Cordless tube saw

The aerospace industry requires extensive piping and tubing systems to deliver essential liquids and gases under high pressure to critical equipment and systems within facilities, equipment, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, typical tube saws often aren’t engineered to reliably make the precise cuts in tough materials the aerospace industry needs, “particularly given the variations in pipe and tube sizes, wall thicknesses, and exotic material types from industry to industry,” says Chris Belle, CEO of Tri Tool Technologies. Founded in 1972, Tri Tool Technologies provides machining tools, custom machining solutions, and on-site services for the aerospace, defense, semiconductor, and other industries.

To service more than one industry, mechanical contractors frequently must procure multiple tube saws to cut piping and tubing of different sizes and types, increasing installation costs and complexity. Moreover, this equipment traditionally requires replacement in less than a year with regular use, further contributing to expenses.

Fortunately, recent advancements are addressing many of these challenges while meeting the requirements for high and ultra-purity applications. Through a meticulous engineering approach, tube saws have been developed ensuring consistent, accurate, and precise cutting of a wide range of pipe and tubing sizes and materials.

Additionally, incorporating a cordless design enhances versatility, enabling cutting in locations without access to a power source. Moreover, the novel tube saw withstands demanding environments, reducing the need for premature replacement and related expenses.

Reengineering traditional tube saw design

Mechanical contractors depend on tube saws to cut materials accurately and precisely when installing or replacing aerospace piping and tubing on space and aircraft and infrastructure such as launch pads.

The aerospace sector constantly challenges the limits of what can be achieved, leading to the use of lighter and stronger materials such as Inconel and other nickel superalloys. These materials often have smaller diameters, thicker walls, and more intricate joint geometries. While Inconel’s toughness makes it highly valuable, it also poses difficulties in achieving clean and precise cuts.

Moreover, aerospace frequently demands high purity piping to ensure the flawless transfer of fluids or air passage with exceptional chemical resistance. This means any cuts made in the piping or tubing must be impeccably precise, square, and devoid of contaminants such as minuscule metal fragments.

With an extensive view into the needs of the aerospace industry, Belle considered what could be done to increase the precision, reliability, and longevity of conventional tube saw design.

Although Tri Tool has traditionally focused on custom machining tool applications, Belle directed the company’s engineers to design a tube saw that could reliably make precision cuts for the widest range of markets.

The Tube Saw was engineered with the aim of eliminating weak points in conventional designs and was based on feedback from customers and mechanical contractors. The result is a table- or pipe stand-mountable O.D. clamping tube saw with a self-centering clamping system ensuring precise, square cuts. The jaws clamp securely to the material being cut and self-lock to prevent loosening. Jaw extensions snap into place to hold smaller materials.

To promote accuracy, an integrated laser line indicates the center of the cut. To facilitate precision, the saw passes around the perimeter of the material to be cut after a plunge cut. A feed handle is geared to prevent the operator from overrunning the cut yet provides smooth control. The design of the cutting head creates a square cut with high quality surface finish.

“Most tube saw manufacturers focus on high purity and sanitary piping, which is primarily thin-wall tubing. For applications that require cutting thicker-wall tubing and piping or exotic materials including Inconel, you generally need a second machine. So, there was a market need for a more versatile tube saw,” Belle explains.

The newly designed tube saw can cut a wide range of tubes and pipes, ranging from 1/4" to 6" O.D. and 1/8" to 6" I.D. respectively. Its capabilities include precision cutting thin-wall stainless steel within the range of 0.035"” to 0.150" (schedule 10 pipe), as well as handling challenging titanium and Inconel, important to the aerospace industry.

To enhance productivity when cutting various materials, the saw comes with different blade options. Assorted blade diameters and tooth counts are available for different wall thickness and materials.

The machine increases productivity by enabling quick diameter changes without the need for tools, and it can make cuts in a single pass. The advanced tube saw demonstrates superior performance in cutting thin walls, including specialized metals such as titanium tubing, which is often brittle.

“The clamping force, plunge cut, and radial cut are very important when cutting titanium to length,” Belle says. “You don’t want it to tear as you are cutting.”

He adds that for one aerospace company, Tri Tool’s tube saw was recently tasked with cutting tubing with an approximately 0.0028" wall thickness.

To give mechanical contractors the freedom to use the tube saw anywhere, the machine is designed for use with a cordless motor but can be used with a corded motor as well. Ambidextrous interfaces provide the capability to reconfigure the tool for left-handed and right-handed users. This can also facilitate placement of the tube saw in tight spaces or against a wall.

Conventional tube saw design leaves crucial components, such as bearings, susceptible to fine metal particles that detach from pipes and tubes during cutting. The presence of even the tiniest metal fragments in the bearings reduces accuracy and performance, and results in abrasive wear and damage. In many environments, traditional tube saws are essentially deemed disposable in a span of six to nine months due to ingress of metal particles into the bearings during cutting operations.

As a preventive measure, the new tube saw design incorporates sealed precision bearings to ensure smooth, accurate cuts throughout years of use. To increase longevity, a variable speed motor provides cutting speed control for long blade life and material finish. Hard anodized coatings throughout the machine components provide corrosion protection and robustness for harsh environments.

About the author: Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, California.