, I didn't have exactly what I needed, or wanted to use, for cutting some composite columns that needed to be accurately cut to fit a porch floor with some slope. I bought a meat cutting saw that worked like a charm. I wanted to cut it with a hand saw, but a regular hacksaw was too small, and I didn't want to even try one of my wood cutting handsaws on them. I can't think of anything that would have worked any better.

Since then, I've used it for cutting some 8" schedule 40 water pipe, and it works great for that too. I marked with a wrap, and kept turning the pipe to keep cutting it on the near side after starting the cut on the top. Following a line was no problem at all.

https://www.amazon.com/Weston-Butcher-Stainless-Steel-47-2201/dp/B000T3OV1C/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=meat%2Bsaw&qid=1685055505&sr=8-5&th=1

Allan Dozier
05-25-2023, 8:25 PM
Coincidentally I spent the afternoon digging up and repairing a broken irrigation line. My Starrett PVC saw is similar to the Lenox I think. It cuts quick which is important when you are lying on your stomach in the mud. 501852

Anthony Whitesell
05-28-2023, 1:31 PM
Knowing that I was going to have to make a lot of cuts, I made a jig. The jig was made of two 1 1/2 thick plywood (ie., two layers of 3/4 plywood glued together) with a 6" S&D hole in the center and bolted together with a washer separating them, to allow for a 12" sawzall blade to fit between them and get the cut close to 90 degrees. Works pretty good. Not perfrectly square but pretty close. In the few places they needed to be exactly 90 degrees (such as the inner edge of the blast gate), I trimmed by running them through the tablesaw using a 4" tall fence on the miter gauge.