Making a dome end on pipe

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I have some pipe about 1 1/8" to 1 1/4" OD, or thereabouts (don't have my ruler handy right now) that I want to form a dome-shaped end on.I have seen some videos where a guy cuts the end of some thin-walled tubing in sort of flower petal shapes and then bends and TIG welds them to form the dome.  They will look like the panels in an open umbrella.  Does anyone know of some templates or software that will enable me to determine the lengths and shape of the end cuts to form the panels?This doesn't have to be only for my size of pipe, but would be handy for larger sizes as well.
Reply:This should do it for you

The height of the points from the baseline should be 1/4 of the circumference.

Last edited by MinnesotaDave; 10-17-2016 at 09:15 PM.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Wow, that was quick.  Dave, you are a genius!!Thanks!
Reply:I'd just buy a preformed weld on caps for about $1.00 each...easier, faster, 1 weld...RyanMiller Multimatic 200 tig/spool gun/wireless remoteMillermatic 350P, Bernard/XR Python gunsMiller Dynasty 350, Coolmate 3.5 & wireless remoteCK WF1 TIG wire feederMiller Spectrum 375 XtremeOptrel e684Miller Digital EliteMiller Weld-Mask
Reply:

Originally Posted by shortfuse

Wow, that was quick.  Dave, you are a genius!!Thanks!
Reply:

Originally Posted by xryan

I'd just buy a preformed weld on caps for about $1.00 each...easier, faster, 1 weld...
Reply:@ shortfuse - kuzineddie is the pro at rip'n this geometry. He'll chime in."Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:Well damb it I bumped up another old post replying to this one.

Search orange peel on here. On a side note, I think it was a Priefert tour I went on one time. I can't remember but they had a cup shaped like they wanted the cap. Tube was spun in front of a rosebud to orange hot then shoved and spun into the cup until it was round and smooth. Heckuva deal.I'm going to bed.

"You can't out puke a buzzard"
Reply:If it is standard steel schedule 40 pipe they do make those inexpensive end caps as someone mentioned. If it is stainless and you only need one or two, you can heat the end of the pipe yellow hot and hammer it until it is a dome. It takes about five minutes each. But the stainless has to be yellow hot or it will crack, if it is only red or orange it will crack. My Italian friend Lou taught me that one. You can hammer the steel too if it is an odd size pipe and you do not need a bunch of them.I have pressed round punch drops into something resembling a dome and welded them on to the ends of pipe, they came out nice. Sincerely, William McCormickIf I wasn't so.....crazy, I wouldn't try to act normal, and you would be afraid.
Reply:Agree with Pipeliner, you will need to do a search on "Orange Peel". Sorta hard to give a detailed layout description here but if you can't figure the layout from Dave's info let us know and I will try to get a few pictures in the shop the next chance I get.If you want a good pocket reference on layout methods, get the "Pipe Fitter's & Pipe Welder's Handbook".  Well written and easy to follow.  Due to copyright issues I will not post pictures on the Orange Peel method from the book but there is a chart with pipe sizes and the template measurements.  I've seen the book on eBay quite often.If you plan on torching that small of pipe I would think your radial cuts will be somewhat harder to make.  Each cut will need a bevel for fitup.  If you are going for straight cosmetics, a end cap will probably be easier but I do understand the shipping thing.  I just bought a rectifier for $3.00 and paid $9.50 in shipping!
Reply:Here's the shortest layout guide I've found.

Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Dave and kuzineddie, I cut out the pipe end today using Dave's sketch.  I used 8 segments.  Looks good from here, just ran out of time, so I'll heat it in the forge and hammer it to shape tomorrow.  Thanks again.I'll do a search for the "orange peel", kuzineddie.Edit....just noticed another thread here today with the orange peel topic...got some good info there as well.Last edited by shortfuse; 10-18-2016 at 06:11 PM.
Reply:

Dave, that one works better...easier to determine the dimensions.Last edited by shortfuse; 10-18-2016 at 06:20 PM.
Reply:

Originally Posted by MinnesotaDave

This should do it for you

The height of the points from the baseline should be 1/4 of the circumference.


Reply:

Originally Posted by shortfuse

Dave, your diagram worked pretty well....welded it up with some 3/32" 7014  

Making a yard art cactus.....


Reply:Nicely done!!

Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:very cool

Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Dynamics, Victor, Miller, Dewalt, Makita, Kalamzoo.  Hand tools, power tools, welding and cutting tools.
Reply:Very cool. Sincerely, William McCormickIf I wasn't so.....crazy, I wouldn't try to act normal, and you would be afraid.
Reply:that came out well, did you use heat or hammer it cold?
Reply:

Originally Posted by gxbxc

that came out well, did you use heat or hammer it cold?
Reply:What did you use to cut the pipe into the orange peel shape?Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Dynamics, Victor, Miller, Dewalt, Makita, Kalamzoo.  Hand tools, power tools, welding and cutting tools.
Reply:

Originally Posted by N2 Welding

What did you use to cut the pipe into the orange peel shape?
Reply:cool thank you.Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Dynamics, Victor, Miller, Dewalt, Makita, Kalamzoo.  Hand tools, power tools, welding and cutting tools.
Reply:Remember to use the OD dim for the math matrix."Discovery is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Reply:Nice orange peel shortfuse.Last edited by tapwelder; 10-20-2016 at 02:20 PM.

Originally Posted by shortfuse

Dave, your diagram worked pretty well....welded it up with some 3/32" 7014  

Making a yard art cactus......
Reply:

Originally Posted by ManoKai

Remember to use the OD dim for the math matrix.
Reply:

Originally Posted by John T

That looks great. If you were making multiple pieces, you could make a round mandrel (?) the same size as the  ID as the pipe...    weld it to a long rod and slide it up inside the heated pipe....  then tap it into shape.
Reply:That turned out great!
Reply:No one was more surprised than me that it worked!!!!!!
Reply:If the first drawing is to scale. Could you not change it's scale so that it's length is the same circumference of the pipe?Then print, and trace, and cut?
Reply:that is a sweet job!
Reply:

Originally Posted by Kolas

If the first drawing is to scale. Could you not change it's scale so that it's length is the same circumference of the pipe?Then print, and trace, and cut?
Reply:

Originally Posted by Kolas

If the first drawing is to scale. Could you not change it's scale so that it's length is the same circumference of the pipe?Then print, and trace, and cut?
Reply:These are heated and hammered domes. It takes about five minutes each, and you just need to fill a quarter inch hole at the top. I would have thought this method silly if someone just told me about it, in fact when the fellow who taught me, told me, I thought "oh my God this is going to suck". But in less than five minutes I was quenching a pipe he handed me with a dome that had a quarter inch hole in the top of it. He still has me beat for speed and sometimes I end up with a three eighths inch hole in the top of the dome, but I have improved to about five or six minutes. You just keep rolling the pipe and hammering it medium lightly. It just turns into a dome. I have thought I messed them up a couple times, and just kept going to see what it would look like. To my surprise I was able to reshape it using different hammering angles.

Sincerely, William McCormickIf I wasn't so.....crazy, I wouldn't try to act normal, and you would be afraid.
Reply:

Originally Posted by William McCormick

These are heated and hammered domes. .You just keep rolling the pipe and hammering it medium lightly. It just turns into a dome. I have thought I messed them up a couple times, and just kept going to see what it would look like. To my surprise I was able to reshape it using different hammering angles. Sincerely, William McCormick
Reply:

Originally Posted by John T

Cool.I'd like to see an action shot of those being made.