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How to Make Homemade Metal Pipe Cutting Tools

Melissa McCormick

Metal pipe is strong and thick, making it much more difficult to cut than other piping materials such as plastic. However, to cut metal pipe you don't have to spend money on a specialty tool.

Make a pipe-cutting tool with a monkey wrench.

With a couple of sharp cutting wheels and a few objects from your tool box, you can craft a homemade pipe cutting tool without going to the store. The key tool you will need to craft this cutting tool is a monkey wrench. A monkey wrench is a wrench with a straight handle, one fixed jaw and one adjustable jaw. This homemade metal pipe cutting tool works best for cutting pipes with small diameters.

  1. Loosen the adjustable jaw on the monkey wrench until it will loosen no farther.

  2. Drill a 3-mm hole into the center of each of the pipe cutting wheels.

  3. Drill a 3-mm hole through each jaw on the monkey wrench approximately 1 inch up from the bottom of each jaw. Make sure to drill through the slot on each jaw, so that the drill goes through the entire thickness of the jaw.

  4. Place one of the wheels in the slot on the left jaw so that the hole on the wheel lines up with the hole on the jaw. Push a 3-mm wheel pin through the hole to hold the wheel in place. Repeat the same process on the other jaw.

  5. Tighten nuts on both ends of the pins to secure.

  6. Place the pipe in between the two jaws in preparation for cutting. Tighten the adjustable jaw so that it is holding the pipe tightly in place and begin rotating the pipe to cut the pipe on the wheels.

  7. Warning

    Pipe cutting wheels are sharp. Do not touch the edges with your hands.