How to cut and chamfer UPVC drainage pipe

Cutting pipes is a common cause of complaints from groundworkers. The pipe needs to be cleanly cut square and then chamfered and deburred. When done correctly, the simple addition of some pipe lubricant leaves you ready to push fit the desired fitting, and the job is done. When the pipe is cut skew or left with a jagged edge, it makes it difficult to connect the fitting and risks damaging the seal on the connection. This can lead to failures during water-tightness testing, which is potentially costly to resolve. So, what are the best practices for this common task and what tools can be used to make things easier?

Common types of pipe and why they require cutting

This article addresses working with underground drainage pipe, specifically 110mm and 160mm diameter UPVC pipe. Typically, these pipe sizes will need a lot of cuts on both house-building plots and commercial projects. Used extensively for both sewage and grey water, while hidden from view pipe runs serve an incredibly important role in our daily lives. These pipes require multiple cuts and adjustments which in the main are for:

• Creating Rocker Pipes: Short lengths of pipe (commonly 600mm) which are used to allow for different settlement between a structure such as a house wall or manhole and the rest of the drainage scheme.
• Adding a drainage fitting such as a bend or junction at a set point in the drainage run
• Creating connections to access chambers, inspection chambers and manholes
• Plot drainage, for both foul water and stormwater typically involves lots of adjustments to drainage pipe

Check out the new SiteStak saw guide - a mitre box for drainage pipe.

Tools used to cut drainage pipe

Some tools commonly used to cut drainage pipes are hand saws and hack saws, and although not recommended on safety grounds, disc cutters are sometimes used. While more time-consuming, marking the pipe before cutting and cutting by hand usually gets a cleaner and safer cut.

Tools for chamfering pipe

Plain end drainage pipe comes with a machine chamfer on the end of the pipe already, so manually chamfering a pipe is only required once a cut has been made. Chamfering a pipe involves creating a bevelled or rounded end to the wall of the pipe. This makes it easier to attach a drainage fitting and reduces the risk of damaging the seal connectors in the fitting.

• Handheld File: The traditional and cheapest tool for chamfering the cut end of a pipe is with a metal or wood file.
• Drill attachment: (image below) more expensive than a file, these attachments create a chamfer much more quickly than a file, however, you do have to have a drill and think about charging batteries. For example, this 110mm pipe chamfer.
• Disc cutters and angle grinders are also sometimes used to chamfer pipe, although safety can be a concern.

New Cutting & Chamfering Tool

However good any of the tools listed above may be in isolation; they only do half of the job. Finally, there is a revolutionary new tool that cuts and chamfers 110mm pipe in one action. In under 30 seconds, you can have a perfectly straight cut with an even 15% bevelled chamfer. Expected to be available during 2019, an innovative solution to a time-consuming and frustrating task.

The innovative range of SiteStak drainage workstations make cutting pipe quicker, safer and easier. Here’s how:

1. Having a workbench at an appropriate height is better for posture and puts you in control making the saw less likely to slip when cutting
2. The pipe guide keeps the pipe still during cutting and holds both 4-inch (110mm) and 6-inch (160mm) pipe sizes
3. The cutting guide allows you to keep your saw flush at a 90-degree angle to the length of pipe, resulting in a square cut
4. The 600mm ruler and spacing of the cutting guide deskills cutting rocker pipe accurately to the correct size
5. The mini workstation includes a clamp to hold both sizes of pipe securely while chamfering with any of the tools mentioned above
6. Keep your tools protected from mud and dust and close at hand with the integral tool shelf
7. Having pipe and fittings in one place close to hand can save time and frustration when working with pipe

(Please note that this article contains observations and is intended for guidance only. A risk assessment and method statement should be carried out by a trained person before commencing work.)