Deburring copper pipe

[PM]

I bought a deburring tool

and although there's only one way it can work - shove it in the pipe, turn - I'm not getting satisfactory results. The tool does shave off copper, but there is still a burr. If I continue until there is no burr, I've removed so much copper that the wall at the cut end of the pipe now tapers from the inside out and is very thin. In other words the tool removes the 'good' wall of the pipe as well as the burr.

What am I doing wrong? Is a slight residual burr to be expected when using this tool? Should I try a different tool? I can file off burrs well enough but it is time consuming.

If it makes any difference the pipe is standard 22mm copper and I am cutting it with a Monument auto wheel cutter like this one

[<SuitSat>]

I must confess I don't have any issues with my ancient 20 year old pipe cutter. It doesn't leave burrs. I only have issues when pipe is cut with a hacksaw.

Maybe time for a different cutter?

[Stuart]

Do you mean when the end of the pipe gets turned in slightly when you use a pipe cutter..??

Could you utilise a round file instead ..

Stuart

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Wheeled cutters leave a rolled over lip, though. That's what the 'V' on the end of most is used for - to remove it.

[Christian McArdle]

Christian.

[manatbandq]

I've never de-burred pipe after using a wheel cutter. No leaks yet...

MBQ

[Richard Conway]

Don't worry - someone will be along shortly to tell you that your house is a ticking time bomb and that you'll have leaks everywhere within weeks :)

[manatbandq]

Probably Drivel with his hacksaw ;-)

MBQ

[Mindwipe]

i think the point of deburring is also to remove loose material which would overwise go along the pipe until it collects in an appliance personally i just use a dremel to deburr it

[PeTe33]

I have an old penknife. A quick spin around the inside of the pipe applying pressure with the thumb shaves the burr clean off.

I found that funny "blade" thing on some wheel cutters can actually flare the end of the pipe out enough to make the fitting to tight.

I must also admit I don't think I have ever seen a "professional" bother with removing the internal burr.

[Doctor Drivel]

It closes over the end of the pipe restricting flow and leaving an edge for crud to gather.

[Doctor Drivel]

I use battery drill/driver with a cone cutter on it. Just apply it to the end and all comes off zippo. No crimped over copper pipe ends or burr around.

Go to Screwfix and type "cone" in the search window and then go to sepcialist drills, a wole raft of them come up.

[Andrew Gabriel]

When I installed my central heating, I treated myself to a good quality wheeled pipe cutter. Slotted into the body of it was a separate deburrer of a type I'd never seen before, and without any instructions, it took me a few moments to work out how to use it, but it's brilliant once you have. I can't see the same make anywhere on the web, but this one is the same principle:

nice thing about it is the burr comes off in one piece (with a bit of practice), which you can capture and prevent from ending up inside the pipework. I used it for the whole heating system, water and gas pipes, and the original blade still works fine (although I had to replace the wheeled cutter blade near the end of the job).

When practising, be careful so that if the tool slips out of the end of the pipe, you don't end up jabbing it in your eye. That looked worrying easy to do by accident.

[Andy Hall]

How is it used? Like a vegetable peeler?

[Cicero]

======================= Much cheaper here:

[Doctor Drivel]

edge to the end of the pipe.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Don't you own a conventional pipe cutter with the 'V' on the end to remove burrs? So have a very expensive solution to a non existing problem?

Remind us again why you wouldn't pay out the few quid for a plastic pipe cutter and used a hacksaw...

[Doctor Drivel]

Yep.

You obviously don't know. Wheel cutters crimp over the end of the pipe. A cone cutter gets rid of the burr and bent over crimp in seconds with no effort. The cutter can also be used for other things too. Isn't that amazing?

I have a very expensive plastic pipe cutter.

I use a hacksaw for many things. Boy is this one senile.

[Sponix]

I'm not sure that it's a problem. So long as any swarf is removed it should be OK.

What you want to eliminate are any bits that could potentially break off and circulate in the system, rather than making the end of the pipe perfectly smooth.

sponix

[Cicero]

=================== When I bought my first DIY book on central heating it was stated very clearly that the internal ridge caused by the pipe cutter should be removed by the 'V' on the end of the cutter. The reason given was that this ridge would cause an obstruction to the water flow. After a few laborious attempts to remove the ridges I decided that they weren't going to cause much of an obstruction anyway. I stopped trying to remove the ridges and I've never removed since those first few attempts which usually left a sharp edge on the pipe.

I doubt very much if there is any real danger of obstructing water flow in the average DIY domestic installation but the purists (and responsible professionals) might argue that the ridges should be removed in larger installations where any possible obstruction should be avoided.

Cic.