Thread: Welding Water Pipe

When I was a kid my Dad welded up all sorts of things out of galvanised water pipe, farm gates included. The main reason he used it was that it was galvanised and so therefore was more resistant to corrosion than plain old black pipe. The welding process obviously "burnt" off the galvanising in the area around the weld and so once the welding was done Dad would paint all the welds with this stuff called Galvert. Galvert is just a zinc rich paint and so also affords some protection against corrosion.

When you are welding galvanised steel you need to do so in a well ventilated area because the galvanising contains lead which you don't want to be breathing. I guess you should also wear a respirator but Dad never did.

Hi Riverland,
I assume its something to do with availablility and the galvanizing...built-in rust treatment. Maybe a bit to do with bending in a pipe bender. When joining pipe at a "T" its usual to flatten the terminating end, and weld a simple line than try to fit it decently then weld all around it. Does that make sense?
I would avoid it because of the galvanising, due to fumes and it being harder to weld. I find it seems to sparkle and flare more than run a decent weld:confused:.
What is the steel you bought, pipe or square? Either way I'd stick to plain black steel then get it rust treated...galv dipped or powder coating.


Cheers,

G'day Riverland

Welcome to the forum, the manufacture of gates out of gal pipe is really to do with the ease of making and installing the gates.

1# Galvanised protection
2# Cheap and easy to make
3# Instant hinging system due to having mounting hole and round surface for collar
4# Light but strong and won't sag due to weldmesh

Thankyou to everyone for the help. l had already brought steel which is blue, but a mate (who thinks he knows everything) said that l should be using water pipe for the gates and as i am new to all this and want to do it right, l thought that l would ask here as l have never known my mate to be right about anything, but there could be a first time which is why i was asking. So l would take everyones reply as he is wrong once again. Thanks to all for there input.

Originally Posted by Riverland

Thankyou to everyone for the help. l had already brought steel which is blue...

The blue paint is decent protection against corrosion, but probably not quite as effective as galvanised steel. I think the fumes are less harmful though (but NOT harmless). If you weld it up and spray the welds with "zinc cote" or some other 60% zinc primer it will be well protected. If you want a nice job with full protection, pickup some rust proof metal primer, paint it, then paint it a colour of choice after that. Obviously if you're making a lot of fencing, etc, you are better off just spraying the welds and exposed bits with the zinc stuff, to avoid hours of painting.

Years ago water pipe was available to everyone , no bunnings or metaland then, so water pipe was often all you could get and was galvo coated thick walled that allowed handyman more tollerance in his welds and you could buy pipe brackets to suit every angle
some people don't move on & I guess your mate is one , stick with the stuff you have bought

Rgds

I have made heaps of farm gates - doesn't matter what you use as long as it is gal - I always use a gal tubing usually around 1inch. One can also buy gate mesh - this makes your gate look prof built. I have picked up heaps of old gates from the local second hand scrappy dealer, often works out heaps cheaper.
Mind you I am starting to see some import gates go for very cheep.

When welding gal grind of the gal coating first otherwise one creates a lot of fumes that can give you cold symptoms also the weld is weaker because it mixes with the cal crap. Don't grind of more then you need as gal paint is DAMN expensive.