Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys! I was wondering if someone could give me some help on a project. I need 2 pieces of 2 1/2 diameter steel pipe side by side, but both reduce down to the same 2 1/2 inches. So sort of ending up in a V shape. Any tips?

Welcome, Nathannamaya! Not sure I'm following your question: do you need to cut the pipe so the cut surfaces will join up and the pipe will form a V?

Well, I need the pipes to be side by side, with about a 1/8" gap in between. But I need the pipes to join up to form the V shaped joint at the bottom with a 2 1/2 inch circular opening at the bottom of the V joint

I think you're trying to make a "Y" if I follow you. Is this for an exhaust on a car?

To only have an 1/8" in between the two pipes you will have an almost impossible time welding the inside v of the joint. There is usually about an inch or more between them for ease of welding.

What process are you using to weld them together, that will determine the minimum amount of space that you can get away with.

Len

You might be better off trying this out of 15 or 30 degree exhaust bends if you are hell bent on keeping them that tight, and actually this is about the only way to cut them so the merge down to a 2.5in circle. Even then, you will have a lot of trial/error/measuring/cutting to do to get it to truly be 2.5in and round to boot. If you tried to do it out of straight pipe and keep them as tight as possible, you would have a transition/merge that is way too long to be feasible for most applications.

You could always take the approach that ford did to bring their Y-Pipes on the V6 Rangers into a single pipe. Weld two stubs however far away from each other on a plate the shape of your choosing, and then roll/hammer/bend a "shell" for lack of a better term to encase them, and then do the same at the bottom with a single 2.5 inch outlet. Think Muffler end caps...

Yeah, a Y shape would better describe what I'm going for. The only thing I'm stuck on, is how to get that Y shape out of the pipe? I was thinking of some sort of oval to round adapter kinda like the plate and "shell" idea you were talking about

Would something like this help?

Andy Blyth,

Yes it probably would, but you would have to cut a piece of sheet metal out to bridge the gap between the two pipes and then make sure you finish weld the whole thing to seal it off.

http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbi ... ension.jpg
You guys think something like this would work?

Yes although I don't want to venture a guess as to what you would pay for it