Cutting Poly Pipe

[gary s]

When cutting plastics whether its drilling, milling, turning, etc. the tool tends to get hot quicker than when cutting other materials because the plastic chips don't carry any of the heat away. In the machine shop where we cut a lot of plastics we mixed dish soap with water and squirted it liberally on the tooling. I don't know about putting it in the saw but maybe could be shot on the bar with a garden sprayer.

 

[fin460]

You should equip the saw with large rollers in place of the bucking spikes so that will help you make a square cut


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[fordf150]

When cutting plastics whether its drilling, milling, turning, etc. the tool tends to get hot quicker than when cutting other materials because the plastic chips don't carry any of the heat away. In the machine shop where we cut a lot of plastics we mixed dish soap with water and squirted it liberally on the tooling. I don't know about putting it in the saw but maybe could be shot on the bar with a garden sprayer.

That is the problem these guys ran into not using bar oil. The bar and chain got hot and instead of a nice clean cut it would start melting the plastic. The dish soap idea sounds like an idea worth trying

 

[Philbert]

Here's a purpose-built tool, but a bit expensive: PLAS3

I like that !

. . . we cut a lot of plastics we mixed dish soap with water and squirted it liberally on the tooling. I don't know about putting it in the saw but maybe could be shot on the bar with a garden sprayer.

Check out the hose adaptor on this STIHL saw. This side cover might fit a conventional MS460/461. Of course, you would want to use a much finer chain for PVC.

Philbert



http://m.stihlusa.com/products/concrete-cutters/professional-concrete-cutters/gs461/

 

[mikefunaro]

What about a 16" cut off saw with an abrasive blade? I normally cut SDR-35 with a cut off saw. If you scribe it out something like a 16" saw shouldn't be too too hard to keep straight. Then again Im not 100% how tight your tolerance are.

 

[D&B Mack]

What about a 16" cut off saw with an abrasive blade? I normally cut SDR-35 with a cut off saw. If you scribe it out something like a 16" saw shouldn't be too too hard to keep straight. Then again Im not 100% how tight your tolerance are.

Like I said, we do it for the smaller diameter. Can't use an abrasive blade, it just "fills" up with the plastic. I have used a diamond multi-use blade to cut the larger pipe, but that was just in tie-in situation. The other problem, normall the pipe is rigged up when making the cut, so not real easy to swing the saw around.

 

[splitpost]

are you able to wipe the cut area with a cleaning agent ,say prepsol or something

 

[fordf150]

If its anything like the crews around here you don't want to have to valuable of a piece of equipment. they claim saws grow legs on the jobsites that's how they ended up with a 260. got tired of buying new saws only to have them disappear after a week

 

[gary s]

As pointed out abrasives will load up too quick. Best bet is to use an older saw with slower chain speed and keep it wet. Plain water is better than nothing but the dish soap makes it a little slipperier. While the poly isn't any harder than oak it is much tougher in that it won't break the chips, they will be like noodleing.

 

[Philbert]

While the poly isn't any harder than oak it is much tougher in that it won't break the chips, they will be like noodleing.

I have to assume that there would be an 'optimal' set of cutting angles for the plastic, as opposed to pine or oak or . . . . I wonder if the technical experts at STIHL, or Oregon (whomever you buy your chain from) would have some advice on chain type, pitch, angles, etc.

Philbert

 

[komatsuvarna]

Never cut any any 20" poly, but have cut a lot of 12" and smaller poly. We just empty the oil tank and run it dry. With a sharp chain ive never had problems...but that 20" is going to be a lot thicker than 12". I keep a seperate bar and chain on the truck for poly cutting and another for normal chainsaw duty. Bars dont last long but im tickled pink if they last one job....typically +/- 30k feet of 6, 8, and 12".

I always wipe the facer and pipe ends down with acetone before i put the iron in if i think theys a small chance a bit of bar oil was left in the tank.

 

[imagineero]

+1. I've done a bit of larger poly pipe cutting on mine sites, the pipes were all welded after. Only time I saw the melting rather than cutting was after the guys would dig a ditch with the saw blunting it and then try using the blunt chain to cut the pipe. Sharp chain = clean cut same as wood. Works fine without bar oil, use running water if the heat is an issue (it shouldn't be).

 

[D&B Mack]

The next project we have is a little over ten miles of pipe. I just can't see a saw making it that long with no lubrication.

 

[komatsuvarna]

The next project we have is a little over ten miles of pipe. I just can't see a saw making it that long with no lubrication.

The next project we have is a little over ten miles of pipe. I just can't see a saw making it that long with no lubrication.

You wont hurt the saw itself, maybe the oiler and for sure the bar. 50K feet of pipe.....I'd get me a couple cheep bars and a few loops of chain and get started digging!

 

[cre10]

The pipe is butt fused/melted together. Introducing oil to that can cause a bad joint down the road. On big stuff most use a band saw, but that doesn't help on site. Let me check with some manufacturers on cutting machines. I sell a lot of Ritmo products.

 

[gary s]

I think some of the people that are reporting cutting a lot of poly with no problems are referring to thin wall or culvert pipe. 2" wall thickness on a 20" diameter will have the saw taking a long cut for a while and that is where the heat will build, you need coolant.

 

[cre10]

I think some of the people that are reporting cutting a lot of poly with no problems are referring to thin wall or culvert pipe. 2" wall thickness on a 20" diameter will have the saw taking a long cut for a while and that is where the heat will build, you need coolant.

Yep. SDR11 is thick. Normally once we go to 4" or larger diameter we go down in thickness to 15.5. Poly binds, melts, balls up super bad when you cut it. It's hard to get through it even with a hole saw for saddles.

 

[gary s]

Yep. SDR11 is thick. Normally once we go to 4" or larger diameter we go down in thickness to 15.5. Poly binds, melts, balls up super bad when you cut it. It's hard to get through it even with a hole saw for saddles.

I have cut 22" solid poly bar so I know what I'm speaking of when I say you need to slow down and use a bunch of water preferably with some dish soap in it.

 

[komatsuvarna]

I stated that I've never cut any 20", but i have cut a lot of 12" DR11.....its not much under 2" thick.

Heres my opinion. Its a tool on the job. Im not gonna let a 50.00 bar hold up several thousand dollars worth of pipe laying. To me its the cost of making money. When that bar is shot, I'll put another one on it and keep trucking.

I think sharp chain is the key. Hell even at 2" wall thickness thats only 4" total if you cut both sides at once.....and its just HDPE not shag bark hickory!

Just my opinion.

 

[weedkilla]

I'm going to chime in again - despite the fact I haven't cut poly with a chainsaw!
When cutting plastics in a lathe, I cut dry, and I have my tool sharpened with a concave on the top. This helps the "swarf" come away. The tool profile is actually quite similar to a file sharpened chain, I think as long as you are clearing your chips you will be ok. Sharp chain, and you may need to look at your depth gauge heights. If you need to hit the chains on the grinder, and bring your depth gauges back to 010 -020 just so you don't have as much chip to clear then that may help - again, I don't know, but it would be an idea in the back of my head if it were me. Id just balance how much it self feeds by how much hook is on the chain. I figure you need to find the balance between it pulling itself in too much and you having to push. Pushing would be bad with a dry bar and chain, pulling itself aggressively into the cut would cause the spikes to dig into the pipe, and that doesn't sound cool either.
Let us know how you get on please!