Cutting Brass and Nickel Silver Tubing

It hadn’t occurred to me that the subject of cutting tubing would warrant it’s own web page until I received an email from Colin Sanders, a young brass repairman in Chandler, Arizona, asking how I cut brass tubing. It seemed like a very simple inquiry until I started composing an answer and realized that I needed to take a few photos to make sure that I made sense with what I was trying to describe to him.

Here’s the response with some editing:

I use a number of methods to cut brass tubing. Most of the time, both for accuracy and neatness, I cut them in the lathe. On my page "Preserving History", I show some hand cutting tools for the lathe and I reproduce it here. A simple cutter with an acute point is the one that I use for parting tubes, usually held against a boring bar in the tool holder (second photo). This or other hand tools can then be used for applying the decorative score mark(s). Use a three sided scraper or deburring tool to remove the burrs and often a fine file to clean up the ends.

Click on images in gallery below for larger views.

Mostly, I hold the tubing in the lathe using brass collets that I've made for each diameter (fourth photo, above). These are made to be held in the steel 5C collets, but can also be held in a lathe chuck. That method is more likely to go wrong, if the cutting tool catches and knocks the tube side-wise, ruining the brass collet. This can be avoided with careful work, however. If the tube seems delicate, it might be wise to score it with this method and make the final cut with a jeweler’s saw (see below). I do this often, especially when dealing with an unusual situation while restoring an antique instrument.

When I was discussing techniques for cutting tubing and scoring in the lathe with Larry Minick, he showed me a cutting tool that he had ground to both score and cut off the tube. Since I made a lot of ferrules with score marks on both ends, I figured that I could make one to make score marks on both the ferrule being parted and the next one that was fixed in the collet. I had better luck using this by hand rather than fixed in the tool post (fifth photo, above).

The next most common way that I cut tubing accurately is with a jeweler's saw (photo below). This is a handy method for shortening existing tubes without un-soldering an assembly. I use a caliper (Not my best caliper) to mark the line. It takes a little practice, but can result in an extremely accurate cut with very little burr. Other fine saws can be used similarly, but the jeweler's saw is best. Assume that you will break blades often and they get dull fairly quickly.

In a factory situation, the most common way to accurately cut tubing is with a table saw or cutoff saw with a fine blade. A small sliding table on a small table saw can make very accurate cuts. This is the only method that they used at Calicchio when I visited them in Hollywood. They didn't decorate the ends with score marks, so they didn't need to use the lathe. Unfortunately, I didn’t take photos at the Calicchio shop and I never set up for this method, so I don’t have a photo illustration. At Kanstul and, to my knowledge, other manufacturers, this is the most common method for both rough and fine cuts.

The next most common method that I use is the band saw. I use this only for rough cuts. I believe that a band saw can be set up and tuned up to make accurate cuts, but I haven't done this. The end can be finished using one of the methods above, or more often with a belt sander or file. If using a band saw intended for woodworking, like my Delta 14”, it is a big help to reduce the speed by installing different pullies. The last photo shows this with the belt guard removed. Of course, band saws that are designed for cutting metal, like those made by DoALL, have speed adjustment for cutting a wide variety of materials and will make a much cleaner cut when used correctly.