304 Stainless Steel Pipes are Too Long, What are the Cutting Methods?

When cutting stainless steel pipes, you need to pay attention to whether the cutting will damage the pipes. The standard length of 304 stainless steel pipes is 6 meters. They must be cut before leaving the factory. They must be cut and welded during processing. So how should 304 stainless steel pipes be cut without damaging the pipes and tools? What are the methods for cutting 304 stainless steel pipes?

Two cutting methods for 304 stainless steel pipes

1. Wire cutting

Wire cutting is developed on the basis of discharge stamping. During the cutting process, a moving metal wire (molybdenum wire, copper wire or alloy wire) is used as an electrode wire, and the pulsed electric spark discharge between the electrode wire and the 304 stainless steel tube generates high temperature to melt or evaporate the metal and form a slit. This method is used to cut off parts. This cutting method is burr-free and the cut is smooth, but the stainless steel pipe will be slightly discolored after cutting and needs subsequent grinding treatment. It is complex and inefficient and is not suitable for large-scale use.

2. Laser cutting

Laser cutting uses a focused high-power density laser beam to irradiate the stainless steel surface, causing the irradiated material to quickly melt, vaporize, ablate or reach the ignition point. At the same time, the molten material is blown away by the high-speed airflow coaxial with the light beam, so as to cut the 304 stainless steel pipe. Laser cutting has highly concentrated energy, rapid heating, fast cutting speed and good cutting quality. It can accurately and effectively cut stainless steel materials of various complex shapes, and the cost of subsequent process treatment is low. However, the price of laser cutting equipment is quite expensive and is only suitable for large enterprises to use in large-scale production.

Precautions when cutting 304 stainless steel pipes

When processing a stainless steel pipe with a diameter greater than 40 mm, due to the low cutting speed of stainless steel pipes in my country, carbide tools can be used to improve work efficiency. The steel bars below 40 mm are generally cut with high-speed steel tools, which can achieve a better cutting effect. The following matters should also be noted when cutting stainless steel pipes:

1. When preparing the raw materials for the first time, the 304 stainless steel pipes should be placed face to face or back to back, and attention should also be paid to the wear of the tool and whether there are burrs.

2. The roughness of the front surface of the tool should be reduced as much as possible to reduce adhesive wear, cutting force and cutting speed. Practice shows that the tool life after front end grinding is longer than that of unground tool.

3. When cutting and beveling 304 stainless steel pipes, it is important to note that 304 stainless steel pipes cannot be beveled with an oxygen-acetylene flame, because they have great ductility, high wear resistance, strong drilling adhesion, and are easy to harden.

Notes:

The tool material is generally made of YG alloy, which is not easy to bond and wear with stainless steel. It is best to choose YG8 with better strength. The cutting width is selected according to the pipe diameter, and the cutting speed is about 60m/min. This tool can meet the needs of general processing. The pipe with a diameter of 40~80 mm can be cut off with one feed without rushing. When retracting, the tool should not stay on the workpiece surface to reduce work hardening. When cutting solid workpieces, in order to avoid the knife breaking, leave about 1~2mm when cutting to the center, and then break it by hand. Usually in the case of cutting stainless steel, the life of wet cutting tools is several times longer than that of dry cutting tools.

Read more: Difference between 304 and 201 Stainless Steel Pipes

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