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How to Cut Stainless Tubing Straight

When cutting stainless steel tubing, you must ensure that the cut end of the stainless tubing is straight. If the cut is crooked, the end that you cut will not fit squarely into a stainless steel fitting or butt up tight to another piece of pipe for a weld joint. The tools required to mark a straight cut on the stainless steel tubing are relatively simple, readily available and inexpensive. Selecting the proper tool to cut the squarely marked tubing is vital to ensuring that the cut is straight.

Instructions

1

Stretch the tape measure along the stainless steel tubing and mark the length you need to cut with a permanent marker.

2

Place the marked length of tubing into a table-mounted vise. Slide the length mark 12 inches past the end of the vise and turn the handle of the vise clockwise to secure the tubing.

3

Fold an 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch piece of paper into a two-inch-wide strip that is 11 inches long.

4

Align one side of the folded paper with the length mark you placed on the stainless steel tubing. Wrap the paper around the tubing and pinch the ends of the paper together. When the edges of the folded paper are even, the paper line is straight.

5

Run the permanent marker around the edge of the folded paper, marking a straight line around the stainless steel tubing. Remove the paper from the tubing.

6

Attach a .032 abrasive cut-off wheel to a four-inch grinder.

7

Put on your safety glasses, face shield and leather work gloves.

8

Cut 1/4 of the circumference of the stainless steel tubing, pressing the cutting wheel slowly along the cut mark.

9

Loosen the table vise, spin the tubing 1/4 of a turn and tighten the vise. Continue cutting the tubing.

10

Replace the abrasive cut-off wheel when it wears to the cutting line, or roughly 60 percent of the cut-off wheels original diameter.

11

Complete the cutting process and set the grinder aside. Run a fine-tooth half-round file around the inside and outside of the cut to remove sharp burrs left by the cutting wheel.

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Labels: cut, how, stainless, straight, to, tubing