I will show you how easy it is to cut a thread on a water pipe for an ordinary home craftsman, without any skills in this matter and with a minimal set of tools. For example, when replacing a central heating battery, as in my case. There is absolutely nothing complicated about this and the method is accessible to almost everyone.
So, you cut the pipe with a grinder or other tool, such as a hacksaw. The main thing is that the cut is even and perpendicular.
Will need
- Clamp for the required pipe diameter.
- Adjustable wrench (gas).
A die is a thread-cutting tool, like a die, but it is an attachment with a guide skirt. It must be purchased from a plumbing store. There is no shortage of them, so you can find them without problems, even in the village.
In this case, the Chinese version is presented, which is quite good.
Such a thing costs around 200-500 rubles. It all depends on the diameter and markup. Running models with diameters of 1/2, 3/4 inches and inch, as in my version.
You can ask plumbers for a Soviet equivalent, if possible. Then it will be completely free for you.
Cutting a thread on a pipe
You don't have to remove the old paint. We lubricate the place where the thread will be with solid or liquid lubricant: grease, lithol, engine oil.
We also coat the cutters on the die.
In neither case do you need to apply a lot of solid lubricant, since after cutting the chips will stick to it and will not fall down, and therefore be removed.
We put the guide clamp on the pipe.
In theory, the clamp is rotated with a specialized tool - a ratchet, but since we have a one-time job, it will not be profitable to purchase an expensive tool.
We take an adjustable wrench and adjust its size to the rear skirt of the clamp.
Rotate the tool, making several turns around the pipe. The cutters are now engaged.
If the pipe is flimsy and unstable, it needs to be held with another adjustable wrench like this:
And use another adjustable wrench to rotate the nozzle.
The cutting sequence is as follows: 2-3 turns of the die forward, 1 turn back. This must be done so that the chips break, fall off and do not interfere with further cutting. If this is neglected, chips can jam the threads.
In total, you need to cut 4-5 full turns of thread.
As a result, the thread on the pipe is cut.
Also keep in mind that the cutters in the die have a small cone. This is necessary so that you can start and cut threads with ease. As a result, I lead to the fact that the final turns may not be complete and not cut in depth.
Therefore, in order to get 3-4 full turns of thread on a pipe, it is visually better to cut 6-7 turns.
After all the work, the thread can be checked by screwing any adapter or fitting onto it.
The thicker the pipe, the greater the force required to rotate the nozzle. The method is not tricky, almost no proper skills are required, even a beginner can do it. It is impossible to skew the thread, so there is no need to be afraid.
