Thick wall steel tube

--Look for cored cast iron bushing stock. I've got a hunk of the stuff that I intend to use to build a 3-cylinder steam engine one of these years; it's cast in lengths of a little over a foot and has a hole maybe an inch in diameter. Lotsa boring ahead but it's probably what you want.

Cored? Most if not all hollow cast bar is centrifugally cast. Results in a far more homogenous material.

Tom

Mike,

The RULE is to pick your material size from what's available, THEN finalize the design!

Your dimensional requirements could be met by a piece of 2.5" DOUBLE EXTRA-STRONG commercial steel pipe. Try a scrap yard that accepts stuff from old factories.

OD = 2.875", ID = 1.771" uncorroded. 2" pipe is only 2.375" OD; 3" pipe is 3.5" OD with a 2.300" ID, double extra strong wall.

Alternatively you might try mechanical tubing, which, at 2 5/8" OD has wall thicknesses available up to 5/8". Again try a scrap yard or a heavy steel fabricator.

Good quality cast iron is also a good choice for this application.

Wolfgang

There is a company in Chesterfield that carries blanks of centrifugally cast, cast iron. The make spares for engines, liners etc and they will sell to the public as I collected a couple of liner blanks for a friend a couple of years ago.

I think they have an arrangement with one of the larger companies locally for the supply of this stuff, probably GKN Sheepbridge.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:

I'd really, really like to see centrifugal casting in action one day.

It *sounds* insanely dangerous, so it appeals enormously! :^)

--Yah, maybe that's how they do it. I just meant to indicate it comes with a hole down the middle; very convenient not to have to drill out the middle! :-)

Thanks Wolfgang. I'll try the scrapyard approach.

By the way, I need the tube to repair an old machine. If I'd been designing from scratch I would certainly have started from an available material.

Mike

Thanks Peter

Any idea of the name of the company concerned?

Mike