Sched. 40 Alum Pipe Sourcing

[jstroming]

Hello all;

Currently building some meat racks, looking for some aluminum pipe suppliers. I need about 300' of 1.5" sched. 40 initially. I'd prefer to go pick it up, I'm located in NYC, shop's in North Jersey, so I can travel a ways to pick it up. I've tried the usual suspects (lewisohn, mcmaster, IronWorks, etc) and the cheapest I've been able to get down to is $5.20/ft. Any suggestions on suppliers? Thanks friends!

 

[FatherMurphy]

Instead of asking for '1 1/2 inch schedule 40 pipe', try asking for '2 inch diameter structural tubing, 1/8" wall'. You should be able to get the price down to about half the pipe cost you mentioned. Check with some local fabrication shops to see who the region's suppliers are. The aluminum itself is a commodity that's market priced competitively across the country, but shipping is another matter.

 

[jstroming]

Thanks for that. i'm using this with kee klamps that are expecting 1.9"OD pipe. Will the structural tubing be too big for the kee klamp?

 

[FatherMurphy]

Depends on the tolerance of the kee klamps. Structural tubing is exact measurements, not nominal, so a 2" OD tube does require a full 2" hole. If you have the klamps on hand already, measure one. If it's 2", you're good. If it's under 2", you'll either need to stay with the pipe, or bore out the clamps, or come up with a different design.

 

[ajb]

Silly question--have you checked the yellow pages for metal suppliers?

If that doesn't (or didn't) work, definitely check with local fabricators as FatherMurphy suggests.

And just another thought--unless you *need* them to be aluminum for weight reasons, steel pipe will be cheaper and probably endure the frequent clamping/unclamping better.

 

[GreyWyvern]

Since weight was brought up, what would the weight difference be per foot between aluminum and steel?

 

[jwl868]

Based on specific gravity of steel (7.85) and aluminum (2.7), the ratio is 7.85/2.7 = 2.9. So, for a given schedule (or diameter/wall thickness), steel will be about 3 times the weight of the aluminum.

Joe

 

[Sean]

Slightly cheaper:
Amazon.com: Aluminum 6061-T6 Pipe Schedule 40 1.5" nom. (1.9" OD x 0.15" Wall x 1.61" ID) Cut to 72": Industrial & Scientific

Much cheaper:
1.5" Schedule 40 Aluminum Pipe - Aluminum Pipe - Global Technology & Engineering


Weight:
Pipe - Global Technology & Engineering
Aluminum: .94 lbs/ft
Steel: 2.718 lbs/ft

 

[GreyWyvern]

Thanks Sean and Joe. Helpful information. An 8 or 10 foot length wouldn't make much difference, but 300 feet worth of pipe could make quite a difference.

 

[jstroming]

Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[BrianWolfe]

Don't know if it too far away but I have gotten some great pricing in the past from Fall Fittings 845-255-5710.

 

[jstroming]

Just called Fall Fittings, quoted me $3.00/ft. Looks like I'll be making a trip up there next week! Thanks.

 

[MNBallet]

I made my meat rack from old scafolding. Sometimes rental places get new gear in and will sell old fr dirt cheap prices. Then I just had to weld the long pipe that the lights hang from. works great and was really cheap

Ken Pogin
Production / Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet