I have been having a lot of trouble cutting pipe with the Sawzall. Even the small stuff. Just started a job doing commercial work, and we have 1/2 and 3/4 emt to cut. We're told to use the Sawzall with 1 hand, pipe in other. No mounts or anything are really available.
I am not sure what I am doing wrong, maybe its a strength issue. The pipe vibrates, the saw moves, I really don't get any progress. I get very annoyed and just use my hacksaw to get through it. It is a bit slower, but it gets the job done.
I want to get better at my job, and am willing to invest in to tools. I would like to be able to cut pipe a lot faster. Any tips on what I could be doing wrong, or tools I could get that are faster than the hacksaw.
If you're an employee, you should absolutely not be buying and bringing your own power tools to the job. You may as well bring a beaver to the job to chew through the pipe for you as that's what everyone else will do. I'm sure the bulk of the board will agree with me on this.
The employer should have a standard written list of each tool the j-man himself supplies, wrenches, sockets, meters, hand tools ... And companies who have had extensive lists were good for me as everyone was not always short of tools and borrowing / stealing mine.
It is commendable that you want to cut pipe faster. What you actually want is for the proper tool to cut the pipe for you, with minimal effort and reduced fatigue, higher production, on your part. The bandsaw and the sawzall are not interchangeable in this regard. The sawzall beats up the operator like 4x compared to the bandsaw with tristand, and any person telling me to use one to cut pipe, I would score as clueless, unprofessional, and his cluelessness is dangerous to me. If he wants to use a sawzall on pipe himself, he can do whatever he wants with no concerns.
You will have to talk to the owner and he will make the decision for you. When he says "use the sawzall" that translates as "I don't care if the tool beats you up more and is slower, I give the orders and you suffer from them". This will recur many times in different forms. The key is to stand up for yourself and give the owner the opportunity to discuss, to do the right thing or not, and not expect them to read your mind and do the right thing automatically.
It is a no brainer decision for the owner to invest in better tooling to save labor, reduce fatigue, increase productivity, increase quality. You want to see if the owner has a brain, he will know buying and beating up the tools is far cheaper than beating up on the employees. People addicted to power enjoy the suffering they cause to others.
If you want your own heavy tools, and I do, you could try to offer the owner this in exchange for more money. For example, offer for three dollars / hour more, which is ~ $3000 annual takehome more, you will buy thousands in tools you maintain and bring to the job as needed. Everyone here will know this will never fly, But the owner may run out and buy you a stolen bandsaw off ebay or pawnshop, to save himself the thousands in payroll for $150 cash today.
Look up the definition of the word "finesse". You want to do more with less, and the bandsaw is wise, but it is a situation you will have "manage" with finesse. If you are ever going to move up from sawzall operator, you will need to work for a company that knows the difference between a bandsaw and a sawzall, and know what tool to use when.
PS. use ear protection when using power tools, the fatigue factor drops by 1/2.
