ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area I say potato...

I always love hiring a new man and spending a week getting on the same page. For instance, "Go get a stick of Kendorf". His reply, "you mean unistrut". Well you guys know how it is.

Anyway, this guy is a jam up electrician and I am glad to have him. Today I came into the jobsite after lunch and helped him run some pipe. I had to bend four seperate 3 point saddles in 3/4 and I was fat by a 1/4 inch on the third one. I said "send it back down and I'll trim it so all are the same". Grabbed HIS hacksaw and started to cut. I said "hold on and let me turn the blade around in you hacksaw so it will cut on the back stroke".

That blew his mind. He said I was crazy and that he had never heard of any one turning the blade around.

I have found that it takes a few more stokes but requires less force. And its easier to cut pipe up on a ladder that way too. Do any of you guys turn you blade backwards to cut pipe or am I the only crazy one.

Heard of people doing it and even tried it myself. Couldn't get used to it though.

Roger

Damn! A reversing switch on the bandsaw. Brilliant!

Actually Japanese cabinet saws cut on the pull stroke for more accuracy and control.
I also reverse skilsaw blades to cut vinyl siding and aluminum coil stock.

Cleaner cut and no jagged edges.



[This message has been edited by Currently (edited 09-07-2002).]

If I'm not mistaken, a "coping" saw is used with the blade in the "pulling" direction.

arseegee, if you have the right kind of hacksaw, you can hold the saw on the oposite end from the handle, and acomplish the same thing.
We played a "joke" on an aprentice once, where we put a hacksaw blade in backwards. When we went to check his progress, he was holding the hacksaw from the "wrong" end cutting like a champ. Nobody said anything. I guess he figured, he would beat us at our own game. He did on that day.

One potato, two potato, three potato, four...
Doc

You guys use a hand hacksaw?, battery power recip. saws rule .

Me, I use a tubing cutter and ream with a step bit on 1/2" and 3/4" EMT... It's such a pretty cut... PVC Cutter on PVC up to 1-1/4"...

Sawzall on bigger stuff (ream with a knife)... Wish I had the big RIGID tools for pipe...

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 09-07-2002).]

We have a cheap power miter box with a standard carbide blade in it, Cuts pvc like a hot knife in butter, smooth square end, with no cleanup required. Have an abrasive cutoff saw for the rigid and emt. round file to clean the burr off, run the rigid through the handheld power threader and away you go.
The abrasive cutoff saw works wonders with the sealtite ,mc and unistrut too.
Any body else use a pvc wire saw for those "hard to reach" cuts?

Trainwire

You can use a "fishing string" to cut rigid nonmetallic conduit when the work space is limited.

Don't cut the pvc this way though, you may loose a leg!