Stainless Steel

™

Stainless steel is a mixture of multiple metal alloys for the purpose of rust resistance. The main ingredient is a mixture of at least 12% chromium. When combined with Oxygen it forms a passive film layer resistant to rust and stains.

Stainless pipe is composed of a nonferrous metal. This makes the tube difficult to cut and drill with conventional tools. Different pipe grades and thicknesses increase these difficulties.

Cutting Stainless Pipes

When stainless pipe cutters contact a stainless tube it hardens thus making it difficult to cut. If the stainless tube over heats while cutting the tube may discolor or possibly distort the pipe.

Steps To Cut Stainless Steel Pipe Straight and Burr-Free

Conventional, burr-free, straight cuts are accomplished as described below:

1. Cut the stainless steel pipe

2. Using a bench grinder stone wheel de-burr the pipe

3. With wire wheel on bench grinder clean the edges of the tube

4. Sand the tube with a sander until its flat

5. Clean with a wire wheel

6. TIG weld it to the other pipe

Repetition of some of the above steps may be required to make sure the cut is flat and burr free. otomat çeliği Very time consuming.

Cutting Stainless Pipes - Two Recommended Methods

Orbital Pipe Saw

Orbital pipe saw is a recommended method to cut and bevel stainless steel pipes. The saw blades are small, rotate at high speed, inexpensive, and available in different versions for different materials and wall thicknesses.

Cutting is executed by manually rotating the machine housing 360 degree around the pipe. Next, with a circular toothed blade, the pipe is cut with a single rotation. The cutting action takes mere seconds and end result is a straight and clean cut.

Saw Guide combined with Portable Band Saw

The portable Band Saw cutter must have sufficient power and be sturdy. The Saw Guide eliminates most vibration. Steady feeds are most important to prevent tool riding on the stainless pipe.

There are a variety of different CNC machines that offer the ability of metal cutting. You can use a lathe, a plasma cutter, and even a router. The machine that you will want to use will depend solely upon the job that will need to be performed, the specifications and diagrams of the job and the type of material that will be used. Some machines are better with different types of materials. For example, a lathe may be able to cut brass, however, what about 6" steel? As you can see, there is a difference in the capabilities of the machines and what type of materials that can be used so that the job is performed to the right specifications.

CNC plasma cutting machines offer the ability to cut through metal using heat. The CNC machine offers more precise cuts that what one can do manually. Large projects that are repetitive can be produced in a shorter period of time. The plasma cutters are usually available as portable devices or as stationary devices.

CNC water jet cutting is just another form of metal fabrication machines that can offer precise and detailed cuts. The water jet cutting machines offers nesting capabilities that allow for very little waste of expensive materials. You can produce repetitive products or cut several different products out of the same piece of material. When the piece is finished, you can guarantee that you will have a clean, smooth edge that is cut to the right specifications.

CNC laser cutting machines offers clients another form of metal cutting or fabrication. This machine creates what is known as "shaker" parts because the machine leaves a little piece of metal that connects each piece that has been cut. After the entire piece of material has been used, someone manually has to either shake the sheet to get the individual parts to break off of the large sheet or use a rubber mallet to break the ties. Because of the use of nitrogen and oxygen with the laser cutting machine, one can guarantee that the parts are smooth and professional and that there is no metal slap left over after the process is complete. CNC laser cutting offers extreme accuracy and cost efficiency for every project.

No matter what type of CNC cutting machine that is being used, these machines are usually self contained units and can eliminate, by themselves, a lot of safety issues. However, one still needs to practice safety techniques around these machines as they can still be dangerous. Wearing safety goggles, gloves and possibly earplugs are just a few easy safety tips that you can take advantage of.

The self contained machines leave little mess, hardly any worries of debris or dust particles in the air, etc. They are definitely a step above the former manual machines that were use in this industry. If you have any questions about the CNC cutting machines and what they have to offer or about the differences between them, contact your dealer as they should be able to answer any questions that you may have.