McMXi
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25DLB
I have a big welding project this spring in the form of a steel pipe "pole barn". I have lots of pipe on hand for the trusses and have two ways to go. One is to cope the pipes to fit up at the various angles required, and the other is to notch and insert plates at the joints. The Moline airport has some very nice examples of this approach (see below).
If I go with coped joints I'm thinking of using SolidWorks to model pipe that has an I.D. equivalent to the O.D. of the pipe that I'll be using. I can cut the pipe at the appropriate angle, split the pipe in the model, and then 3D print the two halves of the pipe and use it as a template to mark the pipe in preparation for cutting with plasma.
Is there a better approach to figuring out and cutting coped joints in pipe? When I worked as a welder many years ago we'd cut out a pipe until the joint looked good, wrap a piece of paper around the cut, mark the cut and then reuse the paper to mark the rest of the pipe that we needed. It was good enough at the time but there might be a better way now.
If I go with coped joints I'm thinking of using SolidWorks to model pipe that has an I.D. equivalent to the O.D. of the pipe that I'll be using. I can cut the pipe at the appropriate angle, split the pipe in the model, and then 3D print the two halves of the pipe and use it as a template to mark the pipe in preparation for cutting with plasma.
Is there a better approach to figuring out and cutting coped joints in pipe? When I worked as a welder many years ago we'd cut out a pipe until the joint looked good, wrap a piece of paper around the cut, mark the cut and then reuse the paper to mark the rest of the pipe that we needed. It was good enough at the time but there might be a better way now.
