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Cutting EMT w/wires

14K views 24 replies 16 participants last post by  Jlarson 
#1 ·
Any tips on cutting 1/2 inch EMT full of wires recessed in an open wall just below a breaker panel. Oh, that is without damage to the wires. :)
 
#7 · (Edited)
They sell tubing cutters (greenlee 8600) for emt in the electrical tool section at (some) home depots next to all the Klein stuff. Someone said the tubing cutters with the little wheel that scores the emt is an east coast thing but I don't know. All I know is that cutter is the best option for cutting emt with wires in it without damaging the wires
 
#9 ·
DO NOT buy the tubing cutter in the electrical section. Its big, bulky, and Wayyy overpriced. Get the one that Shock showed in the plumbing section. The small one can cut up to 1" emt just fine and can fit in hard to reach spots (like in a wall).

You will have sharp edges you have to deal with afterwards. Everybody has a different method of cleaning them. I recommend (after cutting the pipe) to slip something over the wires into the pipe (to protect the wires) and then cleaning it out with a small file or the side of a flat head. After its cleaned, I recommend wrapping a few layers of tape around the wire in the spot you cut.
 
#14 ·
The greenlee cutter is like $50 and the cutting wheels only score and don't cut all the way through and are designed to produce an edge that doesn't need to be reamed. I haven't seen one in action yet but I wouldn't mind finding out if the device lived up to its promises.

If you have access to the end of the conduit where the wires are coming out another option would be to go into your automobile and look on the floor for some plastic soda bottles (or try the garbage) and cut out the flat side parts of the bottles and use that material to wrap around the wires then push into the conduit to protect the wires while cutting around the tubing using a hacksaw or a keyhole saw that uses metal cutting blades from a sawsall.
 
#17 ·
The greenlee cutter is like $50 and the cutting wheels only score and don't cut all the way through and are designed to produce an edge that doesn't need to be reamed. I haven't seen one in action yet but I wouldn't mind finding out if the device lived up to its promises.
It makes a better hammer then a cutter.
 
#23 ·
I've got one of those, it's all plastic and is bigger than a sharpie though. The better ones are more solidly built and are the size of an old fashioned pencil. The ones my colleagues have are the better built ones. Oddly enough though, and not trying to get into a political/religious debate, the better reamer I've seen all say "made in Israel". Kind of an odd detail I remember.

Conventional tubing cutters suck for EMT, it's too bad that no one seems to have had any success with the greenlee tubing cutter, I guess i won't be picking one up at orange box store any time soon.
 
#24 ·
I was just showing an apprentice yesterday how to properly use a tubing cutter for EMT.

I emphasized scoring then snapping it to prevent having to ream it. Worked perfectly, and I used the same little rigid one posted on the first page of this thread.
 
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