You might be allowed to use a tubing cutter with EMT, but I'll never do it. My dad's a plumbing contractor, so I've cut a lot of copper with a tubing cutter in my day. It not only leaves a burr, but it also bends (tapers) the pipe inward slightly. Obviously no big deal with plumbing, but with EMT, I feel this can catch on the wire. You can remove the burr, but you'd have to flare the pipe end just a bit in order to straighten the pipe to the profile it once was.
For 1/2" and 3/4" EMT, I use my Lenox Hackmaster with a 32TPI blade, and I ream the 1/2" with my Klein needle nose pliers, and the 3/4" with my Kleins. I stick the pliers in the EMT to ream the inside, and use the recess on the backside of the cutter to clean up the outside. Yes, it's a two part process, but geez, I've got too many tools in the bags as it is. With IMC or RMC, I use a Ridgid pipe cutter, but I also use a Ridgid reamer to deburr.
I did have a bad experience with a hacksaw though. I was cutting a piece of 1/2", and I had a 24 or 20 TPI blade in there. The blade bounced along on the EMT, and ended up coming down on the top of my finger right before a full stroke. Well, I stopped quick so it was only a 1/2 stroke at best, but it still opened up the top of my knuckle.
[This message has been edited by royta (edited 09-17-2004).]
