There was someone on here who had done this a while back, and I can't find it in the archives anywhere. I liked how he did it because it was thin-walled enough that he just crushed the ends shut in a vise and made tabs for welding. I have a bunch of this stuff, but it doesn't look real safe to weld - it's that galvanized EMT-type stuff, and I would think pretty hazardous to weld what with the vaporizing zinc and all. Do they make a cheap conduit that isn't galvanized?
The other day Headhunter had a post on channeling that had a link to his site looks like he did that. Might want to ask him about it. Here's the link to his page. http://tinyurl.com/krsxc
As little bobby bleed says "you can do it with conduit".... but have a well ventilated area. I think he shows yo how in Mad Fabricators III
As a rule, welding anything galvanized isn't a real good idea....but, you can do it relatively safely. Being in a well ventilated area is a MUST. This should go without saying, but don't be a dumbass and stand RIGHT OVER the weld, just stand back when you tack it up. Once you flatten out the edges of the conduit, you can take a grinder and grind the ends down a little bit where you're gonna weld, just to take off some of the coating. Almost all conduit is galvanized...there's really no way around it. We weld on galvanized metal at least a few times a week at work....just be smart. You should never really stand over a weld and breath in the fumes anyway, so don't start doing with zinc plating. As long as its well ventilated and you're not purposely inhaling the fumes, you'll be completely safe. A fan won't hurt either...just a cheapie box fan or a oscilating fan. Here's a welders tip also......when you're done welding, drink a glass of milk. This isn't some sort of prank or joke....the milk neutralizes most of the chemicals that you've inadvertantly inhaled into your system.
Grind off the galvanizing, and don't breathe in... weld outside if possible. I used it on a recommendation from the guys here for holding my truck cab together while I replaced the cowl, and floor... worked wonderful! Just be sure to specify galvanized steel conduit when you're at the hardware... the 8 year old kid brought me plastic the first time despite explaining that I would be WELDING IT! Ben
Keep in mind, if welding with gas such as MIG, don't stick a fan aiming at your weld. The welds on the conduit are short welds. Like said before, just don't stand above your weld sucking in the smoke. If you do you will learn quick. Practice holding your breath. Never know when it will come in handy.
I used it when I chopped mine, but wasn't really too concerned about it. I should probably be more careful. As mentioned above, how about just running the area to be welded over a grinder or a stout wire brush to knock off the galvanizing.
I took a '55 chevy V8 intake up to the Auto Zone parts counter and asked for a gasket set. The guy said "what is it?". I said it's a '55 Chevy V8. He said, "no.....what is that?". I said "an intake?!?!". He said "ooooooooh".
Hey, If possible, what ya want is not EMT, but RIGID. The wall thickness of rigid is like iron pipe. Swankey Devils C.C.
Yeah, I was originally gonna buy that stuff, but like you said, it's like black iron plumbing pipe - I think the reason I thought the other stuff looked appealing was that the ends could be crimped easily in a vise, etc. I'll give the Ridgid stuff a shot - it's still pretty cheap and it comes in 10ft lengths at Home Depot. Thanks everyone for the safety tips - I figured it was hazardous stuff. I'm still learning a lot of this stuff as I go, and kudos to the HAMB for making the learning process that much safer...
In conduit terms if you ask for rigid, or galvanized , you will receive rigid conduit, the thick stuff that can be threaded.(it will come with threaded end and a coupling. If you ask for emt you will get thinwall conduit. It also has a galvanizing on it and in it basically a tube with no threads I think that 3/4 emt would be sufficient for some temporary bracing and easier to tack onto body stuff since the gauges are similar. trying to melt rigid will probably blow holes in your sheetmetal. also easy to flatten in a vice just my unqualified opinion. I also dash for a glass of milk after messing with gal just in case.
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