pipe fence question

[Jim-TX]

It's not hard to saddle pipe with a torch. Mark the bottom (deepest) part of the saddle and start there. Think of it like drawing a smiley where you start at the bottom and move the torch to one side, then repeat for the other side. I hold the torch angle at about 30 degrees pointing toward the end that will be cut off. It's a little hard to explain, but it's not hard to do once you see what the cut looks like. I wouldn't think about using a saw if I had many cuts on oil field tubing.

[walker]

I suppose I could see calling it 2 3/8" drill stem as 2 3/8", as drills are referred to by their outside diameter. In my mind I still think of drill stem as pipe though, as it is pipe. I have put a couple of oddball pieces in my fence as well, and now that you mention it they were hard as heck to smash. In fact I had to heat one of them up with a torch first. It was also magnetic and hard to weld. Fortunately the rest of my stuff is sch 40 gas pipe that I have salvaged over the years. and welds and smashes nicely.

[m.k.swelding]

hole saw works.

[jimmy_pop]

some pics from our first pipe fence project. A couple magnetized pieces, broken equipment, 7 days of 103* weather and a small fire were the only notable hiccups on an otherwise fun project.

[jimmy_pop]

[jworman]

I just cut some fairly nice saddles in 2 3/8 pipe using my 4 X 6 saw. I set the vice at 27 1/2° and made two cuts, 180° apart. The saddles were plenty close enough to weld with my MIG.

Of course, these pipes were not in the ground.

John

[urch55]

Hmmmmm That did not look like a little fire to me, good thing your truck was not in the middle of it.

[rmckinney]

They make a jig just for cutting saddles on pipe fences and I have used one to build about 5 miles of fence at my house. It is made out of metal and it clamps on the pipe. All you have to do is run the cutting torch around the jig and you have a perfect saddle. They work really well and you can pick them up at your local welding supply house. Good luck and the only adivce i ould have is take your time and do it right the first time.

[hthoganfab]

There is a hand notcher available that works pretty well for the field applications. I have used these in the past for building handrails at paper mills, lumber mills, etc. It would be easy to mount to your reciever hitch on your truck.
http://www.vansantent.com/ironWorkers/proHandPress.htm

[cloverfab]

FusionKing has it right use the chop saw to cut the pipe(on a 2" your cut should be about a 1/2" back) leaving as he said aprox an inch in between (on the end)the cuts. The only thing I would suggest is using a slightly worn 5x1/4 disc to grind the inside of the flats. Kinda feather them out. I've built miles of haindrail with this method and once you get used to it it can be faster than the ironworker method.