[TowerTalk] How do I cut aluminum pipes?

[Bill Coleman]

On Dec 7, 2007, at 1:06 PM, Alex Malyava wrote:

> Is it enough to use regular hacksaw and sand the edges or there is  
> some
> fancy tool like pipe cutter used in plumbing?

Fastest way to cut aluminum tubing, if you have a machine shop, is to  
use a band saw. With a proper blade, you can roll the tubing across  
the table and it cuts quickly.

The second best way is to use a quality tubing cutter. Use a good one,  
and you can cut a tube of any size in a couple of minutes. A poor one  
will spiral down the tube.

A hacksaw will work, but it's really hard to get a clean, square cut.

After the cut, be sure to dress it with either a deburring tool, or  
round file or half-round file. Don't go wild with the files, as it  
will take off a lot of aluminum in short order. You're just trying to  
break off the burr. A sanding sponge, or a sanding block covered with  
very fine grit sandpaper can also be used to dress the outside edges  
of the cut.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901