Why can't you get a centering guide (with wheels) for a rotating-cable drain auger?

[lukewarm]

[Edit: For an above-ground comparison, if I take a chainsaw and let it bounce up and down on a branch it will take 10 or 20 times the time to cut thru the branch, and it won't be a clean cut. Some drain cutters mostly bounce around. Serrated cutters could operate like a chainsaw moving in a circle if they were on a flexible guide skid - like some inspection cameras. Would that not make the cutter more like a chainsaw with a consistent path - vs a bouncing chainsaw - and thus more effective?]

If drain augers had wheels that kept the cable centered, I'd trust cutters won't "bounce" around and smash clay pipes.

Can you add wheels to a drain augur cable to keep it centered? I found various products with names like "flexible skid guide" - all meant for cameras, except one that costs over $5000 ("RAPTOR NOZZLE (FLEXIBLE GUIDE SKID)"), but it's a hydro-jetter - it doesn't use a rotating cable.
Here's one that's $200 on alibaba, around $150 USD - for cameras. A rotating cable could not be inserted.

Why can't I buy a skid guide for a rotating-cable drain auger?

 

[Twowaxhack]

It’s not needed or desired for small 4 and under drain piping.

 

[lukewarm]

It’s not needed or desired for small 4 and under drain piping.

I think it would have stopped a circular-spiral cutter from getting caught on the seam between a horizontal 4" pipe and the vertical 4" clear-out for 20 hours (a City of Toronto plumber could not remove it).

Other cutters seem like they would "bounce" wildly around. In another conversation, someone recommended removing one arm from a two-arm cutter (to reduce the risk of it getting caught), which I think would make it bounce wildly and thus smash the 4" clay pipe.

Is my thinking wrong?

 

[Twowaxhack]

I want my cutter head to bounce around wildly.

You’ve had trouble with one drain and you’re trying to design cutter heads……..

There’s nothing wrong with the cutter heads that are currently made, you just need to use the proper head, cable and machine. Experience is also helpful to say the least.


Those spiral holesaw bits suck. You couldn’t give me one.

 

[lukewarm]

I see the benefit of a cutter head bouncing around wildly, but for clay pipes, with some heavier / sharper cutters, would the bouncing not crack the clay?

Also, if I take a chainsaw and let it bounce up and down on a branch it will take 10 or 20 times the time to cut thru the branch, and it won't be a clean cut. A clean cut would be better.

I realize it's absurd that a newbie like me is trying to design cutter heads, but it's surprising that no cutters cut in the same way we cut branches (assisted-scissoring action like heavy-duty pruning shears / bolt cutters, or hedge trimmers / chainsaws). I realize you can't fit a chainsaw or pruning shears down a 50' 4" drain. With a chain saw there isn't exactly a scissoring action but we are applying steady pressure in one direction, so the teeth cut thru the branches. I see how a serrated c-cutter could be similar, with us applying stead pressure in one direction, but not if I follow the recommendation made in another forum question to reduce risk of getting snagged - removing one arm from a c-cutter.

I see how a one-armed serrated c-cutter* could operate like a chainsaw moving in a circle if it was on a flexible guide skid - like some inspection cameras. Would that not make the cutter more like a chainsaw with a consistent path - vs a bouncing chainsaw - and thus more effective?

* (not a c after one of the 2 arms is removed)

 

[Twowaxhack]

How much experience do you have with cleaning sewers ?

I assume about an hour……with the wrong equipment.


I’m not trying to be rude but this is a ridiculous conversation. It would be like me practicing dentistry for an hour then trying to redesign the equipment because I thought for some reason everyone else is doing it wrong and I have better ideas. Right, it’s ridiculous.