Where are most you buying your metal tubing from?

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machinist@large

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Also Tube is designed and sold to be structural, As Pipe is not.
So although it Does work. The Quality control in manufacturing is NOT there.

With the Price and weight I just do not see the point. Other than the Convenience of a Lowes or Home depot in Every town in the states.

Oh yeah I found a receipt. 10" of 1" .065 wall tube 7 bucks.

So.... You claim black pipe isn't structural without ever having used it? If pipe of any sort is beneath you, so be it. As for receipt, that may well be all and good: one major issue is that. 065" wall tube for that price is pretty much paper machaie. I'll only use it for things like adding a sheet of peg board to a cabinet or storage rack.

I don't have anything that flimsy at home. I'll have to scrounge up something at work on Monday to try to explain the difference to you....
 

chancer

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It is almost as if you cannot read Machinist@large
I did not say the Pipe would not work.
I have used both 1/2 gas pipe and 1" .065 wall tubing.

although it Does work.

I was speaking from Experience.
Like I said I have used both and like the Tube better.

I have the Orange HF "PIPE" bender. ($40.00 CL) I have had it work great with pipe.

To be honest I made my first frame with 1/2 pipe simply because I had the pipe bender.

I CLEARLY MENTIONED 4 TIMES IN 3 POSTS IN THIS THREAD NOW READ CAREFULLY
"I HAVE USED IT AND IT WILL WORK."

I ALSO MENTIONED I USE .120 WALL TUBE AS WELL AS .065
 
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OzFab

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How do you bend your tubing? tubing bender or an actual pipe bender? Any problems with kinking?

Read your question again; what do you think is the logical answer?

one major issue is that. 065" wall tube for that price is pretty much paper machaie.

Sorry Pat but, my kart (& just about every yard kart in existence) is made of 0.065" tube & does the job rather well...

Racing karts? That a different story...
 

chancer

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Read your question again; what do you think is the logical answer?

No Offense
But it was actually a legit question, because as I answered him...
I actually have used the pipe bender for the tube on certain bends with some minor modification to the bender.
 

Functional Artist

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Read your question again; what do you think is the logical answer?



Sorry Pat but, my kart (& just about every yard kart in existence) is made of 0.065" tube & does the job rather well...

Racing karts? That a different story...

Hey OzFab,

Read my question again?

Really? WT:censored:

This forum is SUPPOSED to be for asking questions & gathering information.

I suspect that the logical answer is a H F bender like many of us have. :cornut:

I didn't know for sure, I asked the question to see if others have invested in an actual "tube" bender or are just using a cheap, easily accessible or borrow-able "pipe" bender.

& if they are using a "pipe' bender, to bend tubing, which according to KartFab, a "pipe" bender is the wrong tool for the job, I was interested to know what kind of results they have had.

What do you use?

Can you share your results with the class?
 

firemanjim

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In Houston, I buy all my steel from triple s steel on telephone road...... I believe the real name is Standard Steel Supply
 

OzFab

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Welcome back, Jim...again...

My apologies, I didn't intend to seem brash or confronting...

I suspect that the logical answer is a H F bender like many of us have. :cornut:

Logically, I see it differently, it's in the name; the cheap HF bender is a pipe bender, not a tube bender, therefore, it is made to bend pipe, not tube...

according to KartFab, a "pipe" bender is the wrong tool for the job, I was interested to know what kind of results they have had.

He would be correct...

Some have had varying levels of success with thick wall tube; search "mysteryboy"...

I posted in this thread two days ago:

The main differences between pipe & tube are:
- pipe is measured by the ID (inside diameter), tube is measured by the OD (outside diameter)
- pipe always has thicker wall than thin wall tube, making it heavier

The thicker walls help to retain the profile of pipe in a pipe bender, not so much when trying to bend thin wall tube; some say "filling the tube with sand helps to retain the profile", personally, I didn't find this useful...

What do you use?

Can you share your results with the class?

I attempted to bend thin wall tube with a pipe bender, as suggested by members of this forum, with ZERO success; whether I used wet sand, dry sand or no sand, the results were the same, with thin wall tube in a pipe bender, all I achieved was kinks, not bends...

Using a tube bender, I had much greater success...
 

Functional Artist

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It's all good! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the info! :cheers2:

You can't buy this stuff in stores.

I have been building karts for years but, TBH I have learned sooooo much more in the last couple of months being on this forum.

I'll say it again, cause Po Boy likes it when I repeat myself, YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!

I looked on eBay doin' research on tubing benders since we have been talkin' about em'.

It's kinda confusing, most listings advertise "pipe/tubing bender" & "tube & pipe bender".

The very first one that pops up is the same one most of us has with the same 6 dies.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...2.A0.H0.Xtub.TRS1&_nkw=tubing+bender&_sacat=0

I should probably start another thread but, (while we're here, the class may be interested) what is the main difference, between a tubing bender & pipe bender?

Is the size of the dies or actually how the tool bends the material?
 

chancer

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It is how the bender applies pressure and where. I found alot of info on You tube when I got mine. Also there are threads here on this topic and the HF bender.
 

chancer

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OzFab

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That appears to be a 90° die with a fixed follower, most die sets include a round follower which rolls along the tube...

The significant difference between pipe & tube benders is the price, tube benders are always more expensive & most don't come with die sets, they're sold separately; in most cases, a single die set (as in, one die & matching follower) is more expensive than a pipe bender...

Then there's mandrel benders...
 

mckutzy

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#7: Spend the littlest amount as possible.
#8: Do not listen to sound advise from experienced people, do what exactly what YOU want.
 

machinist@large

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#9: When you crash and burn, and are maimed for life, blame everyone who tried to prevent it.
#10: Start a go fund me account to try and raise money for the medical/funeral bills from all of the above.
 

Functional Artist

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So... to clarify... for the average DIY'er

Since, some folks can't read between the lines or use deductive reasoning.

Do we agree on these facts?

Tubing is the superior choice to build go kart & minibike frames.

Because the tubing is lighter & more structural (I guess?) but, it usually costs more & an expensive tubing bender is necessary, to bend it properly.

But, regular old, even used, "water pipe" is an acceptable substitute.

Because it is easily accessible (any hardware store), costs less & can be bent with a cheap HF bender. :cool:

Uh Oh! Duck! I'm repeating myself again. :lolgoku:
 

machinist@large

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So... to clarify... for the average DIY'er

Since, some folks can't read between the lines or use deductive reasoning.

Do we agree on these facts?

Tubing is the superior choice to build go kart & minibike frames.

Because the tubing is lighter & more structural (I guess?) but, it usually costs more & an expensive tubing bender is necessary, to bend it properly.

But, regular old, even used, "water pipe" is an acceptable substitute.

Because it is easily accessible (any hardware store), costs less & can be bent with a cheap HF bender. :cool:

Uh Oh! Duck! I'm repeating myself again. :lolgoku:

Production manufacturers use engineered structural materials (such as tubing) because it meets specified criteria. Pipe also has to meet certain standards; those standards are of a different type, of which the most critical is that it has enough wall thickness that you can cut threads on the end, assemble it in the field, and expect it to stand up to several hundred pounds of pressure per square inch of cross section.

Structural tubing, such as is used in factory built karts is (usually) very nice stuff, but it was designed for that type of application. Properly manufactured schedule 40 pipe can hold its own for kart use, you'll just pay a penalty for weight. The flip side is that the extra wall cross section actually makes it easier to weld.
 
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