Cleaning up welds on pipe for handrail

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Im welding some 1 1/4" schedule 40 pipe for a handrail in my house. I welded on a wall return and ground the weld down smooth.  Is there a trick to really smoothing out the pipe at the weld so it doesn't have little flat spots?  Thanks, Nick.
Reply:Whats causing the flat spots, grinding in one spot too much? Use a flapper disk to grind it down and it will have a nice finish. Rotate the grinder around the pipe so the area you ground will have a radius.Airco Ac/Dc 300 HeliwelderMillerMatic 200 (stolen)Miller Maxstar 150STLMiller AEAD200LE (welding and generating power) Hobart MIG
Reply:I have seen flap wheels at H.D. for use on end like a cutting wheel that have a nice radius for corner weld clean-up.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:They also sell the little sand paper rolls on a straight shaft you can put in a die grinder. I think Eastwoods sells them for porting manifolds and such. They are good for blending, but aren't really the tool to remove a lot of material. For that you'll need stones or a carbide bur..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I take the hand grinder ,put the guard against the pipe and rotate around the pipe , you are using the front 1/2 " of the disc so the grind marks go length wise on the pipe .Do a 1/3 of dia. rotate   etc.etc.  trick is don't stop in one place .With a little prat ice you can do almost as go as one of those expensive rap around sanders.
Reply:..... so the grind marks go length wise on the pipe
Reply:grinding perpendicular to the pipe is not how you do it. Use a soft backed resin disc and grind lengthwise down the pipe using the very front portion of the grinding pad. Keep the grinder to pipe angle fixed as you move the grinder around the pipe.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:I'm using a 120 grit flap wheel.  I'll try parallel to the pipe. Thanks.
Reply:I should add, don't move side to side either, just keep the nose of the wheel centered on the weld. The only tricky part is keeping the angle locked tangent to the pipe as you orbit the grinder round the pipe. You can use a hard grinding wheel to knock down the weld as much as possible, just don't knick the pipe or dig a low spot, then finish with the above method.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:Knick the pipe? Too late for that. This thing is getting sandblasted and powder coated.  Will the sand blasting and powder coating deal with any small discrepancies, or will it just make them stand out?
Reply:Call it a lesson learned , it's part of the learning curve>
Reply:Occasionally I do pipe joins I need to be invisible once painted, I finish up with a belt sander (think woodwork sander) I hold it at 45degrees to the Pipe and roll it round, once powder coated you can't tell it's joined.Cheers AndrewWIA 270amp Mig Transtig 200 AC/DC Tig/stickHypertherm PM45
Reply:This is what I have.  Not perfect, but not horrible.  It's good enough for my house which is where it's going.
Reply:that looks pretty good I have seen pipe come from a supplier  with knicks  and dents oval pipe etc.
Reply:Those don't look too bad.  Take some emery paper to it before blasting to remove the flat spots.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Depending on how smooth you want it.  You can build it up with primer or bondo and sand by hand. Do it a few times and it will be smooth.
Reply:Good job. Don't worry too much about it, this is a good finish here.
Reply:When I was 18 I worked in a structural steel shop- they had a contract for stairways for a large multi-story building. I got the job of grinding all the pipe welds on the handrails. I used a 7" angle grinder with a hard wheel, followed by a soft (resin backed sandpaper type) disk on a rubber backer. Worked great , after 100 or so I really got the hang of it......