good $price$ for tubing?

[elfonzo91]

is $.60 per ft a good price for 2" thick wall?
$.50 for 3.5" thin wall
$.70 for 2.75" thick wall
$.55 for 1.5"
$.50 for 1"
$.25 for .75"
i can get them in 5' to 40' sections

 

[ironman]

To bad your not closer i like to by some 1.5" i built my last kart with 22 feet so that would be $11.10 sounds good to me. I know i spent more than that

 

[elfonzo91]

yeah? i'm working at Webco
i straighten tubes as of now soon i'll be an over head crane operator
workers can buy tubes that are "scrap"
scrap usualy means the tube can't b straightened is it is cut the wrong length

 

[newrider3]

I have to pay a buck or more per foot for anything besides black pipe around here, I'd say you're getting a steal.

 

[chetcpo]

Steel prices are down right now. I just helped a buddy weld up a Lotus 7 frame and we used 1x1 .065 rectangular tube that I purchased for $.47 a foot locally. We built the suspension bits (a arms) from 1"x.065 round DOM which we paid $2 a foot for, but as high as that sounds it's actually pretty cheap for seamless DOM. Locally the square is sold in 24' lengths and the DOM in 20' lengths. It seems that I see a lot of karts built from really thick wall tubing. Usually around the order of .120 from what I've seen which seems like overkill to me. The kart I've been working on is made from some really thick stuff too. It looks to me like they could make these things a lot lighter if they triangulated things a bit and used thinner tubes. The thick stuff is however easier to bend without ovalizing, so maybe it's favored because it's easier to bend and weld.

FWIW I found your reference to "thin wall" and "thick wall" is a bit confusing. Those terms are pretty subjective and could mean a lot of different things. I know people who consider .120 thin, and I, and others I would imagine would consider that to be pretty thick tubing to use for frame construction.

For those who don't have good steel distributors locally I recommend onlinemetals.com and their competitor metalsdepot.com. I've used them both when ordering odd sizes in small amounts and their prices are decent.

 

[elfonzo91]

1/4" thick walls
i bought 20feet of the 2.195" for$12
i think i will use it for a go kart frame
what are some good ideas?

 

[ktm450exc]

Steel prices are down right now. I just helped a buddy weld up a Lotus 7 frame and we used 1x1 .065 rectangular tube that I purchased for $.47 a foot locally. We built the suspension bits (a arms) from 1"x.065 round DOM which we paid $2 a foot for, but as high as that sounds it's actually pretty cheap for seamless DOM. Locally the square is sold in 24' lengths and the DOM in 20' lengths. It seems that I see a lot of karts built from really thick wall tubing. Usually around the order of .120 from what I've seen which seems like overkill to me. The kart I've been working on is made from some really thick stuff too. It looks to me like they could make these things a lot lighter if they triangulated things a bit and used thinner tubes. The thick stuff is however easier to bend without ovalizing, so maybe it's favored because it's easier to bend and weld.

FWIW I found your reference to "thin wall" and "thick wall" is a bit confusing. Those terms are pretty subjective and could mean a lot of different things. I know people who consider .120 thin, and I, and others I would imagine would consider that to be pretty thick tubing to use for frame construction.

For those who don't have good steel distributors locally I recommend onlinemetals.com and their competitor metalsdepot.com. I've used them both when ordering odd sizes in small amounts and their prices are decent.

A little more info on the Lotus 7. Is the frame mainly 1'x 1" rec. tube?? What are you guys using to weld it up ??(mig, tig)

Always thought the Super 7's were cool

 

[modelengineer]

As someone about to start on a Lotus 7, I'll say that most frames are 1" x 1" x 1/16".

The frame I'll be constructing:

A bit more rigid than the standard frame since here in Australia the chassis must be torsion tested and achieve more than 4,000 Nm/deg. A normal seven chassis struggles to get 2,000 Nm/deg.

 

[Kenny_McCormic]

Use chro moly steel?

 

[modelengineer]

Nah, it's so much more expensive, must be TIG welded and it's better if it's heat treated after welding. Too much hassle.