ABS pipe & power miter saw. Bad idea?

[yellowbirddog]

Has anyone tried cutting ABS pipe with a power miter saw? If so, did the high RPMs cause problems in the way of smoking or melting?

Thanks in advance.

[Bob]

It works great for me. ABS or PVC.

Bob

[PipeDown]

Works Fine. I've cut 1/2", 3/4" 2", and 4" ABS and PVC and I just use the same carbide blade I use for general purpose wood cutting. Lower the saw slow to medium slow, too fast and chipout of the plastic on the backside is likely.

[trbo20]

No melting when I did it with 1.5", 2", and 4" Schedule 40. Did make a lot of plastic 'saw dust', tho'. Also created a lot of burrs on the edge that were easily sanded. It's a nice way to get the cut straight and square.

[bamboo]

Melting is an indication of several factors.

Too slow a feed rate Saw blade with too many teeth Dull saw

[e-mail] wrote:

[Toller]

Obviously people have had better luck than I have. I have done PVC about 5 times. The 5th time the pipe kinda blew up, sending PVC shrapnel everywhere. It was also my last time. Now I use a bandsaw.

[PipeDown]

You got to hold it fairly firmly, if not the pipe will want to rotate and you may get kickback from that. That plus an inappropriate blade could be to blame. Afterall pipe is lighter and often longer than typical wood stock

[Jim Yanik]

"PipeDown" wrote in news:w4Glg.8126$ [e-mail]:

I've heard of people installing their carbide blades backwards to cut plastic.I've not tried it myself.

[Abe]

My saw is very dull. I can never have a good conversation with it. The blade's teeth are sharp, however :-)

[BobK207]

I've made 100's (if not a 1000) of cuts on ABS & PVC.............they can "blow up" but the cause is allowing the work piece to move (rotate or slide) OR plunging the saw too qucikly.

Works best with a moderate number of teeth (~40), sharp carbide blade, firm relatively quick feed but not too fast.

The blow ups occur if the saw "grabs" the work.

cheers Bob

[Abe]

Yep, slow steady pressure and a firm hand on the pipe are the ticket.

[Rudy]

Works fine !