[HN Gopher] Maker Pipe - Structural Pipe Fittings for DIY Builders
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Maker Pipe - Structural Pipe Fittings for DIY Builders
Author : elsewhen
Score : 232 points
Date : 2024-09-24 04:43 UTC (18 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (makerpipe.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (makerpipe.com)
| esses wrote:
| I have been shopping for pickup truck bed organization racks that
| are in the thousands of dollars, but can never pull the trigger
| because they do not seem like they should cost that much. If I
| can design these to support the weight I need they will find
| their way in to the truck bed and my overlanding rig.
| conductr wrote:
| Probably a little pricier but I've had great success with
| linear rails for projects like that. There's a ton of sizes and
| accessories like wheels and plates and various hardware
|
| https://openbuildspartstore.com/linear-rail/
| TmpstsTrrctta wrote:
| +1 for rails like these. I've used 10 series aluminum
| extrusions in a roof rack, roof top tent, awning and solar
| panel setup. I purchased all mine and accessories from here
|
| https://www.tnutz.com/product-category/10-series-extrusions/
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| Incidentally, as a kid I loved Fischertechnik kits; they're
| like Lego but instead of a brick as the basic element, they
| have X-linear rails.
| linsomniac wrote:
| For a larger project, consider buying from Alibaba. ~5 years
| ago I built a series of workbenches using 20 series and even
| with the shipping from China costs, I saved 2-3x over buying
| from the maker places. IIRC, final total was around $700.
| ryukoposting wrote:
| One thing to keep in mind with this stuff is that it's really
| heavy. Regular aluminum square tube is much lighter for a
| given length/size. If you're making something that moves, it
| may be worth the effort to grab some plain square extrusion
| and hand-fabricate some brackets.
| sokoloff wrote:
| I think you're far better off with black pipe or rigid metal
| conduit than EMT (thinner conduit which is not even allowed to
| support a light or outlet per the electrical code).
|
| Black pipe is still pretty cheap and way stronger than EMT.
| convolvatron wrote:
| actual structural steel round and square tube in 20' sections
| from a steel supplier isn't any more expensive than black
| pipe and is stronger and considerably easier to work with (no
| paint, less grainy). you can also make your own fittings
| since the right tube sizes are nesting. I do 1" square and
| clamps made out of 1-1/4" with 1/8" wall. that is quite a bit
| stronger than emt for maybe 20% additional cost.
| sokoloff wrote:
| All true; as a DIYer, it's a damn lot easier to buy pipe
| from Home Depot or Lowes than chase down the local steel
| supplier and figure out how to either get 20' lengths of
| tubing home or deal with asking them to cut it for what
| they know is a grand total of two tubes ever in your
| lifetime as a customer.
| convolvatron wrote:
| the places I go they don't mind if you bring a portaband
| or a cut off wheel and spend a couple minutes in their
| yard. actually the place I often go has a chop saw out
| front. delivery in the city is $20. another place is
| happy to do cuts for $5, but you have to not mind waiting
| around for them to get to it.
| potato3732842 wrote:
| Unistrut is probably the better choice because there's a
| better/cheaper set of hardware relevant to your use for
| unistrut than there is for EMT. (Probably because unistrut is
| designed to hold thing whereas the EMT universe of hardware is
| more designed for holding EMT to other things)
| quickthrowman wrote:
| You cannot use EMT to support actual weight. RMC or 12ga strut
| can support an actual load.
| NegativeLatency wrote:
| Took a welding class recently, it wasn't that hard to get
| something pretty strong that could be ground and painted to
| look nice. You could build exactly what you want with a couple
| hundred for a stick welder and safety gear. Some places that
| teach welding will also let you rent their gear/shop time.
| hackcasual wrote:
| EMT conduit isn't a great support material if you're handling
| human weight loads. The picture on the front page showing off the
| strength is visibly bending. It's kind of an awkward load
| profile, lower weight like an awning you're probably using ABS,
| higher weight you're using 1 1/4" system like steeltek or
| keeklamp
| Animats wrote:
| Right. There are many structural pipe fitting systems. Here's
| one.[1] Grainger, McMaster-Carr, and larger hardware stores
| stock them. Usually, they use bigger pipe. Fittings are really
| cheap on Alibaba.
|
| [1] https://www.easyfit.com/catalog
| fidotron wrote:
| What are the right keywords to use when searching for the
| fittings?
|
| My ali efforts often get flooded with nonsense.
| DannyBee wrote:
| Pipe racking connector
|
| Modular pipe connector
|
| Those do okay without you getting hundreds of irrelevant
| air hose fittings
| bluGill wrote:
| If it is structural I'd buy from a big place not Ali.
| Unless you have the ability to verify the material really
| has the claimed properties you need you should stick with a
| major trusted supplier who will either verify the factory
| produces fittings to spec, or test everything for you.
| potato3732842 wrote:
| Paying big bucks for a paper trail is almost never cost
| or time effective compared to just adding safety factor
| for "normal applications".
|
| And by "normal applications" I mean "please nobody be
| intentionally obtuse and start nit picking about
| aerospace applications and connecting rod bolts and
| whatnot".
| night862 wrote:
| I would nit-pick about your cantilever worktable failing
| because of a crappy fastener, killing your cat. Child
| even?
| potato3732842 wrote:
| There will always be a weakest link. At some point you
| just gotta be an adult and not build things to within an
| inch of their lives for the use they will see and then
| have the self control to not push the limit. Resources
| are limited and engineering tradeoffs are everywhere.
| These discussions always devolve into absurdity very
| quickly.
| quickthrowman wrote:
| "Don't buy fittings made from Chinese pot metal" is a
| simple way to avoid catastrophic failure due to
| substandard materials.
| bluGill wrote:
| I don't need the paper trail just the quality it provide.
| That is often available for much less.
| fidotron wrote:
| If it is to support a human I would tend to agree, but
| for desks etc. I have found local supplies (Canada) have
| declined in quality to such a degree they need the level
| of QA on arrival the Chinese ones do while costing 5-10x
| as much.
| bluGill wrote:
| unfortunately the big box stores do not check quality.
| mcmaster which was pointed out above does and is a
| similar price. I am not sure about granger.
| rpcope1 wrote:
| If you're buying hardware that has any possibility of
| harming someone or doing any amount of non-trivial damage
| if it fails from AliExpress or Amazon, you're doing it
| wrong and should reconsider whatever it is you're doing.
| Even the hardware from HD is generally pretty shitty these
| days. If you can't afford or won't go buy it from Fastenal
| or MMC or somewhere reputable, where you can expect the
| hardware you're buying actually adheres to a stated grade
| or spec, you just shouldn't do it.
| jalk wrote:
| And that's even with his feet on the ground out of frame ;)
| dddw wrote:
| Good to know, my first thought seeing this way. I could build a
| raised bed. You save some lotta time
| DannyBee wrote:
| Emt will eventually rust if not painted as well, depending
| how much you care. It is really mostly used in open
| commercial/industrial settings (if you go to home depot or
| Costco you will see emt running everywhere). Aluminum is your
| obvious metal winner for this sort of thing outdoors (cost
| wise). PVC, even thick wall, becomes brittle pretty quickly
| in sunlight.
|
| This is why you see wood or outdoor plastics for raised
| garden beds
| DannyBee wrote:
| Agreed. EMT exists to keep wire from getting damaged by
| accident. It isn't even considered self supporting let alone
| structural.
|
| You can easily bend 1/2 emt by hand.
| quesera wrote:
| But 3/4" is also readily available, and much stronger. And of
| course larger gauges are available as well, just more
| difficult to bend with a standard manual bender.
|
| I wouldn't use it for scaffolding(!) or anything supporting
| dynamic loads in the human-scale, but I've sistered three
| 3/4" EMT pipes together for an extremely strong, rigid, and
| inexpensive support pole.
| DannyBee wrote:
| Sure, you can use it for stuff, just don't expect it to
| hold anything real in any meaningful span.
|
| Here's some real values for you:
|
| 2ft 3/4 EMT has an expected failure force of about 3300lbs
| (some studies found actual is around 3900-4200lbs).
|
| 4ft 3/4 EMT ha an expected failure force of about 2000lbs.
|
| 8ft 3/4 EMT has an expected failure force of about 450lbs.
|
| So it is non-linear.
|
| This is the point at which it fails catastrophically, not
| the point at which it starts sagging.
|
| They are also not permanent load ratings, include no safety
| factors, etc.
|
| Cost wise, 3/4 EMT costs 11 bucks for a 10ft piece at my
| home depot.
|
| I can go to my local metal supply and get 3/4 square
| structural steel tube for < $1.00 a ft.
|
| This is relatively in line with online suppliers so i
| believe it's not an exception:
| https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/square-tube
|
| This is structurally rated steel tube - it will hold much
| more than the EMT, it is meant for holding things, and
| being square, it's often easier to work with.
|
| So i just don't know why i'd use the EMT.
| quesera wrote:
| EMT is light weight, readily available on weekend
| evenings, inexpensive, cuts easily, bends easily, is
| reasonably rustproof, and good enough for many
| applications.
|
| It is "appropriate technology" for some applications, but
| of course there are better options when the requirements
| approach its critical limits!
|
| I've used EMT to build big hoop trellises for growing
| vines. Bends smoothly into pairs of 10' arcs (using some
| ad hoc jigs), weighs almost nothing, requires minimal
| paint protection, supports more curcubits than our
| friends and family can consume, and lasts ~forever.
|
| One of the tricks with EMT construction is to leverage
| the design for structural rigidity. E.g. geodesic domes
| with short members are extremely strong. Anything in
| compression will do well. If you need resistance to
| deflection across a long unsupported span, then I
| definitely agree -- EMT is not your material of choice!
| DannyBee wrote:
| (steel tubing is available on weekends and evenings too,
| fwiw)
|
| I agree it's good enough for random aesthetic stuff, but
| even outdoor stuff is silly to use it for if you care
| about aesthetics. It really does rust pretty quickly
| these days. I have plenty of EMT that is 20 years old and
| not rusted, and plenty next to it that is 5 years old and
| rusty.
|
| The latter is from different vendors, too. The specs over
| the years have gotten worse because nobody really uses
| EMT outdoors without painting it unless they are willing
| to accept it rusting to crap.
|
| For your case, you could just use pvc pipe, cheaper,
| bends easier, cuts easier, can be glued directly, will
| never rust, you don't care about weight limits.
|
| However, if you remember where we started, this article
| is about "structural pipe fittings" for EMT.
|
| That is a horrible horrible idea.
| quesera wrote:
| PVC pipe does not survive outdoors, and the failure mode
| is messy.
|
| "Structural" does not necessarily mean "very strong".
|
| I think we mostly agree here though. I've used EMT for
| lots of things, and it has never ever let me down even
| slightly. I have also chosen square steel tubing for
| (less frequent) cases.
|
| Choosing carefully is the key. When EMT fits, it's great
| stuff and preferable in many ways.
| happyopossum wrote:
| > PVC pipe does not survive outdoors, and the failure
| mode is messy.
|
| That's just not the case - thousands of pool owners can
| point to 20+ year old PVC pipes and fittings in exposed
| pool equipment decks...
| quesera wrote:
| I hear this in other comments, but I cannot reconcile it
| with my own direct experience with brittle white PVC
| pipes.
|
| There are a few grades of white PVC, including Schedule
| 40. There must be a subset of options which are
| appropriate for outdoor use.
|
| [Edit: FWIW A superficial web search agrees with me that
| standard white PVC will degrade in UV. A common
| recommendation is to use "furniture grade" PVC, or to
| paint or wrap the pipe to protect it. In this context I'm
| mostly thinking about options available at ordinary
| hardware stores, not special order stuff, but apparently
| there are options.]
|
| Other reasons to choose EMT though: thinner, more heat-
| resilient, less prone to sag, stronger by thickness,
| subjectively more attractive.
| blacksmith_tb wrote:
| Add to that list: recyclable (PVC, not so much).
| elsewhen wrote:
| they have a video where they stress tested a table made out of
| EMT
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oCEMd4v9B4
| hackcasual wrote:
| Wild stuff. You can see the bottom horizontal trusses bending
| when loaded. EMT is just too thin walled for serious
| structural applications
| scottbez1 wrote:
| Neat idea!
|
| In college I hung blackout curtains in my dorm room with conduit
| - IIRC it was maybe $5 for a pipe that was longer, sturdier,
| cheaper, and less annoying than the typical telescoping curtain
| rods (where the curtain always gets caught up on the telescoping
| edges as you open it).
|
| I also love that you can add structural bends with readily
| available (and relatively compact) conduit bending tools. Gotta
| love economies of scale.
| topazas wrote:
| Awesome, but what does 1'' mean? Some weird measurement unit?
| LukeShu wrote:
| " is imperial inches, ' is imperial feet.
| Modified3019 wrote:
| 1" is one inch
|
| 1' is one foot
|
| So yeah, a weird measurement unit. Technically the symbol to be
| used is a prime symbol
| (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)), but what's
| used in practice is anything that looks close enough.
| unwind wrote:
| It's awesome that they combine 1" pipe with a 5 mm hex [1]
| (often "Allen" in the US) fastener. :)
|
| [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_key
| bluGill wrote:
| The actual size is 27mm. If you convert to an imperial system
| the size is not a nice number.
| gibspaulding wrote:
| You see a lot of this in the bicycle industry. There are a
| lot of older standards in use like 9/16" pedal threads, 1
| 1/8" steerer tubes or 1" (25.4mm) handlebars but any new
| standard is metric - so bottom brackets, wheels, newer seat
| post diameters are all metric. It can make for some very
| strange looking spec sheets.
| wezdog1 wrote:
| /s might have been needed, it appears.
| hnuser123456 wrote:
| That would be 2.54 times 1/100th of the distance light travels
| in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of the time it takes for
| 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the
| transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state
| of a cesium-133 atom, if you prefer.
| bluGill wrote:
| Wrong!
|
| While there is a 1 inch measure in common use that is as you
| described, the subject here is EMT. There is no dimension in
| EMT that is 1 inch by the system you describe. The diameter
| is close to 1 inch, but it is noticeably different to the
| naked eye, and for all useful purposes different enough that
| anything actually 1 inch in diameter is not compatible.
| bluGill wrote:
| 27 mm outside diameter. Which has zero relation to any other
| inch you might have heard of in common use (ie in the US).
| torginus wrote:
| Are these elements friction-fit? That seems to be a majorly bad
| idea if you want to handle loads, especially if you want these
| fixtures to be permanent. A speck of grease or oil could make
| your structure collapse.
|
| Doubly bad, the friction seems to be created by screws that can
| get loose with time/ not be tightened with the proper torque.
|
| Also, an Europe specific thing (I think), is that we don't use
| metallic pipes for electric wiring, we use PVC.
| ryukoposting wrote:
| In the US you use PVC for outdoor installations, and steel
| conduit for indoor... with some exceptions that I'm sure
| someone will be quick to lambast me for.
| quickthrowman wrote:
| I won't lambast you, but I'll correct you ;)
|
| PVC conduit is used for some underground applications, it
| isn't (typically) used outdoors above ground since UV light
| destroys it.
|
| You can use EMT w/ raintight compression fittings or
| galvanized RMC outdoors (or PVC-coated RMC if you have lots
| of money and/or want it to last 50 years).
|
| Steel conduit (or metal-clad cable) is typical for indoor
| commercial installations, aside from some specific places
| where aluminum or PVC is used, like an MRI room.
| IshKebab wrote:
| There's plenty of metal conduit for electrical wiring in
| Europe. Dunno where you got that idea. It's mainly used in
| commercial buildings where they don't care about things looking
| nice. In houses cables are chased into the wall, or just
| stuffed behind the plasterboard.
| tommiegannert wrote:
| The "discounted" bundle is such an anti-pattern. I'm saving the
| price of one fitting, out of 20. So if the bundle has even one
| fitting that I have no use for, the whole deal falls apart, and I
| should have bought them individually instead. Anyone with the
| volume to make use of all connectors would probably want to
| negotiate a better deal anyway.
| bluGill wrote:
| If are close to needing a bundle worth then get the bundle as
| you need spare parts anyway.
| digdugdirk wrote:
| It tends to be highly valuable for mechanical tools like these.
| Think of this product more like hardware (nuts/bolts/screws,
| not PC hardware) than a standalone "product". Most people who
| have a shop or do a lot of tinkering keep an assortment of misc
| hardware around just so they have it on hand whenever the need
| arises. This falls into a similar category, so having a grab
| bag to be able to handle whatever potential scenario you run
| into would be incredibly handy.
| metaphor wrote:
| Who are you kidding?? This isn't minor hardware...these
| fittings are ~$5 a pop!
|
| Priced individually: | Fitting | Price (ea) |
| Qty | Total | |---------|------------|-----|-------|
| | T | 3.34 | 12 | 40.08 | | 90 |
| 5.79 | 4 | 23.16 | | 45 | 4.95 | 4 |
| 19.80 | | 180 | 4.95 | 2 | 9.90 |
| |=========|============|=====|=======|
| | 22 | 92.94 |
|
| In contrast, the bundle lists for $88.10...that's a lousy
| price delta of $4.84 (approx. 1 fitting). In consumer
| hoodwinking terms, it's the equivalent of
| buy-21-get-1-free...except the "value proposition" comes at a
| cost of zero optionality and overweight T fittings.
|
| If you've got the cash to burn on benchstock at this price
| point, more power to you, but the point is you're really
| paying a premium to throw away choice for the illusion of
| value with this bundle.
| Pikamander2 wrote:
| I remember seeing their booth at the Orlando Maker Faire years
| ago. Metal pipe was a bit too expensive for my budget but I was
| still inspired by their display and started using PVC and custom
| 3D printed connectors in my gardening projects.
|
| I love how much work they've done on connectors. In my experience
| with PVC, one of the biggest hurdles to making interesting
| projects is finding prebuilt connectors for anything besides
| simple 90-degree angles. It makes sense given that most PVC
| projects are for construction rather than hobby projects, but
| it's still annoying.
|
| Having pre-drilled screw holes is also a nice bonus.
| Loughla wrote:
| PVC plumbing fittings come in 22.5 degree variations between 0
| and 180, just as an aside. It's what I use for most gardening
| projects. It lasts longer than thin wall conduit would, and is
| much less expensive than the thick wall steel pipe.
| Pikamander2 wrote:
| There are lots of options online but I've noticed that our
| local Home Depot is missing a surprising amount of common
| connectors and our Lowe's barely carries any.
| bluGill wrote:
| Because they are trying to make a profit and so have gotten
| rid of things that don't see much.
|
| While sometimes I would make the argument that the lack of
| inventory is why people go online instead, in this case I
| think that is wrong. Their target market is home owners
| doing plumbing, and plumbing rarely needs those odd
| connectors. Frankly if you have small PVC/cPVC water pipes
| (as opposed to larger drain pipes) I would replace them
| with PEX where practical, and cut them off where not and
| install a PEX adapter. (I'd also do that for copper or iron
| pipes - copper because it might have lead solder but if it
| doesn't you are good for a while; iron because it hasn't
| been common in so long that anything you see is probably
| past expected lifespan)
| jollyllama wrote:
| It's not likely to be much cheaper but there is probably a
| plumbing distributor near you with a much wider selection.
| mauvehaus wrote:
| This is because the customers at Home Depot and Lowe's are
| primarily muggles. The wizards will pop in if they need
| something and it's convenient, but by and large they buy at
| wizard stores that stock the full range of fittings.
|
| Said wizard stores sometimes have a handwritten sign taped
| up on the wall behind the counter dating back to the Carter
| administration that reads "Those in the trade will be
| served first"[0].
|
| Your reward for being a wizard is having competent help at
| the store, and the fittings haven't been randomly
| distributed among the bins by a million prior muggles.
|
| Electrician wizards similarly work with electrical supply
| stores, not Home Depot if they can avoid it. Carpenter
| wizards cross over a little more, but they generally prefer
| to work with lumber yards that deliver[1] and have halfway
| decent lumber[2].
|
| [0] Yes, literally.
|
| [1] I believe the box stores do to, but they charge
| handsomely because they don't really want to.
|
| [2] 2x3's are crap everywhere, but the quality on anything
| bigger goes up immensely at a real lumberyard.
| happyopossum wrote:
| > [2] 2x3's are crap everywhere, but the quality on
| anything bigger goes up immensely at a real lumberyard.
|
| This was once the case, but I've not found it to be true
| in recent history (in NorCal anyway). Lumberyards are
| getting 2x4/6/8 stock in roughly the same quality as the
| big box stores, and the only difference appears to be
| service and turnover rate.
|
| Covid's effects on the lumber supply chain are lasting -
| many sawyers and mills have closed, and what's left is
| produced to meet a price point.
| quickthrowman wrote:
| Actual plumbers (and electricians, fitters, tinners, etc)
| buy stuff from supply houses, that's why the selection is
| garbage. Some supply houses will sell to people off the
| street, some will not.
|
| For everyone else, there's McMaster Carr.
| elif wrote:
| Curious what you consider 'lasts longer' as all of my garden
| support frames and nets are held up by conduit for about 10
| years and I'm not seeing any signs of significant rust..
| quesera wrote:
| Galvanized EMT conduit will rust, especially if you let
| water get inside and it does not drain. I use silver spray
| paint on all cut or drilled spots, and drill tiny holes on
| the underside of any horizontal runs that descend from
| verticals. (E.g. I've bent EMT into four-sided frames for
| doors, etc). I have outdoor EMT structures (trellises,
| garden gates, chicken run frames, geodesic domes) that are
| 25 years old and going strong. :)
|
| Agreed though -- PVC pipe (the white stuff) does very
| poorly with exposure to UV light. The beige CPVC stuff is
| worse. The _black_ PVC (ABS?) is supposed to be better, but
| less available in small gauges. And the grey plastic stuff
| used for electrical conduit is also supposedly UV-safe, but
| is far less structurally rigid than any of the others, or
| of course galvanized EMT. Sometimes that flexibility is a
| virtue, but usually not.
| rootusrootus wrote:
| > PVC pipe (the white stuff) does very poorly with
| exposure to UV light
|
| To my understanding, this is primarily an aesthetic
| issue. PVC pipes have been tested over years of UV
| exposure and remain structurally sound. This is a topic
| that comes up periodically on the pool forums since it is
| pretty common to have some amount of exposed PVC pipes
| above ground.
| quesera wrote:
| I've seen white PVC turn brittle after a few years of
| exposure to direct sunlight.
|
| There may be different formulations (in the same color?)
| that are more UV-resistant though.
|
| Pool piping is a good example, though I have usually seen
| them covered for UV protection.
| gtsnexp wrote:
| Can you get them in Europe?
| N-Krause wrote:
| Thats what I was thinking, quick search got me this German
| shop: https://www.rohrverbindershop.de/rohrverbinder/
|
| But seems like there are plenty of options.
| pcdoodle wrote:
| I can vouch for this stuff, used some for a railing system for a
| ebike trailer that handled some abuse.
| FrustratedMonky wrote:
| Don't often see product ad's getting to HN and not be flagged.
|
| But have to say, not enough people know that products like this
| exist that can allow building something a lot cheaper than buying
| something pre-made.
| blorenz wrote:
| The real gem on this site is the Make Pipe Minis! What a great
| way to prototype your idea before committing to the real build.
|
| https://makerpipe.com/collections/modular-pipe-fittings/prod...
|
| edit: I did not even see when I posted this that they had made
| this open source with the downloadable STL to print your own
| connectors. Great move on them!
| breakfastduck wrote:
| That is an absolutely fantastic idea and what a brilliant way
| to help inspire confidence in your product.
| epiccoleman wrote:
| With coffee stirrers! That's such a cool idea, to be able to
| print the connectors and then use something cheap, off the
| shelf, and easily cut as the "pipe". Brilliant!
|
| I can see that being a pretty fun cheapo building toy for the
| kids. Might have to grab a pack of stirrers and run off a
| couple handfuls of connectors. Very cool.
| catapart wrote:
| With the added benefit of built-in upscaling! I would have
| loved, as a kid, to design my own "clubhouse" with coffee
| stirrers before going out in the yard and building a full
| sized one to chill in.
| cius wrote:
| Anyone interested in heavier duty may appreciate Kee Klamp.
|
| For example: https://keesystems.com/product-
| category/fittings/kee-klamp/?...
| rsync wrote:
| I think if you're interested in heavier duty constructors such
| as this, the real move upwards is to unistrut...
| bagels wrote:
| I built a walk in closet clothing hanger system out of these,
| has held up well and was easy to assemble once I polished and
| cut the tubes.
| hinkley wrote:
| Looks like fewer places for clothing to snag as well.
| hinkley wrote:
| I think it's early days for Maker Pipe so I'm not going to dunk
| on them too hard for this, but I noticed the lack of angles
| means you can't build for instance a 3:2 rectangle with cross
| braces to prevent racking. You have to do squares only. Kee
| seems to have solved that problem.
| CtrlAltmanDel wrote:
| Is this not angles?
|
| https://makerpipe.com/collections/modular-pipe-
| fittings/prod...
| hinkley wrote:
| That'll do triangles but not crossbracing. X's not l's
| CtrlAltmanDel wrote:
| Use 2 of the 'Adjustable Angle Hinge' to make a single
| diagonal across the rectangle.
|
| At the midsection of the diagonal, install an 'Adjustable
| 180 degree' along with two more of the adjustable angles
| in each corner.
|
| Would that approximate it? Sorry I'm not better at ascii
| art.
|
| https://makerpipe.com/collections/modular-pipe-
| fittings/prod...
| hinkley wrote:
| I am just wrong due to incomplete info. The page I
| originally clicked on only had about half of the full
| catalog on it, and the way it was constructed I presumed
| it to be exhaustive.
|
| There's a 180deg adjustable fitting that does exactly
| what I described, as a sibling to the link you provided.
| quickthrowman wrote:
| EMT is pretty flimsy stuff, why would you build anything with it
| when extruded aluminum and strut channel exist? Or even RMC, it's
| much stronger than EMT. I know it's a cost thing, but use the
| right material for the job.
|
| There's absolutely no way I'd trust a desk made of EMT, if
| someone leans on it too hard it will crumple immediately.
| WaitWaitWha wrote:
| I would love to have these for several projects, but I need it
| for 2" pipes.
|
| Any ideas who might have them?
| albrewer wrote:
| keeclamp - https://keesystems.com/product-
| category/fittings/kee-klamp/
| happyopossum wrote:
| What you probably need to look for is "structural pipe" - Lowes
| and HD both carry a line of that with lots of fittings, and
| KeeKlamp and others are available online or from trade supply
| shops.
| dylanowen wrote:
| They also provide cad models for some of the connectors which I
| found very useful: https://connect.makerpipe.com/build-
| help/post/if-you-would-l...
| pohl wrote:
| Ah, piping, all about moving something from A to B. Has anyone
| else read Leslie Claret's classic text "The Structural Dynamics
| of Flow"? I got the chance to hear him speak, once. It was
| riveting: "Hey, let me walk you through our Donnely nut spacing
| and cracked system rim-riding grip configuration. Using a field
| of half-seized sprats and brass-fitted nickel slits, our
| bracketed caps and splay-flexed brace columns vent dampers to
| dampening hatch depths of 1/2 meter from the damper crown to the
| spurv plinth. How? Well, we bolster 12 husk nuts to each girdle
| jerry -- while flex-tandems press a task apparatus of ten
| vertically composited patch-hamplers -- then pin flam-fastened
| pan traps at both maiden apexes of the jim-joists."
| s0ss wrote:
| I struggled to decode this and thought it was an LLM spouting
| drivel -- haha. After reading I see now that this is a
| character from a comedy called "Patriot". Got it!
| pohl wrote:
| I like to think of this scene as the retro-encabulator of a
| new generation.
| s0ss wrote:
| I felt like I was walking through an industrial space and
| bonked my head on "piping" trying to read this -- hahaha!
| TY for melting my brain just a tiny bit.
| mindcrime wrote:
| I'm just waiting for the ultimate hybrid: the LLM-
| encabulator!
| oflannabhra wrote:
| I did not expect to see a Patriot reference online today, thank
| you for making my day.
|
| For others, Patriot is a dark comedy TV show available on
| Amazon. I highly recommend it.
| jollyllama wrote:
| And it sounds like it's derived from a classic Steve Martin
| Plumber Joke
| whatshisface wrote:
| What's the advantage of metal pipe over treated wood?
| happyopossum wrote:
| Shape, size, weight, required tooling, fire-resistance, price,
| lack of dangerous chemicals, etc etc etc?
|
| In most of these cases they are tradeoffs, not direct
| advantages but it should be kinda obvious which would be best
| for any given situation
| analog31 wrote:
| As a cheap and quick alternative for making simple structures, my
| dad used to join pieces of conduit by flattening the ends in a
| vise and drilling holes for bolts and nuts.
| neilv wrote:
| How does this compare to "80/20"
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-slot_structural_framing ?
|
| (At a past startup, we used 80/20 for the structure of our
| factory stations. We were very happy with how 80/20 was easily
| adapted during prototyping and testing, and then our final
| station design could be replicated quickly stateside to several
| stations, then disassembled into a few assemblies for flight,
| reassembled at the factory in Asia, and hold up well in
| production, and it also looked professional for demos. A lot of
| that success was due to the know-how and effort of our mechE,
| but, IMHO, 80/20 is appealing to people who grew up with Lego-
| like toys, and even I, primarily a software person, felt I could
| do useful things with it and some basic tools.)
| jseutter wrote:
| My armchair assessment is that both will have their uses. 80/20
| is 3-4x the price, but is lighter and more rigid than EMT
| conduit. EMT conduit is sold everywhere and will be more useful
| for quick and dirty setups.
|
| For a machine like a 3d printer, I would choose 80/20. For some
| lightweight shelves, EMT conduit or wood. So I see this product
| almost as a wood replacement rather than a 80/20 replacement.
| hinkley wrote:
| Is easier to control torsion with 80/20 as well isn't it?
| Clamping a radius like this will leave you open to a lot more
| racking.
| hinkley wrote:
| Steal can be bent without failing. I believe 80/20 has less
| flex than a similar sized pipe? But when it gets bent you're
| done. So there will be situations where steel is a better
| choice.
| loufe wrote:
| Last month I spent about 100 hours learning to MIG weld to create
| a giant mushroom art piece for a music festival. I had looked at
| Maker Pipe as an option, and it was very compelling. Slow and
| expensive shipping to Canada and the lack of discounting for
| large numbers of components pushed back. I would still love to
| try these, I just hope they manage to get distributors in markets
| outside the US.
| teucris wrote:
| I know this is meant for EMT, but these look a lot like chainlink
| fence end-rail clamps which go for about $2.50 a piece. The post
| material (galvanized 1-3/4" pipe) goes for about $2.50 per foot,
| so those could be a reasonable alternative for when you can't get
| easy access to EMT or maker pipe shipped to you.
| tlrobinson wrote:
| Not quite the same, but EMT conduit is very popular for shade
| structures at Burning Man and similar events. You can get
| fittings that will hold up very well in windy conditions (if
| properly secured) https://formandreform.com/blackrock-hardware/
| throwup238 wrote:
| They're also popular as greenhouse support structures for the
| same reason.
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