23/8ths pipe drops for construction projects

[jaxs]

I need practice welding so I picked up 200 pounds of pipe drops for $6. After running a few beads with various wire and rods I thought I might as well build something while burning filler. AaaaHAaa,storage rack for angle iron, square tube and such. I clamped pieces of 2&3/8ths pipe end to end with 1.5x1.5 angle to hold it straight,tacked it,removed angle then ran a bead around joint. I don't want this thing to collapse under load and kill me so not trusting my welds,I devised what I believe will make joints strong as pipe. After flattening tips on 3 evenly spaced #8 common nails,they can be started between 23/8 and 27/8 pipes then driven in between 1/2" to hold joint firm. How firm? While looking for backer/filler for the +- 0.120 gap between pipes,I discovered force of driving nails in distorted pipe a few thousandths. THAT'S TIGHT! 6" sleeves of 27/8 slipped over 23/8, centered over joint,3 evenly spaced nails driven in each end,spot weld nails to pipes, cut nail off flush with cold chisel and hit them with grinder. Knocked flux off 1/8" 6011 rod,wrapped rod around pipe to form a ring,cut ring in 3 parts to fit between spot welded nails,used chisel to stake rod in gap then 3 passes with 3/32 6011 to weld it up. :drink: I'm still making up lengths and cutting fish mouths(a bunch of fish mouths) needed for rack. Hopefully I can get my clever granddaughter to post a few pics of assembly. I realize that's taking more time and effort than doing it with new pipe but as I said,it's good practice with torch and welder. The 200 lbs of pipe would cost close to $100 in full sticks so there is some value in doing it.

 

[metalbender]

Pics for sure. How long are the drops?

 

[jaxs]

The average drop from fencing is about 2' and rarely more than 4'. I was able to pick and chose from a big pile. After this brainstorm hit me,I measured and marked several pieces with soapstone to make choosing pieces easier. Two nights later,rain washed soapstone off.:confused3: I have a few 37-40 and and 30-35. My desighn need's mostly 6' and 5' with a few 3' and 4'. The jury is out as to whether to buy one full stick for base that contact's ground. Reason being that if rack is ever set on concrete,randomly placed sleeves might cause rocking/instability. In the spirit of using 100% castaway pipe without compromising strength,I'm considering redundant sleeves placed in a pattern that prevent's rocking. This project will move slow so I'm going attempt changing title to incourage others to post their budget/frugal/recycle/build it with junk ideas. Lord know's TBN threads are known to drift all over the universe,no reason to limit this to one old rusty rack 90 days in the making. Even if I'm unable to change title,y'all post up your something from nothing ideas and projects.

 

[jaxs]

I wasn't able to edit title,is it possible? If not,just pretend it was and post away.:drink:

 

[flyerdan]

I've done a lot with 2.375" DQ, we'd get it in 38 foot lengths for cantilever gates. Most of the time it wasn't long enough as gates were routinely over 45 feet, so I would sleeve it inside with 1.875" plug welded primarily to keep it from opening up while a small C channel lined up the two sections. I'd always position the splice so it had an upright on it for additional support, takes a bit more figuring the cut list but makes a superior gate.
The bigger sizes are easier to come by as drop; when I took over that part of the shop the rem rack was overflowing with all kinds of stuff because it was easier to grab a fresh stick off the rack than measure and see if what you needed was in the rack. I whittled it down to the point you couldn't hardly find any 1.375 or 1.625 rems because I always looked there first for small lengths, it got used for sleeves, barb arms and the like. The bigger stuff would generally get used when a post needed extending, often times there would be a 78" post that could have 24" added as two and a half feet were going into the ground.

 

[metalbender]

Too much fiddlin' with sleeves, grind a bevel, weld end to end, call it good. A couple practice bits will suffice.

 

[flyerdan]

As a rule I agree; a good weldment, like a good wood glue joint, the base material on either side should fail before the joining.
Early on we had one gate come back (that I didn't build) where the bottom rail had broken at a joint where they just added on in the middle of a bay. That's why I always spaced my splices so they'd have an upright, I didn't want to incur the wrath of the install crew super.
Another good example of necessary sleeving: sometimes we'd have big gates that needed powder coating. Since the max oven depth was something like 26 feet, cantilevers had to go in two pieces, I'd have different length sleeves on all three (top rail, bottom rail, strongback) splices so it would be easier to line up.