How to manufacture canopy fittings

[John Lee Pedimore]

Hey guys,I've been welding canopy parts for about 15 years and although I've never actually been to BM I've been dealing with burners for about the same amount of time.Anyway,I've got some videos on you tube that go into pretty good detail on how to cut and weld your own parts for a lot less than you can buy them.If you have a welder and a saw you can make just about anything.If you have any questions just ask.Thanks.
Here's a link:


Part 2:


Part 3:

[Captain Goddammit]

I'll second that! It's a LOT cheaper to just make your own, plus I could make them whatever size and however stout I wanted.
I made my own mostly because I thought all the ones I could find for sale sucked. Too short, too weak.

[Ratty]

John Lee, Thank you for posting that. I did skip through some of the welding but the rest is fascinating. Just like sewing with metal. I'm sure people with welding experience aren't as impressed but you really did a great job explaining the angles and process. thanks

A few years back I had to buy a missing piece for my canopy King carport and it was $40 plus shipping.

[John Lee Pedimore]

Thanks guys.

Yeah,you can get some good deals online.Just make absolutely sure of your pipe size and pitch angle and you'll be ok.

I do plan to make a 4th installment in my video series to cover alternate canopy styles.I see a lot of people here have gone to the monkey huts and yurts.These too can be made from pipe.The yurt is very similar to a "pony ride" set up.
Like I said,I've never actually been to the playa but I've made all kinds of stuff for people who do go.Pyramids,sex swings,you name it.

It's probably been 10 years or more but one of the burners I knew came to me and said that the people at BM wanted to make some greeter's stations and he wanted to know if I could weld the fittings.He explained that they wanted a half pyramid structure that would be open on the end.They wanted to use 10' sticks of 1'' EMT and it had to be 5' wide at the base.I made a single set of fittings for a trial run and they worked ok so they had me make a bunch more sets.I think it was 10 or 12 sets.I don't know if they still use them but I've seen some old videos them on you tube.It looked like they worked pretty good.

[mudpuppy000]

I'm going to have to try this out. I was trying to figure out a way to make a pyramid with standard fittings but couldn't find anything appropriate for what I wanted to do.

[John Lee Pedimore]

You can make it 3 sided or 4 sided but the 4 sided is easier to make.It takes 5 fittings,4 on the ground and one on the crown.First you make 4-90* elbows and then you cut 4 pieces of pipe at 45*.Normally I'll just weld the 45* cut to the top of the elbow but there is a LOT of fill weld.An easier way is to weld a flat plate(3"x3" or so)to the top(flat side) of the elbow and then weld the 45* cut to the plate and center it pointing to the crown.You can drill a hole or 2 into the plates for re-bar or tent stakes.
The easiest way to make the crown is to get a short piece of square tubing that's slightly wider than the receiver pipe your using.Then cut 4 pipe at 45* and weld the 45* cut to each side of the square piece.Try to make them as straight as possible so the pipe will fit together.1"" EMT isn't the strongest but for this application it works well because it will flex a little and if you angles are a little off it will be more forgiving.