Conduit Bangers of The World, Unite!

mamagrrl · Post by **mamagrrl** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:04 pm

Naw, he'd just roll to a different part of the city.
Mobile-camp.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:41 am

I was actually considering doing something like that.... a smallish dome, say 8' dia. 3V or 4V, PVC with conduit ends...mounted on a modified bike frame with outrigger wheels. Mobile camp! Covered with reflectix or something like that it wouldn't be such a kite, but you'd still need anchors to be sure. Instead of ten wheels at ten equatorial vertices, you can reduce to five by combining pairs with modified struts- That's how the levels of the Snowman are joined.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:51 am

BadDawg, did you make the dies to shape the ends of the conduit or buy them?
BTW, thanks for the cool pics and info!

BadDawg · Post by **BadDawg** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 4:44 pm

Martiansky,
I made them out of 1/2"plate steel
the first set I made I used a portable bandsaw to cut a "V"
into it then a hand grinder to round it out a bit.
the second set I used a friends plasma cutter the a
hand grinder to smooth it out a bit.
probably could get a way with 3/8" plate, but I had
a chuck a 1/2" laying around.

BadDawg · Post by **BadDawg** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:42 pm

I have come up with a new plan for a small dome.
I was given a 14' trampoline frame that looks to
be the base of this project, which I'm planning to
mount a modified 1V dome on. Instead of a 5 sided
1V dome, I'm going to make it a 6 sided 1V dome.
The trampoline frame upside-down has 6 very nice
and stout hoop shaped legs about 3' tall. I plan on
welding some tabs on the hoops to bolt conduit to
5 of the 6 openings leaving a door space. Then go
up about 3' to 3-1/2' with conduit legs like this /\,
then 6 pieces arond the tops of those legs,and then
make the peak with a vent of some sort on top.
Just an odd project I came up with, but I'm sure
it will work just fine.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 6:03 am

Great idea! I thought about using a premade trampoline as the deck in my structure- It'd easily be modified to sit on top of a 2V or higher.....

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:38 am

Dang! I missed gettting a trampoline that sat out all winter (with 3 feet of snow on it) and it got a bit bent up.
But the people THREW IT AWAY! AAIIEE!!

mamagrrl · Post by **mamagrrl** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:04 am

This is a shameless search for already-existant conduit pressing dies to help squish some hefty 1" thinwall pipe. (you know, the dies with the nice curved cutout.)

I've got some friends who'll loan me the use of some 20 ton presses for squishin' - but I need to make some dies - when it finally occured to me that somebody might have said dies sitting in the back of their garage, collecting dust?

So, I'm putting the call out for the loan of any dies that might already exist before scrounging up some 1/2" steel and getting started in on it myself.

I'm in Redwood City, CA, so Bay Area up through Laytonville is an easily fetchable travel route. Who knows, maybe I'll get steel-die-lucky! (Crosses her fingers!)

Thanks for thinking and Happy squishing, folks!

falk · Post by **falk** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:19 am

Hi all; time for me to get started on my 32' dome.

It's a 4V dome. By my calcuation, that comes to 125 pieces of EMT to buy and cut up (sounds about right, no?).

Home Depot web site lists $5/piece. Eeeyowtch. Are there any better deals to be had? Does HD give a quantity discount?

I'm also in the Bay area. Maybe we should get together and have "squishing bees" where everybody brings their pipes to be squished, thus saving time and equipment.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:29 am

I have a question about the dies. How wide is the U? Is it 3/4" across?

BadDawg · Post by **BadDawg** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:04 am

Martinsky, to get the "U" shape inthe die, I put half of the diameter
of the conduit on the edge of the steel plate, traced it, and cut it.
According to the Grainger cataloge the outer diameter of the
3/4" conduit is .9220, so it's almost a 1" outer diameter.
So by the time you trace it and cut it on your steel, you half a
semi-cirlcle the is about 1" across and about a 1/2" in on your
steel plate.
hope this helps you

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:07 am

BadDawg, that helps a ton!
I'm going to go see if a friend of mine that does welding and cutting can make me some!

Thank you, thank you!

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:15 am

Oh, what size square tube did you use for the frame, 1 1/2" or 2"?

iamtonynyc · Post by **iamtonynyc** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:37 am

do you think that this is sufficent enough to press 3/4" condiut?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... Performics

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:46 am

Sheesh, I would think it would work!

BadDawg · Post by **BadDawg** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 12:11 pm

Martiansky, it's 2" square tubing.

iamtonynyc, that's more than enough to
squish 3/4"conduit. the bottle jack I'm
using in my set-up is only a 3 or 4 ton.

falk · Post by **falk** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:49 pm

iamtonynyc wrote:do you think that this is sufficent enough to press 3/4" condiut?

Sure looks like it would do the trick and then some. Wouldn't it be a little slow though? Looks like you have to pump the handle several times to squash one end.

LostMachine · Post by **LostMachine** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 3:48 pm

falk wrote: Sure looks like it would do the trick and then some. Wouldn't it be a little slow though? Looks like you have to pump the handle several times to squash one end.

You would only need to pump 2-3 times depending on the bottle jack. Plus with the added power you could make a die-plate that can press two or three struts at a time.

BadDawg · Post by **BadDawg** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:57 pm

With the bottle jack I'm using it take about 8-9 pumps.
it's not to slow, especially for the results it makes,
nice and flat with a nice little semi-circle in it.

I've been toying with the idea over making a new
conduit smasher using air over hydraulic to power it.
just flip a lever or a foot pedal and have smash automaticly.
no pumping of a jack invovled.
just have to wait untill I can scounge up the needed
parts to make it. New parts are big $$$, so I can
wait till I find some good used pieces to make it.

iamtonynyc · Post by **iamtonynyc** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:01 am

it may be a bit slow but it sure beats the alternative, which is smashing with a hammer....uggg.

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:06 pm

Call for Help!!!!

I need dies for to squish 3/4" conduit and I'm having problems getting that sorted out. IF anyone would be willing to make me a set I'm sure we could come to an agreement regaurding compensation. Please drop me a pm.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:36 am

iamtonynyc wrote:it may be a bit slow but it sure beats the alternative, which is smashing with a hammer....uggg.

MANUAL SQUISHING TIPS

-Heavier hammer, fewer blows. Make sure hammerhead is secure, not only for safety but because a loose head loses energy!
-The biggest anvil possible. Chunk 'O' Scrap, piece of rail or I-beam.
-Do sets, with frequent breaks and stretches.
-If you watch a blacksmith you'll notice that he LIFTS and DROPS the hammer more than he SWINGS it- Saves a lot of punishment on your elbows! Anvil height should be at the level your knuckles rest comfortably with your arm straight.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:07 pm

Does smashing the ends with a hammer make the conduit that much weaker as opposed to squishing with a die and press?

Robo, you've had your domes for a while. Do you see any significant weakening?

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:28 pm

Nope. There isn't enough back-and-forth to make the metal tear. And I beat the hell out of 'em while putting 'em up, bending and twisting and cursing and drinking....okay, the last two are just me. But I've loaded the hell outta that old 2v bottom dome. It's been apart and back together a half-dozen times, and carries two smaller domes on its back PLUS a heavy wooden deck and NOW a slide....(our occupancy record was eight people on the deck, I believe.)
In fact, there's even a minor DRAWBACK to the smush-with-die method- The semicircular part gets in the way (a little) when you go to put the 18 degree bend in....
If I had to pump a bottle jack ten times to smash an end, I'd NEVER use a press. With practice you can flatten an end in four to six strokes of a 3 pound hammer.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:46 pm

That settles it for me.
A hammer and anvil is what I'm going to use!

Thanks Robo!

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:15 pm

Robotland is correct Presses have their place, but the hammer/anvil will be much faster if you can do without the curve. Don’t grip the hammer tightly. Hold it just enough to keep it from flying out of your hand. This will help avoid any injuries from shock.

If you watch a blacksmith you'll notice that he LIFTS and DROPS the hammer more than he SWINGS it- Saves a lot of punishment on your elbows!

he’s also correct about the letting it drop. You want to swing it to get it moving, but don’t power down so much when you get to the impact point. Keep your arm relaxed and let the energy you’ve put into the hammer do the work. And I can’t stress enough to not grip it real tight. Doing that will transmit all the shock directly into your wrist and arm.

Anvil height should be at the level your knuckles rest comfortably with your arm straight.

Spot on. Standing next to the anvil, with arm straight down, knuckles of your fist should rest on the face of the anvil . Railroad rail works very well for a make-shift anvil. Steel beams work pretty good too, but place your workpiece over the web of the beam (vertical part in the center). And make sure you wear earplugs and eyeglasses. Oh, and as long as I’m on a safety kick... railroad rails are hard on the face. Don’t strike the hammer directly on it. Hammer heads are also hardened and two hard surfaces hitting each other can sometimes chip or shatter one another. You do not want to have pieces of them dug out of your eyeball.

And make sure your anvil rests on something solid that transmits force directly into the ground. The more solid the base, the more of the energy that bounces back into the workpiece. Translation: more efficient hammering.

Too bad you guys don’t live closer. We could make a die for the pneumatic hammer and really have some fun. Her anvil weighs in at 800 lbs and the hammer 100. Whacks it two times a second. Gets me excited.

Now go have fun letting out your frustration.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:57 pm

You know... after rereading my last post, there's no reason you couldn't make what I'm talking about.

It’s called a spring die or sometimes a spring swage. Let me see if I can dig up a pic..

Ok... Best I can do is here.

Go about half way down the page and you'll see what I'm talking about. Though it's not shown in the pic, the top and bottom die are attached to one piece of metal bent into a "U" shape. When you smack it with the hammer, it closes on the workpiece and forms it to whatever shape the die set is made to. Then when you raise the hammer again, the "spring" action of the u-shaped steel strap opens it back up again. Hold the work piece in there, whack it a few times, instant shape without the bottle jack. This is the very thing I was talking about using on the air hammer, but there's no reason that you couldn't use it with a regular hammer too, in fact I make mine so I can use either way.

LostMachine · Post by **LostMachine** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 12:15 am

I have to show off my Train Track Anvil now.
Cutting train track is a bitch, more so with the wrong size tip. But I’m really happy about how this one turned out.

LM

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:57 am

*whistles*

LostMachine, that is a beautiful piece of work all in it's own!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:55 am

I like the hammer-shelf! Cool. My anvil base is really similar, except for an old belt nailed in loops around the top of the wood base to hold hammers.

Conduit Bangers of The World, Unite!

To DOME, or Not To DOME?

Shameless Search for Steel Plate/Dies

sources for emt?