What’s up, everybody? I’m going to show you how to cut a copper pipe in today’s
video tutorial and prep it for soldering. I’m going to share with you a lot of different
tools I think you should be aware of, and I’m going to give away one of them at the
end of this tutorial. So let’s get to it. I’m super stoked to
share what I know, and hopefully it will help you out with your project. Let’s get to
it. Here are a lot of copper pipe cutting tools.
I’m going to get into all of them very quick, so take some notes or just hit the stop button.
This first one is the AutoCut tool. Now you can buy this at, I want to say, Home Depot.
And it says AutoCut on the side; it’s orange and gray. And what’s cool about it is the
cutting wheel is spring-loaded; it’s in the center there. And what you do is you clamp
it onto your copper pipe. Now this is a ½” AutoCut tool, and there’s
an arrow on it, showing you what direction to turn the tool. So again, this is a ½”
copper pipe. So you clamp the AutoCut tool down onto the copper pipe, and you turn it
on the direction of the arrow. So I’m doing this real-time; I’m not speeding up the
video because I want to show you how quickly the AutoCut tool cuts the copper pipe. And
this is a pretty sweet tool for tight spaces, like under sinks or when pipes are right up
against joists or studs, this is great because it cuts quickly and easily. So as you can
see, that was pretty quick. The second kind of tool is this BrassCraft
Large Diameter Mini Tube Cutter. And what makes it so cool is it’s adjustable. So
unlike the AutoCut tool, which only cuts ½”, and you can buy a new AutoCut tool if you
want to cut 1” or ¾” copper pipes, you can adjust this BrassCraft Mini Tube Cutter.
The only problem is it takes a little bit of time; it takes a lot longer, in my opinion,
and you have to adjust it. It cuts up to 1/8” up to 1 1/8” copper pipe. So here’s a
3/8” copper pipe; you can cut that, no problem. But the AutoCut tool, again like I said, I
only have a ½” AutoCut tool, so I got to buy a ¾” AutoCut tool.
Which brings me to the Lenox Tube Cutters. So this is a kit, and it has three different
sizes tube cutters: ½”, ¾”, and 1”. Again, they have arrows on the side to show
you what direction to turn the tube cutting tool. So again, it doesn’t take very long
at all to cut that copper pipe; pretty sweet. And again, the cutting wheel is spring loaded.
So all you have to do is line up where you want to cut the copper pipe with the center
of the tool—that little line there with the arrow—and that way, you can start cutting
immediately. So just make sure you line up the copper pipe like I showed you a second
ago. But again, this doesn’t take very long at all. This is ¾” type-L copper pipe;
it cut right through it. The mother of all tube cutters in my opinion
is the Ridgid No. 15. It’s Model No. 15. It cuts 3/16” to 1 1/8” size pipe. It’ll
cut an EMT conduit along with copper pipe. And it comes with a spare cutting wheel. And
it has a lifetime warranty. So that’s pretty cool. You’ll have this forever if you buy
this and put it in your toolbox. The only thing is it’s so strong it can press copper
pipe. I’m not Superman. All I did was turn, ratchet down on the pipe, and it compressed
it too much. So you have to be careful. You only need to compress it slightly and turn
it. There’s a cutting wheel at the top there with rollers on the bottom that the pipe slides
on or rolls along. And the extra cutter is in the handle, the extra cutting wheel.
Now the cool think about the No. 15 is it comes with a reamer. And this little triangular-shaped
part here, this reamer… Actually, after you’ve cut the copper pipe—as I’ll show
you here; it’s very easy to do—you want to remount the inside of it because when you
cut the pipe, whether it’s with an AutoCut tool or the Ridgid No. 15, there’s a little
bit of a lift. And that lift means it’d be reamed out and removed; otherwise, you’ll
have turbulence in the pipe, which can cause pitting and loudness.
When you’re done, use this kind of wire brush. This is a copper pipe cleaning brush,
which will clean the outside of the copper pipe. See how shiny it is? That’s really
important. And also, it’ll clean the inside of the copper pipe, which is equally important
if you’re going to be soldering. So use this kind of wire brush. I highly recommend
it because it serves dual action for cleaning both the outside and the inside of the copper
pipe. You’ll really, really like it, it’s worth the money, and it’ll save you a ton
of time by making your soldering job really good.
Well there you go. Those are all the different kinds of copper pipe tube cutters and different
tools that you should be aware of. I hope that you like this video. Remember, I’m
going to be giving away one of these tools, and it’s a surprise. So head on over to
HomeRepairTutor.com. Check out the latest tutorial, and you’ll see which one I’m
going to be giving away, and you’ll have a chance to get it. All right?
So if you did like this video, go ahead and click the subscribe button. That way, you’ll
be able to see all my videos moving forward; you won’t miss any tips. And while you’re
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be aware of all the giveaways. Sometimes I don’t mention them over here on YouTube,
and I wouldn’t want you to miss out. All right, have a great day. Thanks for watching.
Take care. I’ll talk to you soon.