INDUSTRIAL DIY PROJECTS / REASONS TO ENJOY YOUR MASSIVE BANDSAW

Looking for an excuse to buy the mack daddy of cordless bandsaws but can’t justify it as a DIY expense? With a hand pipe threader, a tap and die set, and the appropriate pipe and fittings, you can cut and fabricate industrial pipe furniture for a whole lot less than the many thousands of rands that high-end store options cost.

The path of least resistance would be to have Steve at your local hardware store cut and thread the pipes for you, but DIY cutting and threading gives you more flexibility (and fewer trips back to the shop when you get the measurements wrong).

Before you embark on the pipe-based coffee table or bookshelf of your dreams, check out these tips from Senior Test Editors Roy Berendsohn and Brad Ford to nail your favourite industrial-pipe look.

STEP 1 DEGREASE / Give the pipe and fittings a thorough cleaning with any degreaser or powerful ammoniated cleaner before you begin to sand; you don’t want to spread the residual grease from the threading process. Denatured alcohol also works well to break down the oil and clean off pipes. Be careful, the threads can be very sharp.

STEP 2 SCUFF-SAND AND

CLEAN / Sand the pipe and fittings with fine sandpaper or so-called wet-dry paper (sandpaper that can be used with a cutting lubricant). You don’t need anything much coarser than 120- or maybe even 220-grit paper. The important thing is to abrade off shiny spots, rust, deep scratches, and the like. You can even use an ammoniated household cleaner together with wet-dry sandpaper while you’re doing this. Next, use damp and clean paper towels to wipe down the pipe and dry it thoroughly. Follow with one more wipe using a solvent such as mineral spirits or alcohol and a clean piece of paper towel or shop towel.

STEP 3 PAINT / Apply primer when painting metal that’s been abraded/ cleaned, especially if there are bare spots or areas where rust needed to be removed. (Don’t paint galvanised pipe with oil-based primers or paints that are called ‘alkyds’

– use paints called ‘acrylics’, otherwise the paint will peel when exposed to humidity.)

Use one coat of spray metal primer, followed by at least two coats of top coat, which may be gloss enamel or satin enamel. Hold the can so it’s not pointing directly at what you want to paint. Press the can’s trigger and move over the object in a sweeping motion. Once the spray pattern passes the other end, let go of the button.

Alternatively, you can preserve the pipe’s industrial finish with a butcher’s wax coating. You might find that you have to reapply it periodically to maintain the finish, but it protects already-rusting pipe from corroding further.