Cutting and then welding small tubing

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I have 12.7 mm OD with 1.6 wall thickness tubing and I'm wanting to make a t-section. There is no need to have the tubing hole in the centre keep open though.Just one butted up against the other. Exactly as it does in the front of this rack.My question is should I cut one tube to fit more snuggly or just butt them up against each other and weld (ARC/TIG) away?Like this?
Reply:It just depends on how big of a gap you want to screw around with filling.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:As small as possible.What is the name of the tool that can cut the tubing on a mitre?
Reply:Tubing notcherhttp://www.summitracing.com/search/P...bing-Notchers/This will give you an idea. Maybe try Harbor Freight.
Reply:Cheers. That's exactly what I want.
Reply:On a smaller budget, just make two 45 degree cuts on the end of the pipe, and it will be close to fitting around another pipe - minor adjustment needed.
Reply:With 1/2" tubing, it's pretty easy to cope them with a 12" rat tail file. It takes a little patience to get the two ends in phase, but it's not hard. The copes in the first photo were done by hand because I didn't have the tooling to do them with hole saws at the time. And the seat stays (5/8" round) are offset as well. I roughed them in with a bench grinder and then finished them with half-round files. These tubes are butting up against larger diameter tubing, which is why I used the bigger half-rounds. But for 1/2" butted against 1/2", some swipes with a big rat tail is just fine. I do that on brake bridges all of the time as seen in the second photo. These were brazed, but I still go after the same fit-up as I would on a welded joint.IMG_0197 by Zanconato Custom Cycles, on FlickrIMG_0019 by Zanconato Custom Cycles, on Flickr