Prepping black iron pipe for welding?

Metal Shop
#21

I just updated the thread title and description to be more relevant to what the conversation has gone towards :sweat_smile:
I got busy yesterday and forgot to do it. Sorry everyone!

Iā€™ve never dealt with black iron pipe before. After some research online with other people who have used it, Iā€™ve just heard that they need to give it a good scrubbing with acetone to get the machine oil off of it. From some sources, it sounded like that was the black coating but I was probably wrong with thatā€¦

Youā€™ve welded it before? What steps did you go through to prepare it for welding?

#22

Also, I want to say thank you to all of you for helping a novice like myself understand all of this a little better. I really appreciate all of your continued input! :raised_hands:
Iā€™m planning on doing this in the next month or so, so having all this to process is really helpful.

1 Like
#23

I hit it with a wire wheel (like pretty much everything I weld) then have at it. Itā€™s really not a big deal.

2 Likes
#24

Sounds good, Iā€™ll have to see if I can bug someone to walk me through everything to make sure Iā€™m doing it right when I can get all the materials.
Thanks!

#25

I usually just weld it. In your case I may perhaps grind a bevel on the end but probably not and I would not weld it solid, depending on pipe size. You have not mentioned what size pipe but those castors will not lend themselves to more than a 1" pipe. 1" pipe I would weld solid just because it would be too much trouble to do otherwise. Remember: the less weld you use the less distortion you get, so try to weld ā€œJust enoughā€.

Just to complicate things I would recommend square tube over pipe. Looks better , easier to make tight joints and keep square, I think you will find it more cost effective. I think you could use 1.5 square with a 1/8 wall and still have room to put a wrench on the bolts. Lighter too.

#26

For the piece Iā€™m making, Iā€™m really partial to the Industrial look that the black iron pipe gives it.
Iā€™m leaning towards 3/4 pipe right now.
And as was mentioned previously in the post, I wonā€™t be welding directly to the casters anymore. Iā€™ll be welding a plate to the pipe then mounting the casters to that plate.

#27

You just have to be sure you have room for the bolt heads after you weld the plate on the end. 3/4" will be 1" OD and you have plenty of room for the bolt heads. you could even use 1" and clear quite nicely. Flash off!!