Here's something right up RCM's alley. The NYT had a metalworking teacher test 6 different tools that the escapees might have used:
(in deference to those who want full URLs:)
I had bet on a Milwaukee Sawzall. It won. It looks like the exact same setup I used to cut through the 90-year-old cast iron drain pipes in my house.
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I remember talking with some folks on how many older homes have clogged dra in pipes going out to the street and how their repairs went. Apparently, p utting a toilet bowl cleaning briquette in the water closet of any toilet i n the household could do good in reversing some of the clogging downline.
It was the 2" drains from the second floor that clogged on me. We've lived here for 37 years. After five years, I was able to de-clog with big pots of boiling water. After 10 years, commercial drain cleaners. Then on to progressively stronger straight lye -- I was buying it 24 pounds at a time.
Next, a series of drain snakes -- larger and more aggressive as time went on. By this time, a plumber friend told me I'd better replace all of those pipes with plastic, because there was no hope (he was right).
Finally, I went to sulfuric acid. After a month of that, not only were the pipes totally clogged, but I had to rod out the nipple to which I attached the PVC. There was no hole in the middle of the clog at all.
So I rented one of those huge chain-type pipe cutters, which worked where there was clearance. But there was no clearance on the vertical runs. So it was a Sawzall with a bimetal blade for the last four cuts. I couldn't believe how clean and straight those cuts were, in
90-year-old cast iron pipe.Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
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