# Hacksaws



## scott_8222 (Jul 3, 2008)

Who makes a good hacksaw? I have been thinking about getting this one
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...artial&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

scott_8222 said:


> Who makes a good hacksaw? I have been thinking about getting this one
> http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...artial&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber


Here is the best one...Klein 701 :thumbsup:
Made in the USA..http://www.mytoolstore.com/klein/701-10.html


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## rma1998 (Jun 27, 2010)

scott_8222 said:


> Who makes a good hacksaw? I have been thinking about getting this one
> http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...artial&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber


Get your boss to buy you a metal saw, it pays for itself in no time! I still have a hack saw on the truck as a back up, but I can't remember the last time I used it! The metal saw is fast and makes a clean cut!


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## Chevyman30571 (Jan 30, 2009)

I use this lenox hacksaw. 

http://www.lenoxtools.com/Pages/Product.aspx?id=HT50+HACKSAW+FRAME


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## kevmanTA (Jul 20, 2010)

Chevyman30571 said:


> I use this lenox hacksaw.
> 
> http://www.lenoxtools.com/Pages/Product.aspx?id=HT50+HACKSAW+FRAME


I have the same one, works good!


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

I don't even own a hacksaw. I cut almost everything with a sawzall, every now and then I use a porta band, If I'm running rigid I' have a porta band set up at the threading station.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

rma1998 said:


> Get your boss to buy you a metal saw, it pays for itself in no time! I still have a hack saw on the truck as a back up, but I can't remember the last time I used it! The metal saw is fast and makes a clean cut!


 :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## littlehulkster (Dec 18, 2010)

Hacksaw? This isn't 1411, buddy, it's 2011.

Get one of these.


And yeah, by one of these, I do mean Bosch, the finest power tools made.


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## eletric_guy (Jan 16, 2011)

What is a hack saw? LOL Dude hack saws went out ages ago..This day and age its all about power tools ( sawsall or porta band)


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## rma1998 (Jun 27, 2010)

eletric_guy said:


> What is a hack saw? LOL Dude hack saws went out ages ago..This day and age its all about power tools ( sawsall or porta band)


Sawzall's and porta bands are still slow compared to a circular metal saw, we quit using them years ago for cutting conduit.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Hacksaws are for criminals and crime. Go cordless.


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## varmit (Apr 19, 2009)

I still use the Klein #701 hacksaw. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the time, effort and expense required to: keep up with, haul around, replace when lost or damaged, keep functional batteries charged and support what you are cutting properly, would cancel any possible time savings from using battery powered saws to run small EMT.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

rma1998 said:


> Sawzall's and porta bands are still slow compared to a circular metal saw, we quit using them years ago for cutting conduit.


 Yea but it takes a half an hour to file off the burrs.


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## oldtimer (Jun 10, 2010)

eletric_guy said:


> What is a hack saw? LOL Dude hack saws went out ages ago..This day and age its all about power tools ( sawsall or porta band)


 You are quite right........hacksaws went out ages ago ........about the same time they started spelling ELECTRIC.....ELETRIC. :whistling2:


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## pugz134 (Nov 8, 2010)

Get yourself a Stout battery powered bandsaw. Never use a hacksaw again.


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## rma1998 (Jun 27, 2010)

mattsilkwood said:


> Yea but it takes a half an hour to file off the burrs.


??? only if you want to become a dairy farmer......


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## rma1998 (Jun 27, 2010)

varmit said:


> I still use the Klein #701 hacksaw. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the time, effort and expense required to: keep up with, haul around, replace when lost or damaged, keep functional batteries charged and support what you are cutting properly, would cancel any possible time savings from using battery powered saws to run small EMT.


Most people use the same batteries as their other cordless tools, Its amazing how much faster your pipe runs go with a power saw.


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

I carry this hacksaw in my bag. The bosch bag has my 10.8V driver in it....If I need anything bigger I use a cordless sawzall or porta band.:laughing::laughing:


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## tkb (Jan 21, 2009)

I can't believe how lazy most people are now.

They would rather carry around a battery sawzall, battery charger and waste time trying to cut with a half dead battery.
Then battery dies halfway during a cut, walk across the building and get a charged battery, oh no thats dead too, I guess I'll wait for one to charge. Don't care, not my money. :no:

A hack saw is fine for up to 1" EMT, rod and strut unless there is a lot of rod and strut to cut.


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

tkb said:


> I can't believe how lazy most people are now.
> 
> They would rather carry around a battery sawzall, battery charger and waste time trying to cut with a half dead battery.
> Then battery dies halfway during a cut, walk across the building and get a charged battery, oh no thats dead too, I guess I'll wait for one to charge. Don't care, not my money. :no:
> ...



My spare batterys are always with me not across the building, and they are charged too....just saying.:whistling2:


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

Hacksaws are history. They are useless.

~Matt


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

tkb said:


> I can't believe how lazy most people are now.
> 
> They would rather carry around a battery sawzall, battery charger and waste time trying to cut with a half dead battery.
> Then battery dies halfway during a cut, walk across the building and get a charged battery, oh no thats dead too, I guess I'll wait for one to charge. Don't care, not my money. :no:
> ...



I keep a hack saw in the truck but can't remember the last time I chose it over a cordless sawzall.

A hack saw has become one of these .....


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## tkb (Jan 21, 2009)

I remember working for companies that had a brace and bit on their tool lists.

The only time I ever used one was to ream out the end of EMT.
Had a reamer bit in the chuck and you put the handle against your knees to ream the pipe after you cut it with a hacksaw.

Maybe I am just a dinosaur, but I use battery tools also. :thumbup:


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

tkb said:


> I remember working for companies that had a brace and bit on their tool lists.
> 
> The only time I ever used one was to ream out the end of EMT.
> Had a reamer bit in the chuck and you put the handle against your knees to ream the pipe after you cut it with a hacksaw.
> ...



Dad started the trade in 1970 and has just now started using the sawzall over his hacksaw. I think the hacksaw is harder on your body. Mine anyway....


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## littlehulkster (Dec 18, 2010)

varmit said:


> I still use the Klein #701 hacksaw. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the time, effort and expense required to: keep up with, haul around, replace when lost or damaged, keep functional batteries charged and support what you are cutting properly, would cancel any possible time savings from using battery powered saws to run small EMT.


This isn't 1971. You don't need a new battery every 45 minutes, if you're using lithium-ion.

I only carry the sawzall when I know I'm doing a lot of conduit, which is pretty rare in an era when flex exists. Fact is, conduit is dying and hacksaws are long dead.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

littlehulkster said:


> I only carry the sawzall when I know I'm doing a lot of conduit, which is pretty rare in an era when flex exists. Fact is, conduit is dying and hacksaws are long dead.


 That's just crazy talk.


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## Rudeboy (Oct 6, 2009)

I do from time to time use my hacksaw. Maybe once a month or something. If you have to cut a bit of pipe or liquidtite up on a roof it's nice to use instead of having to climb a ladder with your sawzall. They work pretty well cutting a cover plate to size too.


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## tkb (Jan 21, 2009)

littlehulkster said:


> This isn't 1971. You don't need a new battery every 45 minutes, if you're using lithium-ion.
> 
> I only carry the sawzall when I know I'm doing a lot of conduit, which is pretty rare in an era when flex exists. Fact is, conduit is dying and hacksaws are long dead.


How is conduit dying? :no:


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

tkb said:


> How is conduit dying? :no:


Conduit is not going away but more and more jobs are being done with mc cable here. Larger commercial and industrial will stay mostly conduit for years to come IMO.


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## Rockyd (Apr 22, 2007)

jwjrw said:


> Conduit is not going away but more and more jobs are being done with mc cable here. Larger commercial and industrial will stay mostly conduit for years to come IMO.


I like your line of thinking. Probably true in a lot of parts in the country. In oil patch, here in Alaska, we have gone from "pipe everything" to mostly MC - HL cable. The manhours poured into a project have seen a great reduction to the cable scheme, and it allows us to compete globally.

Right now I'm on a government project, and we are GRC piping over 95 % percent of the project. Maybe a little overkill, but it keeps us all pretty busy.:thumbsup: just an old dog with a no-dog...

Yes I still have a rusty hacksaw in the bottom of my tool box....pass the WD-40 please!


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

jwjrw said:


> Conduit is not going away but more and more jobs are being done with mc cable here. Larger commercial and industrial will stay mostly conduit for years to come IMO.


Maybe industrial will be a hold out but large commercial has long been cable where I am. 

One of the companies I worked for bought two companies in the Carolinas and shipped a bunch of their guys up here to see how we do it. They were shocked, the wanted to know were all the pipe was. :laughing:


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

I love using my HACKsaw to HACK off the tabs of plastic BLUE boxes so that I can screw them securely to a stud with sheetrock screws.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

NolaTigaBait said:


> I love using my HACKsaw to HACK off the tabs of plastic BLUE boxes so that I can screw them securely to a stud with sheetrock screws.



That is like a triple or quadruple hack, based on the level of difficulty you have scored well


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

Thank you, this award means alot to me...I am now part of the Hack trifecta...members included 220/221, Peter D and Now myself...Thank you.


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## jw0445 (Oct 9, 2009)

BBQ said:


> That is like a triple or quadruple hack, based on the level of difficulty you have scored well


When did you hack into 480's picture file?


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## aarons600rr (Apr 7, 2007)

Port-a-band lithium


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## mrmike (Dec 10, 2010)

Lets get real here........ Hacksaws are not a thing of the past and are very useful in many situations. You ever try to hold on to something that is vibrating from that "sawsall" while you trying to use the other hand to hold that sawsall. You can with a hacksaw. There are many times the hacksaw is the desired tool to do a quick job.....
I am not saying the other tools are not better-they are for most bigger jobs, I own a portable milwaukee bandsaw, a porter cable tigersaw & a makita 18v sawsall, but most of the time that I go to the truck for a small metal cut I grab the hacksaw.................


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

mrmike said:


> Lets get real here........ Hacksaws are not a thing of the past and are very useful in many situations. You ever try to hold on to something that is vibrating from that "sawsall" while you trying to use the other hand to hold that sawsall. You can with a hacksaw. There are many times the hacksaw is the desired tool to do a quick job.....


To each their own but my hacksaw has been collecting dust for a long time.

As far as holding things I find it easier to hold things still with the sawzall than a hack saw. As far as I am concerned hackssaws are as much in the past as 'Yankee Screw Drivers'


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## littlehulkster (Dec 18, 2010)

tkb said:


> How is conduit dying? :no:




















I very much doubt EMT will ever totally go away, but I know all the shops around here are doing a lot less of it.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

littlehulkster said:


> This isn't 1971. You don't need a new battery every 45 minutes, if you're using lithium-ion.
> 
> I only carry the sawzall when I know I'm doing a lot of conduit, which is pretty rare in an era when flex exists. Fact is, conduit is dying and hacksaws are long dead.


With that attitude you will never be able to work for me. Flex is for fished in runs or where a run needs"flexibility". Really


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

sbrn33 said:


> With that attitude you will never be able to work for me. Flex is for fished in runs or where a run needs"flexibility". Really


:blink:..I use whatever I can to get the job done quickly and cheaply and If im able to use MC , I will....I agree EMT looks better, but in the scope of things...What's the difference?


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Workmanship, quality and just plain pride. Not to mention how bad for the trade it is. Why do people want to get the job done so quickly. My guys will do that and I say "why are you in such a hurry, slow down and do it right".


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## NolaTigaBait (Oct 19, 2008)

sbrn33 said:


> Workmanship, quality and just plain pride. Not to mention how bad for the trade it is. Why do people want to get the job done so quickly. My guys will do that and I say "why are you in such a hurry, slow down and do it right".


I can usually work fast and do it right...

How does MC ruin the trade?...What about romex?


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

BBQ said:


> Maybe industrial will be a hold out but large commercial has long been cable where I am.
> 
> One of the companies I worked for bought two companies in the Carolinas and shipped a bunch of their guys up here to see how we do it. They were shocked, the wanted to know were all the pipe was. :laughing:




We run far more MC now than EMT but I didn't know about larger companies in other areas.


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

NolaTigaBait said:


> How does MC ruin the trade?...What about romex?


It doesn't. It just doesn't fit into the little 'everything in pipe, perfect bends and all the couplings obsessively lined up' view some have of the trade.



Personally I'm all for anything that makes my job easier and takes less time.


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> Workmanship, quality and just plain pride. Not to mention how bad for the trade it is. Why do people want to get the job done so quickly. My guys will do that and I say "why are you in such a hurry, slow down and do it right".



Most customers could care less if their place is wired in MC or EMT. They want the cheapest bid. Last 3 restaurants we did we ran PVC in the slab for all the circuits we could and MC through walls and ceilings.

Just because a job is not done in conduit does not make it a non quality job or mean the workers didn't take pride in their work. MC cable is not bad for the trade. Not changing with the times is bad business....as in you won't be in business for much longer. IMO


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> Workmanship, quality and just plain pride.


All those things can be acomlished or not accomplished with pipe or cable.





> Not to mention how bad for the trade it is.


You will have to explain that one to me. 





> Why do people want to get the job done so quickly.


Because that is how money is made or lost unless the job is T&M.





> My guys will do that and I say "why are you in such a hurry, slow down and do it right".


You can do it right and still work quickly.

Do you think we should go back to using bit braces instead of drills so it will take longer?


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> With that attitude you will never be able to work for me. Flex is for fished in runs or where a run needs"flexibility". Really


And with your view I doubt you will ever become 'big'.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

tkb said:


> How is conduit dying? :no:


You are asking that? :blink::blink:

How many jobs came in for biding as pipe but ended up getting signed as cable?


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## Awg-Dawg (Jan 23, 2007)

BBQ said:


> To each their own but my hacksaw has been collecting dust for a long time.
> 
> As far as holding things I find it easier to hold things still with the sawzall than a hack saw. As far as I am concerned hackssaws are as much in the past as 'Yankee Screw Drivers'


 
Ditto that..........


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## kaboler (Dec 1, 2010)

New electrican.

I like cutting EMT with a hacksaw when it's 1/2 or 3/4. It's basically the same speed as my sawzall.

Anything above 3/4, the sawzall is better, but if it's only a few cuts, I'll use a hacksaw.

I don't see EMT disappearing and that crap flex replacing it. EMT is just too convenient for say, adding a circuit, or anything like that.

In Alberta Canada, it seems that there's more service work than in the USA. You guys start from scratch every job, so you can use that flex stuff?


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

BBQ said:


> To each their own but my hacksaw has been collecting dust for a long time.
> 
> As far as holding things I find it easier to hold things still with the sawzall than a hack saw. As far as I am concerned hackssaws are as much in the past as 'Yankee Screw Drivers'


I use a hacksaw alot. I still use my Bracer Bit and as for the Yankee Screwdriver,, I just made a 1/4 bit so I can use it as needed. 
Doesn't matter what a person uses. As long as it's the right tool for the job. 

Oh ya,, anyone want to borrow my Star Bit's to drill (pound) a hole thru a concrete wall?


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

Wirenuting said:


> Oh ya,, anyone want to borrow my Star Bit's to drill (pound) a hole thru a concrete wall?


I don't need to borrow one, I own one. It comes in handy when you leave the hammer drill in the other truck and your working right beside a Home Depot. :thumbsup:


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

BBQ said:


> I don't need to borrow one, I own one. It comes in handy when you leave the hammer drill in the other truck and your working right beside a Home Depot. :thumbsup:


And when your drilling thru a lead lined wall or a flammable location.


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## littlehulkster (Dec 18, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> With that attitude you will never be able to work for me. Flex is for fished in runs or where a run needs"flexibility". Really


With that attitude I wouldn't be able to, anyway, as someone less anal is going to consistently outbid you.

Unless your customer is an electrician, they are never going to care how good it looks, or how meticulously it was done. They want it to work, and they want it to be cheap.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I had to leave yesterday but I knew I would take some heat for my uppity attitude. Not trolling it's really how I feel.

It's funny how everybody complains about the illegals coming in and stealing work. One of the main reasons they can do this is the small things like this that take the tradesmanship out of the electrical industry. How long does it take you to learn how to run MC 15-20 minutes? Been in this trade for 27 years and I am still learning things about bending pipe. 

As far as being big, I can be as big or as small as I need to be. I have had twenty guys working for me and I have had 3 guys working for me. Not that big of deal. It's good for the guys that are low-balling these larger jobs and working of a couple of percent profit to have alot of guys but here again if your running MC everywhere why not just hire 1 good guy and 4 morons from off the street. Right now I have 5 journeymen and 0 apprentices working for me.

If you do any service work you will understand the reason for pipe.


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> If you do any service work you will understand the reason for pipe.




Half our business is service work. I don't understand the reason for pipe...:blink:

I do however know that to stay in business another 36 plus years means staying current on new wiring methods and technology. Giving the customer what he wants and not having tunnel vision. I've been seeing green for the last 5 years and IMO that was too late. Companies who are flexible and can do anything their customer needs them to do stay in business. Those that don't fail.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

sbrn33 said:


> It's funny how everybody complains about the illegals coming in and stealing work. One of the main reasons they can do this is the small things like this that take the tradesmanship out of the electrical industry.


Not the case at all here, here only licensed electricians can do electrical work and you can't get a license if you are not legal




> How long does it take you to learn how to run MC 15-20 minutes?


Decently and quickly?

A few weeks at least.




> Been in this trade for 27 years and I am still learning things about bending pipe.


I have been in for 29 years and still learn new things about all aspects of the trade.



> if your running MC everywhere why not just hire 1 good guy and 4 morons from off the street.


I have to maintain at least one license j-man for each apprentice on the job per state regulations. 



> Right now I have 5 journeymen and 0 apprentices working for me.


That is about were I am at, I run a service department for a large EC.

But if I get a small contract job I borrow apprentices from the construction side to bring down my average hourly costs. 



> If you do any service work you will understand the reason for pipe.


As I mentioned I run a commercial service department, I am not seeing any need for more pipe.


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