Thread: Advice re arched mild steel tube please

Originally Posted by maddimoo

I would appreciate recommendations as to where I may have 3 32nb round tube steel, rolled to produce a 200mm rise, finished length 2.6 metres, at a reasonable price, Melbourne south eastern suburbs.

The couple of quotes I have had are from larger fabrication outlets and exceed my budget and the cost of all the raw materials for the shade structure in total.

could you just weld a short radius bend in or is there a lot of them required.
Short radius bends are available from most plumbing suppliers.

Phil

Could you DIY with an hydraulic pipe bender, a small bend on maybe 300 centres? Its not going to be a true arc of course but you would have to look hard to see that it wasn't. A little bit of maths or CAD or drawing board involved to work out how deep each bend needs to be to provide an overall 200 deep arc.

Something like this?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-16-TO...item4d0cc9d21a

Originally Posted by bob ward

Could you DIY with an hydraulic pipe bender, a small bend on maybe 300 centres? Its not going to be a true arc of course but you would have to look hard to see that it wasn't. A little bit of maths or CAD or drawing board involved to work out how deep each bend needs to be to provide an overall 200 deep arc.

Something like this?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-16-TO...item4d0cc9d21a

Thanks v much for your direction.....I will buy one in the morning lol now the joys of inserting sand to avoid any crimp......still 1/6 the cost of the quotes!

Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer

could you just weld a short radius bend in or is there a lot of them required.
Short radius bends are available from most plumbing suppliers.

Phil

Yes, the initial 3 are only the beginning of project(s) in an attempt shade my house that has north sun the full length of the house.

200 mm over 2.6 meters...hell y'd just about hand bend that with a bit or care and a jig with something solid to attache it too.

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

200 mm over 2.6 meters...hell y'd just about hand bend that with a bit or care and a jig with something solid to attache it too.

cheers

That's what I'd do.
As a matter of interest, what sort of pricing were you given for rolling the pipes? You will probably find that rolling 10 will not be a great deal more expensive than 1. The setup time is the killer.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

That's what I'd do.
As a matter of interest, what sort of pricing were you given for rolling the pipes? You will probably find that rolling 10 will not be a great deal more expensive than 1. The setup time is the killer.

just under six hundred plus GST

Hooly dooley!
Thats way too much even allowing for setup cost. That tells me that the firm didn't want the job and priced accordingly.
Thinking back to the last place I worked, we had a set of section rolls and that job would have come in at around 1 hours labour plus cost of material, so probably $200+GST at most.

Can I ask the obvious question, does it have to be an arc?

Originally Posted by jatt

Can I ask the obvious question, does it have to be an arc?

Two reasons really..

with the current regulations from council if I place anything within 90cm of boundry I may only have a height of 2.4 metres and so I think an arch feels less low and flat, taking on board the space, width wise is fairly narrow.

I find rounded or curved shapes more visually appealing

Could you substitute 32NB for 50X25 RHS? It would be a much easier section to manually form your desired arch with and keep twist free. Pipe can move in any one of 360 different directions, whereas SHS and RHS indexes naturally at 90 degree intervals. The 50mm width will give rigidity where it is needed and the 25mm depth will be much easier to arch than the 43mm of the pipe.

Is that quote for steel plus bending x 10 units?

I have a similar issue with some shade sails over the pool.
I need to make a boom that hangs over the middle of the pool.

I only need one but I was thinking of making a long, curved canoe shaped truss out of 25nb gal pipe and 10mm solid rod.

I was just going to mock up the shape of the arc on the floor of the workshop and lock it all in to shape with the welder..
But I'm liking your idea better!

One place I worked for, built truck bodies....I wired em.

They used to bend bows for the roofs of the pantench bodies just about every day.

Yep typically about 2.4 meters wide.

They made em out of 25 x 25 shs.

There was this jig that consisted of a frame with a series of blocks.

Any apprentice could operate it.

ya took ya precut length of 25 square....shoved it in the end set of blocks..slipped the special length of 32square over the end..and jumped on it till it reached the stop....of course it sprung back a bit.

Total time taken.....30 seconds per piece

cheers

I like the idea of an arc if it fits in! Sometimes subtle details in a custom job can mean the difference between a 'diy' looking job and something a little unique and classy.

I'm lucky as I have trained my family very well to tell me the truth on how something looks! If it's a pear shaped idea or it just didn't make it...they tell me!

I can go off on tangents with what I like and completely get it wrong with the final look of a project! I get lots of freedom in the design and building works and I know if they say something...I need to re assess it!

Besides, they all get a kick out of having their ideas and changes being part of a final product.