How to cut stainless steel pipe

The characteristic of stainless steel pipe

Stainless steels are highly alloyed materials; Stainless Steel is a common name for metal alloys that consist of 12% or more Chromium (Cr) and more than 50% Iron (Fe). Modern stainless steel pipe may also contain other elements, such as nickel, niobium, molybdenum, and titanium. Nickel, molybdenum, niobium, and chromium enhance the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. It is the addition of a minimum of 12% chromium to the steel that makes it resist rust, or stain 'less' than other types of steel. The chromium in the steel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form a thin, invisible layer of chrome-containing oxide, called the passive film

The challenge of cutting stainless pipe

All metals works harden when cold worked. Stainless steel have hardening characteristics as well. When the stainless steel cutter contact the surface of stainless steel , it will harden and will become more and more difficult to continue on cutting with the same pressure and speed. The chromium and nickel content makes it more difficult to cut or torch than regular carbon steel. Austenitic stainless steels pipe harden very rapidly, but the 400 Series' cold working rate is only a little higher than that of the plain carbon steels.

When cutting the stainless steel pipe, if the stainless steel becomes over heated while cutting, the stainless steel tube will discolor , turning a blue color from the heat tempering and if the stainless tube is thin enough, it can distort the stainless material.

Generally speaking stainless steel is a nonferrous metal. This makes the stainless pipe/stainless tube very difficult to cut and drill with conventional tools. The different stainless pipe grades, as well as the thickness of the stainless pipe, increases these difficulties

 

The conventional steps to cut stainless pipe straight and burr-free

To achieve a burr-free and straight cut, conventionally, the following steps have been taken to cut stainless pipe

1. Cut the tubing
2. De-burr the pipe using a bench grinder stone wheel
3. Clean the edges of the tube with wire wheel on bench grinder
4. Using a sander, sand the tube so its flat
5. Clean again using a wire wheel
6. Then TIG it connecting to the other pipe

Sometimes some of those steps need to be done twice or more just to make sure its flat and burr free. It is very time consuming to do this.

 

Orbital Pipe Saw, the recommended stainless steel cutter to cut stainless steel pipe

Stainless pipe can be fabricated by method similar to those used for carbon steels and other common metals. However, changes may be necessary to the extent that they differ in yield strength and rate of work hardening.

For cutting and beveling stainless steel, orbital pipe saw, or the stainless steel cutter iis a very good choice because it is designed to cut stainless steel. The saw blades of this stainless steel cutter rotate at high speed, is small, inexpensive and available in different versions for different materials and wall thicknesses.

The cutting action of the stanless steel cutter is executed by manually rotating the machine housing 360 degree around the pipe and then, with a circular toothed blade driven by 1600 watt motor, the pipe is cut with one single rotation. The cutting action only takes seconds, and cut-off is straight and clean.

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