How to cut pipe at an angle...

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Ok... I have been working on a project for a couple days now and ended up needing to cut a piece of 3" SCH. 80 pipe at a 45 degree angle. Now, I do not have any special tools... mainly just a grinder, portable band saw, and a sawzall. I am not a professional pipe fitter by no means so I had no clue how to achieve this. After thinking and thinking and pondering and pondering and searching online but only finding elaborate 30 step processes , I finally figured it out. So I wanted to share this piece on knowledge to the people who are ever in the same position as I was. What this will do is help people make a stencil / jig / template for drawing your line to cut on the pipe....For example I am going to use my situation.I needed a jig that would allow me to trace my cut line onto the pipe. So here we go.Determine your O.D. (Mine was 3.5")Now on paper Draw a box that is exactly O.D. x O.D. ( Mine was 3.5" by 3.5" ) See Step 1 PictureNow Measure from bottom left corner to upper right corner ( My result was 5" )By going from corner to corner we are actually creating a 45 degree angle.  See Step 2 PictureNow the interesting part ... Draw a Oval that is Angle Length by O.D. Height ( Mine was  5" x 3.5" )  Now cut it out leaving the OUT SIDE PAPER AND NOT THE OVAL, this is part you need. Once done, trace the oval onto a piece of thin but stiff metal or plastic. Once again cut the center oval out but leaving the outside untouched. And thats it you have a jig. you can now slide the jig over the pipe and then **** it as far as it can go. you can trace a line onto the pipe and be ready to cut.  this jig is reusable. the angle length is what allows you to **** the jig and get your angle if you change that length the angle will change with it.  i hope you all enjoy this bit of info! Attached ImagesLast edited by StephenCapes; 10-23-2009 at 04:57 PM.
Reply:Interesting process. Guess if it works that's ok.  Here is a link to check out....http://www.harderwoods.com/pipe.html6"XX P5P8 6G
Reply:If you want to get the first answer easier (trig is our friend) all you need to do is: OD/Cos(angle) in your case: 3.5/cos(45)=4.949. I was also thinking about those pipe templates that you see at welding shops, are those made for this type of thing?http://www.pipemastertools.com/viewall.html this one is expensive but there is a paper"ish" one I have seen too. I think it is for doing cuts etc but I can't find an example online.