Trade Tools, Equipment and Materials
Trade Tools, Equipment and Materials tests your ability to select, use and maintain the right tool and pipe material for a job. Questions often describe a task and ask for the tool, the material grade or a maintenance check.
Measuring and marking
Use a steel rule or tape for linear sizes, a try square for 90°, a spirit level for horizontal and vertical work, a plumb bob for vertical alignment, and a chalk line for long runs.
Cutting and threading
Use a hacksaw with 18–24 TPI, finer for thin-wall pipe; a pipe cutter for copper and thin-wall; a pipe vice to hold work; a die set for BSP threads; and a reamer to remove internal burr. A 1/2-inch BSP die cuts 14 threads per inch.
Materials
GI pipe to IS 1239; PVC-U to IS 4985; SWR PVC-U to IS 13592; CPVC for hot water; copper for hot and cold; CI for heavy drainage. Solvent cement is matched to the plastic, not universal.
Worked example
You must cut and thread a 15 mm GI pipe. Clamp it in a pipe vice, cut with a hacksaw using a 24 TPI blade, ream the bore, apply cutting oil, and use a 1/2-inch BSP die. The die size matches the nominal bore, not the outside diameter.
Traps
Using a pipe wrench on plastic or chrome; skipping reaming; using the wrong solvent cement; turning a die without oil; and measuring pipe by outside diameter when the specification is nominal bore.