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Virtually any manual hand saw can cut PVC pipe of any diameter. Saw blades designed to cut wood or metal will cut PVC. However, there are some drawbacks to using a hand saw to cut your PVC pipe. Home Depot may provide the cutting service you need if you only need a few cuts to transport your PVC pipe home. Check with your local Home Depot store about their policy on cutting PVC pipe before you make your purchase.
Anything that will cut wood or metal can be used to cut PVC successfully. These are our recommendations for tools to cut PVC pipe. Handling long materials for home improvement projects is a challenge for many people. Most of us don’t have pick-up trucks or trailers to transport long, rigid materials from the home improvement store. This may take some creativity and ingenuity to get some materials back to your home. If your local Home Depot does cut PVC pipe, be sure to have your measurements handy.
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If you use a power saw such as a miter saw or a power hack saw, the PVC pipe may chip, leaving a ragged edge. In most cases, these chipped or broken ends should be removed before making your cement joint. A crack or break at the end of the pipe can weaken and result in further cracking, leading to leaks. Many plumbers routinely use a power miter saw to cut PVC on job sites. If you have a power miter saw in your home shop, there is no reason not to cut your PVC pipe with the saw. Use a good clamp system to hold the pipe in place if the blade binds and causes a kickback.
The store may limit the number of cuts to three per ten-foot length of PVC pipe. However, Home Depot leaves a lot of these kinds of decisions to the discretion of the store manager. You should check with the store for their policy on cutting materials before purchasing your PVC pipe. Most Home Depot Stores will make up to three cuts per ten-foot section of PVC pipe for free.
What Other Tools Can Be Used to Cut PVC?
The self-serve cutting station usually has a miter-box and a backsaw. This saw will easily cut PVC pipe and can be used to trim your PVC pipe to your exact dimensions. You should use a blade with a 10 to 14 tooth per inch count. Finer tooth counts can clog and melt the plastic instead of cutting smoothly.
Our recommended saw blades for cutting PVC pipe are a combination wood/metal cutting blades. The tooth count on the blade should be 10 to 14 teeth per inch. Coarser blades can chip and crack the PVC pipe leaving a ragged edge on the cut.
Home Depot’s PVC Cutting Policy
PVC pipe cutters look a lot like garden shears or large scissors. One side has a split anvil curved to hold the PVC pipe securely. Most Home Depot stores have a self-serve cutting station somewhere in the store. Typically, this self-serve cutting station is in the aisle where the molding and trim are sold.
If you outfit your power miter saw with the appropriate blade, you can easily cut PVC pipe. There are some tricks and tips to using a power miter saw to cut PVC pipe to prevent accidents and get the best results. You can cut PVC pipe with manual hacksaws or even wood saws, but we don’t recommend this practice. Woodworking saws shouldn’t be used to protect their teeth. The burrs and tails that hang off the cut edge must be removed. The edges of the cut should be sanded or filed to remove the burrs and tails and leave a clean edge.
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Watch the store representative closely as they measure and cut. In general, Home Depot will make the cuts but won’t guarantee the accuracy of the results. If you discover later that the lengths are wrong, Home Depot typically won’t give you a refund on the cut materials.
Some stores keep a pair of PVC pipe cutters near the PVC pipe display. PVC pipe cutters will quickly and easily cut through PVC pipe up to one inch in diameter. In fact, if you are planning a PVC pipe project, a good pair of PVC pipe cutters should be in your tool kit. These tools are inexpensive and will pay for themselves many times over.
However, this may depend on store policy and how busy the store is at the time. A good pair of PVC cutters in your car is one way to cut your PVC into manageable lengths. Saws create a lot of plastic dust and larger waste particles. PVC dust and particles are not something you want to ingest or inhale. These particles and dust can irritate your respiratory system and damage your eyes. If you must use a saw to cut large diameter PVC, be sure to wear respiratory and eye protection.
In our opinion, PVC cutters are the best tool for cutting small diameter PVC pipe. Using a saw produces shavings that can be a problem. Saws often leave a rough cut with lots of burrs on the edge of the cut. These rough edges and burrs must be removed before cementing the joints, or you risk leaks. In general, Home Depot stores will cut PVC pipe to length for customers who buy the PVC pipe in the store.
