I purchased a Deardorff S11 11x14 studio camera with stand 11 years ago. I took the massive bipost stand apart to get it into a minivan, put it into a shed, and forgot about it. I finally have space to use the stand, and I am trying to get it clean and together. I need some support. Hopefully others can benefit from this as well.

My stand has 12' poles. It is too tall to fit into my space, so my first step is to cut the poles down to fit in my studio. My assumption is that I need to do the following steps:

1. Cut the pipes down to a maximum stand height of 8'
2. Shorten the chains (which are used to move the camera up and down the stand)
3. Shorten the weight cables (which are counter balances to the weight of the camera as it moves up and down)

So, to begin, what sort of tools do I use to shorten the stand? I am (relatively) mechanically competent, but this is a different sort of work then I have done before.

What should be used to cut the pipes? A pipe cutter (for cast iron pipe) doesn't seem like the right tool. Should I just find a metal worker with a horizontal bandsaw? Is there a way of using a hacksaw with a guide to prevent messy cuts?

Can the chains be shortened using a bike (or motorcycle) chain tool? I tried this before and broke my tool.

Thanks for your help!