Gas pipe for Go- karts??

[hollerdog]

Howdy boys, hows it arkin today? Well abuddy of mine gave me 210 feet of steel gas pipe today 1 in ID 1/14 OD and i want to build a couple go-karts for my 3 grand-duaghters since i have a 48 acre farm and room to spare for a nice oval track. Anybody have any do;s or dont;s using gas pipe ( safety is no. 1). I know it will be on the heavy side compared to tubing but like most guys on here i get metal where i can and worry about what am going to do with it whenever

I also can get the 12 ton HF hydralic pipe bender for 50 bucks, by all rights it should work fine for my needs but any comments are appreciated.

am also going to order the pipe notcher from HF but they have 2 one for 39 bucks i think it was and the other for 59 or something does anybody know what the difference is they look identical to me?????

Now for the hole saws? i read some threads on here where for a 1 1/4 in OD pipe u should use a 1 in hole saw so u get an even cut around the fishmouth for a even fit which will be better for a stronger welded joint???




HF 4x6 bandsaw
HF 16 speed drill press ( with oiler)
Lincoln Pro mig 175
Craftsman 6,5 hp 33 gallon compressor(brand new and 4 sale, wish i would have found that thread about compressors on here before i bought it. Need a 220 jobber for sure
HF auto dark lid ( tryed it out on a dark gloomy day, i hope its not that dark set on 9 all the time)
and a bunch of hand tools that only come with time( u know the kind that fit in those tight spots after years of use

[ohmthis]

Holler dog,
I built a minichopper from 3/4" gas pipe. It has a 1" outside diameter, For fishmouthinng the pipe I used a 1" hole saw. If I had a real hard angle, I would mark my pipe, notch what I could and used a bench grinder to finish what was left. For bending it I used a hand bender that I use in the electrical field. It was very easy to bend. A hand bender would be cheaper but on the 1" pipe more difficult to bend. I would suggest before you start to experiment with the bender to find it's deduct (which is the mesurement for getting you bends where you want them). To do this I would put a piece of pipe in the bender and mark the pipe and a spot on the bender at the same place. Bend a 90 degree bend, I like to use an angle finder. Next, take out the pipe and place it on the floor with the bent piece sticking straight up. Measure from the floor to the mark you made, this is your deduct. Now, say it was 41/2", and you want a 16" 90 you would measure 16" from the end if the pipe and subtract 4 1/2" and mark it. If you put your mark on the mark you made on the bender it should come ou to be 16" 90. The same can be done for 15, 22.5, 30, 45, 60, degree bends (these will be your most common bends). Hope this helps!

[hollerdog]

Tx for the reply ohmthis!
Funny u should mention minichopper my son was just asking me about building something like that, reason being i had a 74 sporster and a 75 shovelhead back in my wild days and both were old school rigid frames with ape hangers and straight pipes so i could set off the car alarms and piss my nieghbors off hahahahha ( maybe thats why my lower back hurts but what the **** when your in traffic with a sweet lookin biker babe sittin on a pee pad u can just feel the envy from the 9 to 5 vers.)

But anyways tx for the info and i will definetly try that out, i never fooled around with bending pipe and its just one more thing to experiment with and i have 210 feet for mistakes.

if you any pics of your mini chopper i really would like to see them.

Thanks again !

[ohmthis]

Hollerdog,
I love those old school choppers. I'm not very good on the computer, maybe I can get my wife to help me out with posting those pictures. I noticed you are in WV, Where abouts is that place? I went to school at Marshall in 93' to 96'. LOve that area, I would go home with my freinds. If I had to pick another place to live WV or eastern Tenn. would be my picks. Hard to beat the bluegrass state though.

[hollerdog]

am down here in calhoun co. Is the grass really blue across the tracks hahahah!

My son wants to build something radical with an extended rake, old school vs new school i guess, as long as he;s building and not playin video games am happy( just IMO).

I will take pics as we get into it and post them, see if the wifey can get some pics up of your chopper seems like u know a bit more than i do, be nice to share ideas.

Could have had a 12 ton bender for 50 but missed the deal by a few hrs,( i think thats called sh;;t happens )

WVU rules! sometimes lmaao

[ohmthis]

Hollerdog,
I know what you mean (old school VS new school). I still like the long forks and some extra rake. I believe that these style bikes would still be considered old school. My wife informed me that our internet access is down, will jump on that pronto. I've been to Morgantown, for the WVU VS Miami game some years ago. Rockin' place! Like I said a hand bender will do what you need, just easier with the hyd bender. I still think a HF 12 ton is like $99. If you made a couple of projects with it it would pay for itself. Give me some details and I'll try and draw you a plan for a chopper.

[Tinker]

Sounds like a fun project. The size of the notching holesaw should match the OD of the tubing or pipe that you're working with. I've got the cheap HF notcher and have made many good notches on my projects. Haven't worked with pipe but it worked fine on my .120 tubing. I was originally going to use it in my drill press but had some mounting problems and just end up clamping it in my vise and driving it with a variable speed drill. I've found that good control of the speed has been handy, especially when you're notching sharp angles. I use good quality bi-metal holesaws, keep the shaft of the holesaw clean and well lubricated.

The notcher works fine for 90-45 degree and even a bit of a sharper angle if you cheat. If I have to cut some odd notches at sharp angles with offset (both tubes not on same center line) I use one of those programs out on the web like tubemiter to print a wrap around so I can hog the notch out with a grinder. I've found that with practice I can grind out most notches by eye but it's usually quicker with the notcher or wrap around template.