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CA-ON Is DOM Steel Tubing That Expensive?

Ontario
Type
Metal
C

carrdo

Super User
Hi All,

Got a quote for over $600 plus taxes for a piece of 5.5" OD by 5.25" ID (1/8" thick wall), 27" long piece of mild steel DOM tubing from a local steel supplier here in the GTA. It is listed as a standard size but nobody seems to carry it in stock anywhere. Perhaps it had to be imported from the USA and the price now reflects the new tarrifs??? By the way I could use any seamless mild steel or stainless pipe/tube with these dimensions as long as it is machinable. Any suggestions? Metal supermarkets doesn't carry anything like this.
 
Hi Jorogi,

Unfortunately, quite critical as the tube has to conform to related machined parts and castings. It forms the smokebox shell for several existing live steam locomotives which need rebuilding in places.
 
McMaster Carr $235 US for 5” i.d. x 5-1/2” o.d x 36” long. Two day delivery.

www.mcmaster.com

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.
www.mcmaster.com www.mcmaster.com
 
Hi All,

Thank you for all of your input/help so far.

OK a bit more information. The 27 inch long piece which I wanted is that long as I want to cut it into three 9" long rough sections which gives an allowance for machining each end of the tube truly square to the ID/OD. If I have to go with something other than what I wanted I would much prefer to have the OD oversize and keep the ID 5.250". I can deal with turning down the OD much better than trying to bore out the ID. This is simply based on the limitations of my equipment which I had a good look at today.

Unless they have changed their policy recently, McMaster-Carr will only deal with business accounts and not individuals from Canada such as myself.
 
carrdo said:
Unless they have changed their policy recently, McMaster-Carr will only deal with business accounts and not individuals from Canada such as myself.
Click to expand...
And this is what I would like to know too, So many times I wished I could just click click and order that odd item.
sigh....
 
DOM is very expensive no matter where you get it (relatively), 600$ is extreme, but unfortunately it is a rather specialty item and can be hard to come across, add to that you only want 27" and not a full 20'/24' and your paying out the nose

Edit; if you can find a proper supplier (reliable tube, varsteel, ryerson) you can likely buy a full length for 600$.....if they stock it, i doubt anyone will bring in 1 length for you
 
For your business name, put in Carrdo Industrial and McMaster will ship to you, no problem.

5" sch 40 pipe is 5.563" od and 5.047" ID
 
So you really don't need DOM steel, you're just interested cause it is pre sized on ID for your application. Maybe a better approach would be to get the 5" sch40 and have someone with a bigger lathe bore it out for you. Might be cheaper in the end.
 
@Darren's suggestion should work. An alternative is to get someone local to you to order for you. I am an approved MC buyer and I'd do it for you if we were closer.
 
I have bought all of my DOM from local hydraulic shops. They use it for cylinder rebuilds. Is that who you are checking with? I could ask around here a bit next week for you. A smaller town sometimes leads to more understanding shops I think. I did a small job for a guy in Toronto a few years back. He had gotten quotes of near $1000 for most Toronto shops to do his job. They just weren't interested in the small jobs.

I remember that issue with McMaster Carr a few years ago, but then found a way around it......but don't recall what that was. 🙄 I think I might have just phoned them and the staff said, sure, no problem. Or what Darren says. I think it is a "flexible" policy they have to deter the nickel and dimers taking up their shipping staff time. Just a WAG of mine

Good luck
 
carrdo said:
Hi All,

Thank you for all of your input/help so far.

OK a bit more information. The 27 inch long piece which I wanted is that long as I want to cut it into three 9" long rough sections which gives an allowance for machining each end of the tube truly square to the ID/OD. If I have to go with something other than what I wanted I would much prefer to have the OD oversize and keep the ID 5.250". I can deal with turning down the OD much better than trying to bore out the ID. This is simply based on the limitations of my equipment which I had a good look at today.

Unless they have changed their policy recently, McMaster-Carr will only deal with business accounts and not individuals from Canada such as myself.
Click to expand...
If you do a search on here for a recent thread in which Blondihacks from youtube participated there are instructions in there about what you can do to order from McMaster Carr.
 
Hello ShawnR,

I have not contacted any local hydraulic shops. Didn't think of that. Yes, any establishment of any size just treats us types as a nuisance. My experience also.

Thank you for your suggestion and yes, could you do that. But there is nothing like changing my mind after thinking about it further. I am still looking for DOM tubing but now the size is 5.750" OD and 5.250" ID (1/4" thick wall). This size seems to be a bit more common than the thinner wall stuff and I have decided that I can change the locomotive design a bit to accommodate this size without having to machine the tubing at all other than to square the ends. And an 18" long piece would be fine also (or 27" long as originally stated).
 
5 inch pipe is not very common, but 6” SCH 160 is 6.625”OD x 5.189” ID.

This should be available as seamless pipe which would be easier to machine, and from my experience, way more common than 5” pipe. I’ve only ever found 5” pipe as ERW (electric resistance welded) that has a seam (with HAZ and a ridge).

6” SCH 160 is quite common in the oilfield or power plants. Fab shops could have stub ends lying around. Finding 5” pipe would be a really hit & miss (from my experience).
 
If you only need 9" long - how about rolling up some 1/8 flat stock into round on a roller and welding it? getting the right pipe would be much less work...but....
 
Re: ordering from McMaster Carr, I sent them a copy of my business registration (needed it anyway, $60 in Ontario), and they were happy to ship to any address I liked (that is, it’s not about zoning/etc. of the address).
 
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