• COASTER1921@lemmy.ml
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      13 hours ago

      These things are a pain to use. Especially the cheap ones require more force than you’d expect and occasionally get stuck. They make a good clean cut but it’s so slow and awkward that if you were wanting to do vandalism they’re impractical relative to a reciprocating saw or better yet portable band saw.

      I also wouldn’t underestimate the power of spray paint, even though it’s simple to fix it’s still expensive when the contract specifics all the maintenance must be done by flock themselves.

    • SirSamuel@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      And slower. Great for plumbing, not so much a 3" aluminum post with 1/4" walls

      But hey, I might be wrong. 30yrs in the trades, but I’ve never tried cutting down an aluminum post with a pipe cutter

      Also if the method varies from person to person, or one person uses a unique method, it’s easier to get multiple vandalism charges to stick

      • modus@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Hey, totally unrelated, but how does one cut copper pipes mounted close to the wall?

        • SirSamuel@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          Oh, I should clarify, “the trades” isn’t exclusively plumbing. I can sweat pipes and lay out a house but I’m no expert

          That being said I always used a little stubby cutter for pipes close to walls

          There’s other designs, including ratcheting ones that look so much easier than what I used

          • modus@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            Cool. I saw those at the store when buying drill bits. Didn’t know what they were. Thanks.

        • CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          There’s a tool that attaches to your drill or impact driver. Kinda expensive, but when you NEED it, it’s worth every penny.

            • CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world
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              5 hours ago

              Its a big part of why plumbers cost money. Like the auto shop guys, a lot of money gets spent on tools that get used maybe once or twice a year, sometimes less. But you must own them to do the work.

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
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          8 hours ago

          wet the post with gallium and put a piece of duct tape over it, i’ll fall over in an hour. no tools

          • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pub
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            3 hours ago

            Where would get Gallium? I saw a youtubr video of some dude (mark something, I think) and he did this to aluminium cans. Always wanted to try that.

    • CubitOom@infosec.pubOP
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      1 day ago

      Would a straight cut be easier to add a union joint to and thus make the cost of repair slightly lower?

      I guess it would depend on priorities

      • djdarren@piefed.social
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        24 hours ago

        Nah, they wouldn’t bother repairing the tube regardless of how it’s cut. If they did and the repair broke, hitting someone, they’d have to take the liability. For a company with their funding, a length of ally tube and the cost to dig it into the ground is fuck all.

        edit to add: but multiplied by hundreds of them being cut down, it’s not not fuck all. and it’s funny.