Plumbing Tools, Equipment and Safe Handling
What the exam tests here
The examiner checks whether you can identify a tool from a description, choose the right tool for a given pipe material, and state the safety rule that travels with it. Questions are scenario-based - for example, "which wrench for a chrome-plated shower arm?" - not plain definitions.
Tool families
- Holding: pipe vice (serrated jaws grip the pipe for cutting and threading; wrap finished pipe in cloth), bench vice for filing, chain vice for 100 mm and larger pipe.
- Turning: pipe wrench (Stillson) - teeth are directional, the jaw bites when you pull the handle towards you; chain wrench for large or coated pipe; strap wrench for chrome, plastic and polished fittings; basin wrench for back-nuts under a wash basin.
- Cutting and finishing: hacksaw (18 TPI for GI, 24 TPI for copper and plastics), wheel-type pipe cutter for copper only, reamer or deburring tool, half-round file.
- Threading and testing: ratchet die set with BSP dies and cutting oil, hydrostatic test pump with pressure gauge, test plugs.
Handling rules
- Match jaw opening to nominal bore: a 350 mm wrench suits 15–25 mm pipe, a 600 mm wrench for 50 mm.
- Never extend a wrench handle with a length of pipe; the jaw or the handle snaps.
- Inspect before use - mushroomed chisel heads ground back, split handles replaced, worn jaws discarded.
- Fit hacksaw blades with teeth pointing forward and correctly tensioned.
Worked example. Prepare a 25 mm GI pipe for threading. The pipe needs 11 TPI BSP thread, so select the 25 mm die; for cutting choose an 18 TPI hacksaw blade because coarse teeth clear soft GI chips quickly. Mark the length, clamp in the pipe vice, cut square, check with a try square, then file and ream the burr. Reason: a square, burr-free end lets the die start straight, which is what prevents a cross-thread.
Traps that cost marks
Using an adjustable spanner on a pipe (it rounds the fittings); a wheel cutter on PVC (cracks or deforms the pipe); pulling the pipe wrench the wrong way so the teeth slip; leaving eye protection off while cutting.