The Panel Decides: In the market for a new conduit cutter?

February 3, 2025

If you’re in the market for a conduit cutter, make sure you check out our expert reviews before parting with your hard-earned cash!

Cabac Conduit Cutter 42mm OD
Trade price: $178.84 incl. GST
The lowdown: This high-quality tool for cutting PVC conduit up to 42mm features a stainless steel cutting blade, and replacement blades are available too. This cutter is 215mm long and weighs in at 360g.

Hamer
CCSH42 Conduit Cutter 42mm premium
Trade price: $125.11 incl. GST
The lowdown: The Hamer 42mm premium conduit cutters easily shear plastic pipe up to 42mm. The firm action allows for the blade to stay aligned and straight, right through the cutting process.
The cutters are manufactured to the highest standard using moulded handles that fit nicely into the palm and the tool belt.

Wattmaster
PVC Conduit and Duct Cutter (WATM42)
Trade price: $121.30 incl. GST
The lowdown: Wattmaster’s PVC conduit and duct cutter is equipped with special steel blades and features ergonomically designed handles to minimise effort during use. It provides clean edges and a professional finish for all conduit and duct-cutting tasks. The tool incorporates a ratcheting action, making cutting easier and more efficient. Additionally, the anvil is marked for accurate 45° mitre cuts, ensuring precision in angled cuts.

Evan Morris Experience: 23 years Works at: EJM Electrical	James Boden Experience: 3rd year apprentice Works at: BGD Electrical & Security	Kai Mickel Experience: 6 years Works at: Hyperwave Electrical
Cabac Conduit Cutter 42mm OD They’ll last the distance. These cutters don’t open easily – they are very stiff to pull open – and they are a little on the expensive side. However, they are strong, sturdy and they cut well, and the option of a replacement blade is a winner. I can see they will last and the visibly strong blade won’t rust. VERDICT: Best of the bunch RATING: 8/10 [TOP PICK]	Cabac Conduit Cutter 42mm OD Too big. This is a high-quality and durable tool that cuts very well. The overall size of the cutter makes them difficult to operate – if you don’t have big hands you’ll struggle to get the cutters going with conduit 32mm and higher. The handles are about 60mm bigger than the others, so they take up real estate in your bag. VERDICT: Good option RATING: 7/10	Cabac Conduit Cutter 42mm OD Good but stiff. I liked the way they felt to use, they also felt the most solid and robust. They cut through the conduit nice and easy. They were very stiff straight out of the packet but I am sure over time they will loosen up. VERDICT: Solid and robust RATING: 9/10
Hamer CCSH42 Conduit Cutter 42mm premium Middle of the road. These cutters have an easy-to-open mechanism that cuts quite well. Compact design with a good catch but they didn’t seem to be overly sturdy. Decent cutters for the price that do what they are supposed to but there is room for improvement. VERDICT: Decent RATING: 6/10	Hamer CCSH42 Conduit Cutter 42mm premium Struggles on bigger sizes. For 20-25mm conduit this cutter is great but once you have to go higher – 32mm and greater – it’s almost useless. The Phillips Head screw began to loosen itself after a week of use which then required constant tightening otherwise the blade would not shut when operating. VERDICT: Doesn’t do the job RATING: 5/10	Hamer CCSH42 Conduit Cutter 42mm premium Not for me. The rachet worked well and they were not too hard to open. However, they didn’t cut the conduit very well – they seemed to crack the conduit rather than cut through it – so I wouldn’t choose these ones. VERDICT: Didn’t cut well RATING: 5/10
Wattmaster PVC Conduit and Duct Cutter (WATM42) Bad experience. The duct cutter is a handy feature, however, nothing else stands out about this product. It is lightweight and the mechanism seems flimsy. There’s no notch to keep the cutter’s catch shut on handles, poor cutting action would not cut through 32mm and they broke within a month.Won’t cut through conduit reliably or last the test of even normal use. VERDICT: Absolutely not RATING: 2/10	Wattmaster PVC Conduit and Duct Cutter (WATM42) Like a knife through butter. These cutters cut through 32mm and 40mm conduit with ease – like cutting through hot butter – and the step locking when it’s shut makes progressive cutting super efficient. It’s the smallest of the three and for me is perfect. I’ve already replaced my old conduit cutter with it. VERDICT: Brilliant RATING: 9/10 [TOP PICK]	Wattmaster PVC Conduit and Duct Cutter (WATM42) Perfect! The features that I liked about the Wattmaster conduit cutters were how smooth they were to use straight out of the packet. The rachet worked really well and they were easy to open. I didn’t feel like anything was missing from this one – I thought these were a really good product. VERDICT: My favourite RATING: 10/10 [TOP PICK]

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