Giant Pipe Cutter

I have small pipe cutters, large pipe cutters, but I don't have giant pipe cutters. This instructable is my attempt to make some giant pipe cutters.

While these seem to work, I aren't 100% happy with the performance. I think the issue is that the cutting wheel isn't sharp enough, that's why I recommend just buying a cutting wheel.

Anyway, I decided to post these instructions hoping someone else can improve on my original design.

• Plywood
• Bolts
• Washers
• Ball Bearing Races
• Epoxy Glue
• Clamp
• Drill
• Jigsaw
• Screws
• Ginder
• Sandpaper

Print out the attached templates and glue it onto a piece of plywood. Once the glue is dry use a jigsaw to cut everything out.

Drill the marked holes on the template and then bolt the matching parts together.

Now that the common parts are bolted together I used a wood rasp to make sure the parts match in size. I then sanded everything smooth and undone the bolts.

I found a few old bearings to use as rollers, the ones I had were probably a little small but managed to do the job. The problem was that the internal holes were too big, so I found a piece of pipe that fit inside snuggly and cut off a small length for each bearing. I then filled the inside of the pipe with epoxy and once it had set drilled a 6mm hole in the centre.

I used an offcut of an old mill saw blade, marked out a circle with some dividers and cut it out with an angle grinder. After drilling a hole through the centre I used a bolt to hold the circle in the drill and spun it against the grinder to make sure it was perfectly round. Finally, I ground an edge on each side of the circle to make a cutting wheel.

To be honest I weren't happy with the result and recommend just buying a pre-made pipe cutter wheel.

I bolted the parts together using washers on either side of the rollers. For the cutting wheel, I packed out each side with a few washers.

When I got to this point I wasn't 100% sure how to make a clamping system, but decided to just make some mounts that a standard clamp could lock onto.

I ended up extending the plywood so my clamp would reach it. These extensions were quickly screwed in place.

The easiest way to attach the clamp was to drill a slot on one end with a forstner bit and a hole clamped between a couple of large washers on the other end.

The clamp will then lock into the slots and apply pressure to the cutting wheel.

To use the pipe cutter just fold the cutter around the pipe and then use the clamp to apply pressure. As you rotate the cutter around the pipe you just need to periodically tighten the clamp.

The advantage of using a pipe cutter is that you get a perfectly straight cut.