Strong enough?

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Hello all,I am putting together a ladder for a slide for my 3 year old Son.The Ladder with top hand rails will be 54" high.The top of the Slide will be 40" high.I am building it out of some 50 year old galvanized pipe that used to be the top rail of my neighbors chain link fence.  It's 1" pipe with 1/8th inch wall.I have already bent the main frame using a harbor freight pipe bender and now I have to cut and weld in the individual ladder rungs and cross members.  Now for the question.  With the 1/8th wall thickness would it be a stong enough connection to weld together with a flat end or should I really notch each end of each ladder rung and cross member?Thanks,MikeHere is a pic of the Pipe Attached ImagesComputer nerd with a background in woodworkingMy Site  No Metal working stuff there yet.
Reply:Ahhh the dime... The pipe is plenty strong enough..Lose the galvy in the weld area and have at it!...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Oh..Notch the pipes.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Either grind the ends to an approximate fishmouth or flatten the ends.  If you flatten don't bother flattening tight.  Close the ends so that there is a half inch to three quarters gap.  The ladder rungs will be more than strong enough flattened as I described.  Grind off the galvanizing for about half an inch or more back from the weld areas.  Use lots of ventilation and stay out of the plume.   Climb the ladder and slide yourself to load test.   Your kid is going to grow and the slide will be useless next year.  If you plan now you can make it so that you can increase the size for a larger thrill seeker in the future.
Reply:Flatten the ends...  I like that Idea thanks.What would be the best thing to use to flatten this thick walled pipe?  Just wondering as I don't have many tools yet.If I use what I got then it would involve a ball peen hammer and the concrete floor of the garage.  My next purchase was going to be a HF shop vice, would a 5" or 6" vice be able to flatten the ends?Thanks,MikeComputer nerd with a background in woodworkingMy Site  No Metal working stuff there yet.
Reply:I would try a ball peen hammer.  If that won't do it, heat em up. *Please grind gavl off first.  The heat will vaporize it and its toxic.*DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:yea gavinized steel is coated with zinc. stuff smells nasty, not to mantion hard on the lungs.
Reply:If I use what I got then it would involve a ball peen hammer and the concrete floor of the garage. My next purchase was going to be a HF shop vice, would a 5" or 6" vice be able to flatten the ends?
Reply:Originally Posted by BigMikeFlatten the ends...  I like that Idea thanks.What would be the best thing to use to flatten this thick walled pipe?  Just wondering as I don't have many tools yet.If I use what I got then it would involve a ball peen hammer and the concrete floor of the garage.  My next purchase was going to be a HF shop vice, would a 5" or 6" vice be able to flatten the ends?Thanks,Mike
Reply:Thanks for the info.There is only One small scrap yard in my entire area that actually sells their stuff, so I'll head out there Saturday morning.As for the Galvanized coating, I plan on sanding down all the surfaces with generic sand paper to get the ugly red paint off.  Is there any chance I may sand off the Galvanized coating?  I wanted to leave the pipe plain but if I end up sanding through the coating I don't want it to start rusting on me.ThanksComputer nerd with a background in woodworkingMy Site  No Metal working stuff there yet.
Reply:Boy you're going to have a tuff time hand sanding the galvy off. There's a 98% chance that it's hot dip, which means the zinc is 'into' the base metal plus the zinc tends to clog like crazy. Maybe you could come up with an old coarse toothed file or the worlds cheapest grinder ??
Reply:Galv does not stick to aluminum grinding discs.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Another good cheap anvil for the simple flattening you're talking about is a section of railroad track. A steel yard may have some they're willing to cut a foot off. Raises the work off the concrete just a bit.Jim
Reply:Best thing I have for doing serious hammer work is a piece of 5" shaft 4" long. I use it on the floor or welding table.                         MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:I found a piece of steel 3/8th x 4 x 18 in my garage and tried to use that while laying it on the ground.  WOW...  I really had to wack that pipe a lot of times just to bend in one side.  Had to stop since my ears were ringing pretty bad... Will need to get some hearing protection if I continue that way.I'm thinking I might be able to rig something up with my HF pipe bender so I could use it as a shop press. hmmm...MikeComputer nerd with a background in woodworkingMy Site  No Metal working stuff there yet.
Reply:As said above, the pipe will be plenty strong.As said above, slightly flatten the ends of the rungs and then weld to the uprights.  Or just notch/fish-mouth the rungs and then weld to the uprights.As said above, grind the zinc galvanizing off the areas to be welded before you weld.  Sandpaper by hand really isn't going to do well, use a grinder with a grinding wheel or flap-disc.  Oh, and you'll probably burn/scorch/ignite the old paint on the pipe when you weld it too.  A wire wheel in the grinder will help take care of that post-weld clean-up before you redo the paint (+1 on the spray-on cold galvinizing before you repaint).As you found out, trying to beat the pipe ends flat on a piece of steel plate is a lot of work and LOUD!  Definitely wear hearing and EYE protection.Get a big vise.  Or borrow/use one to flatten the pipe ends.  Or get/borrow a hydraulic press to flatten the pipe ends.  Trying to rig the HF pipe-bender into a press will take a goodly amount of time, effort, and materials.  What you'll basically do is take the bottle jack out of the pipe bender and use it in your home-built press.  You could do all that, sure, if you want to make the tools.  Or just go to HF and get the 12-ton shop press (I think the 20-ton is better though) on sale for $120-$150 or so and get right into fabbing -your- project.  Oh, and get a vise while you're there.   You'll always need a vise in the shop.Or just notch the pipe ends.And what is this, the Mike, Mike, and Mike thread?     There's BigMike, mla2ofus (Mike), and me (Mike).  Well, Sandy and Red-Devil did chime in.  And of course Zap.  But he may be a Mike for all we know.
Reply:Quick and dirty Shop press So, using some (C chanel???) I was able to use my HF pipe bender to flatten the ends of all the Ladder rungs.  May not look that great, and I bent the C chanel a little but it got me past this little hurdle.Pics...SetupStarting to Flatten the RungsRungs are finishedBent C Chanel Attached ImagesLast edited by BigMike; 05-26-2007 at 06:13 AM.Computer nerd with a background in woodworkingMy Site  No Metal working stuff there yet.
Reply:Smart guy!  I would have never thought of using that little press.  I would have gone with dumb brute force on a small sledge.  Your flattening is perfect.... not too much.