Places to buy seamless pipe?

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kjjohn
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:28 pm

Is there any place to buy seamless aluminum and stainless pipe online? I checked at speedymetals and onlinemetals, and they don't sell seamless pipe. Is there any place to get it besides from McMaster?
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rp181
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:10 pm

im pretty sure online metals does, look under tube.
Pierce metals is also very very cheap, limited stock though.
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:20 pm

im pretty sure online metals does, look under tube.
Pierce metals is also very very cheap, limited stock though.
He's not looking for tube, rp181, he's looking for pipe, which is not generally sold by metal supply companies. There are lots of sources for such pipe, many useless as a result of their refusal to sell in small quantities, or to individuals.

From my knowledge, Howell Pipe would be a good place to check out. They have reasonable prices even on small orders, and vastly more selection in pipes than McMaster-Carr does (from 1/8" to 96", and everything in between, in various wall thicknesses). Howell doesn't do online orders yet, to the best of my knowledge, but you can email them for a price quote and arrange the details by phone. I'm sure their sales reps would be willing to make shipping arrangements with you.

All of my limited dealings with Howell were very pleasant and helpful, despite me being an individual who was only intent on ordering a few hundred dollars worth of pipe (never happened, as the hybrid requiring the pipe was not built). I'm also curious as to why McMaster is not an option for you.
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rp181
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:26 pm

im assuming the pipe is for a custom build, so tube may work too.
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kjjohn
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:34 pm

Tube would work, but for some reason it is a lot more expensive than similarly sized pipes.

McMaster is not an option for the same reason: they are ridiculously expensive.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check out Howell and pierce metals. I did find one other site called "OnlineMetalStore.com", but it doesn't tell anywhere on the site whether the pipe is seamless or not. I emailed the admin of the site and asked if their pipe is seamless, so that may be an option. I only need to order a few feet of various sizes, so I am planning on spending under $100.

edit: just checked McMaster again to be sure, and I can't tell if their aluminum pipe is seamless. Does anyone know? The unthreaded type is actually not too expensive from them.
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rp181
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:05 pm

mcmaster has very good prices on most products. Contact them, and they will reply very quickly.
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kjjohn
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:08 pm

I guess McMaster's unthreaded pipe is not so bad. I was mainly looking at threaded pipes before, which are very expensive. I still believe their pipe is overpriced, but only by a little bit.
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rp181
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:39 pm

most people say the slight overprice is worth their customer service. when i ordered copper bar, they sent two steel hinged thingamajigs, they sent a replacement the same day i emailed the. Another time, they sent a ball valve that was missing from the order, no questions asked.
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kjjohn
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Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:28 pm

Yeah, they are great in terms of service and ease of use. I just emailed them asking if the aluminum pipe was seamless, and got a response back that listed the exact specs of the pipe, and stated that it was indeed seamless, which means I will probably order from them.
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Heimo
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Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:38 am

other places to look for seamless pipe would be places that does Hydraulics
I have found steel seamless pipe there but if it is aluminum pipe you are after you won't find it there. the nice thing about hydraulic tubing is that they are most of the times coated on the inside with a phosphate based coating and that prevents rust
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kjjohn
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Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:15 pm

I found the site OnlineMetalStore.com, but it does not tell anywhere if their pipe is seamless or not. There is also no way to contact them (at least, not unless you have a question about an order) and ask them. Has anyone ordered from this site or know if their pipe (not tube) is seamless?
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rp181
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Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:37 pm

just go ahead and contact, even if it says for a order. If you can't contact them, its not a trustworthy store.
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kjjohn
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Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:15 pm

I contacted them about a week ago, and they didn't respond, which is probably because they don't answer questions about the product itself. It looked like they only answered questions about order status or customer service.
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rp181
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Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:24 pm

don't buy from them, go with mcmaster.
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kjjohn
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Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:32 pm

I guess I'll just have to save up a lot more money, but I suppose I'll at least know that the pipe is seamless.
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