PVC pipe cutters

 I found an older piece of PVC pipe likely 3/4 inch to 1 inch in diameter and wanted to use. I learned to use this type of cutter in the late 1970s while installing sprinkler pipe in southern California. However, today I simply wanted an easy way to cut some old PVC pipe I wanted to use for a prop against a fence. 

However, I was thinking how older or new pvc pipe in addition to being something people use for installing underground sprinkler systems (especially in most parts of California where it usually doesn't freeze as that could crack pipes if they are above ground.

However, structure like tables or engineering studies and other things can also be built using PVC pipes. You wouldn't want to leave these types of structures outside longer than 5 to 10 years though if they are above ground an in the sun. The sun causes pvc to slowly become brittle and then loses it's strength and then sometimes breaks if it is in the sun continuously. However, underground it might last 50 years or longer as a piping system because water and moisture have no effect on pvc whatsoever.

However, if you use cutters like this remember it can just as easily cut part or all your finger off so be really careful and if you are right handed make sure your left hand is far enough away not to cut your finger with this device. What I usually do is to mark it where I want to make the cut with a marking pen and then I don't have to have my left hand nearby while using this device because it is just holding the pipe about 5 inches or more away from the cutter.

But, this is a quick fast and efficient way to cut a lot of PVC pipes when you are building something. So, when you are building structures you may or may not glue the pieces to joiners depending upon whether you want to reuse the pieces of pvc you have cut eventually for some other structure you are building with pipe pieces and joiners. For example a table can be built and you could set a piece of plywood on top as a work station in your garage that would be very lightweight to move compared to building with 2 by 4s as a bench or something else and an engineer might build structures as experiments during structural mechanical design to see how they hold up to different stresses.

These cutters operate on a ratchet so you slowly ratchet through the pipe. The pipe today had been left outside so long that I just scored it by tightening it a little and then leaving it ratcheted doing a 360 with the ratchet around the pipe in a circle to cut it because it didn't want to cut with the ratchet and wanted to bend instead.