Just saw this (no pun intended) the other day in a home improvement store....in the plumbing area..find the PVC pipe. Somewhere around there is a wire saw that is designed to cut the PVC pipe....I thought it might make a good ( at least heavier duty) wire saw for a BOB. It looked more durable than the old type.....anyone use this before...if so....what do you think?

No picture or link to look at?

No unfortunately......I saw it in person....don't have anything to link it to.

If it is like the ones i sold some years ago it is just a lenght of aircraft cable with ends attached. The friction of the steel cable was enough to cut pvc pipe but i don't think that it would be very functional for cutting other things. Come to think of it wasn't that great on pvc, it is not the tool i would reach for first unless the pvc pipe was in a place that i could not fit another tool. HTH

I have at least one of those in one one of my tool kits. They work well enough on PVC pipe. But a simple length of nylon mason's line will also work. It is an old plumbers trick. Works really well and keeps you from having to lay down in the mud and have at a run of pipe in the bottom of a hole. In both cases they work by friction and melt their way through the PVC.

There are flexible wire saws available. Coughlan's makes a cheap version that sells for about $5. They are good for one cut unless your very careful.

There are more expensive ones that are usable. Best Glide sells a nice one that hold up much better than the discount store version.

Is there such a thing as a diamond wire saw that will cut steel?

See if you can find a friend who works in the granite industry. If I recall correctly, they use long bands of steel with diamond dust and silicon carbine epoxy mixture. The stuff is incredible and the tensile strength is insane. My guess is that their throwaways would be very impressive even after having cut through a bunch of granite. Probably still packs enough punch to blow away a a $5 retail item.

After looking for something small and light, I came across the Marine Corps issue wire saw. The supply vendor sells them to the public here: http://www.bestwayproductscompany.com/products.html

I had seen inmates at a state prison zip thru 3/4" schedule 40 in seconds, using only a shoelace...

There are wire saw blades that will cut steel among other things, the trade name is remgrit.

http://tinyurl.com/2atz57

But the blades are more of a rod saw even though the wire is just a length of cable. The bonding process makes the wire not very flexible at all. It is designed to be held securely in a frame, i would think that bending it around a small radius would shorten the life of the tool.

Remgrit also makes a complete line of cutting tools with bonded carbide including saber saw blades, recip blades, and bandsaw blades. I would think that the recip blades would be of more use if you don't have a frame to hold the blade in. The handle could be easily fabricated or purchased, if i remember correctly, Gerber even makes a multitool with a remgrit blade in it.

OBG, the only reason they used shoe laces is they didn't have power tools. A reciprocating saw makes short work of cutting metal or plastic pipe down in a muddy hole, just make sure you turn off the water supply before you cut the pipe. And don't take anyone elses word that "yes, the water is off".