How to cut steampipe/black pipe for a turbo merge collector with simple tools

A friend decided to build a new turbo manifold out of steam pipe/black pipe/nominal bore pipe and asked me to give him a hand with it, our first attempt at cutting the merge collector pipes didn't work very well so I came up with this method.
"This video is intended for entertainment purposes only"
The pipes were cut longer than required to allow trimming later, and as square as possible on the end that will locate against the stop.
A thick cutting disc was used at first to get a flatter cut but it took forever to cut and the disc had to be thrown out after cutting two pipes as it wasn't cutting anymore.
Thin discs cut much faster, last/work longer and can be made to cut fairly straight with care. A 9" grinder might work better but not many people own them (and probably fewer people should) so I didn't try using one.
The jig should be made as rigid as possible, but something thrown together like this gives reasonable results.
The symmetrical cuts are for turbochargers with square or round (V-band) inlets.
The offset cuts are for turbochargers with rectangular turbine inlets.
Trimming the entry to match the turbo flange would probably be better done with a grinder sled and flat board.
This method will work for any practical incidence angle, a similar method of angle determination could be used for bandsaws, mills and drop saws.
For a given number of primary pipes the alignment angle (90 degrees in this video) will be 360/number of primaries.

[@richardschofield2201]

I need to learn to stop moaning about what tools I don't have and learn to be this creative with the tools I do have.

[@Kj16V]

Great work. And totally convinced me to buy one instead!

[@dhc4ever]

The Bunnings is strong with this one. Nice work, well thought out.

[@lapislignum]

The bench sander is from Aldi but Bunnings is the business.

[@howimade3309]

very creative with what you had laying around!

[@lapislignum]

Cheers!

[@timtrial3971]

Good to see great results with stick. I have mig tig and stick as options to weld mild steel pipe. I can't justify the expense of tig for a mild steel manifold.

[@lapislignum]

If I had a TIG and was already paying for gas bottle rental I'd probably use it for jobs like this, on the inside at least. I'd stick weld the outside if I was any good at it.

[@roberthedin102]

Great video, for people never having made a manifold before and decides to try it out this is the best video to learn from👍

[@TheWoodCrafter1]

Nice pigeon 🙂, very useful techniques with basic tools, and very good results 👍

[@lapislignum]

Cheers! The rough build was half to show what bits aren't important and half laziness. Jigs!

[@TheWoodCrafter1]

@@lapislignum 🙂👍

[@shanetorok3293]

Doing The best with what you have at it's finest, well done sir

[@lapislignum]

Cheers!

[@daveprototype6079]

Nice work

[@racingriaanb8292]

Best diy jig I have ever seen buddy.good job

[@lapislignum]

Thanks!

[@frederichanisch6698]

What a great Idea😍😍😍

[@NovatoCustom]

I'd like to say that is probably not the best merge angle for flow, but many kudos for the smart system built to do the cuts, when you can't afford proper machines or when you do one project only, this seems pretty good!

[@lapislignum]

Cheers! The angle could be smaller, I set it that big so it would be easy to weld inside the small angle, and to keep the manifold compact on the intended installation. This jig design will work with much shallower angles too.

[@chipcity3016]

I have CNC machinery at my disposal, and Id still be using this method. Tooo good! But I'll be using TIG. I think McGuyver used to weld with old coins an two car batteries. But TIG for me. :)

[@lapislignum]

Stick has its place but TIG all the way for this stuff!

[@chipcity3016]

Great work! Perfect timing finding this video! Im doing this same job on a T3 turbo manifold to Hayabusa. One TIP your 6mm packers on stage 2 cutting could have been just a single sheet of the appropriate thickness added to the underside of the main wooded grinder slider platform.

[@lapislignum]

Cheers! A single sheet would be a bit harder to fix in place but is a good way to do it, I didn't have any sheets the right thickness so it was easier to rip small stock to the right thickness and chop it up. Makes it easy to get the height right if you choose to dress the cut with a thick cutting it grinding wheel too.

[@chubee8899]

Good job, sangat membantu dalam proses belajar membuat joint pipe👍👍👍

[@lapislignum]

Cheers, thanks for watching!

[@boujie-tr6pf]

Love it, doing projects on a extreme budget

[@lapislignum]

You could use this method to mark the lines and do it with a hacksaw if you had enough patience, I certainly don't.

[@alphasigmasezon8597]

Espetacular !

[@itsreallytom4310]

Brilliant

[@samuelmdouglas]

Nice one mate

[@lapislignum]

Thanks!

[@jorgemateosmarcue9434]

Gentil amigo muchas gracias por tu aporte!

[@lapislignum]

Me alegra que te guste, gracias por vernos!

[@estebanavalos6413]

Incredible video, I could make one of the platform that puts the grinder for the cuts 👏🏽👏🏽

[@lapislignum]

Grinder sleds are very useful things

[@Blougheed]

good video! you can do a ton with basic tools!

[@lapislignum]

Cheers! An angle grinder can be a fairly accurate tool with some clamps and jigs

[@lapislignum]

I made another merge collector recently, used a diamond cutting wheel, cut much straighter but cut very slowly, slower than the thick abrasive cutting wheel. Less clean up required later though so worth putting up with. I also screwed a short length of angle iron to the top of the pipe rest, this helped with clamping a lot.

[@BramBiesiekierski]

SPE Diamond wheels are the best. I built a full roll cage and did all the the cutting with a single 5" Lenox Metal-Max cut off wheel. Would have easily used about 40 standard cuttoff wheels to do the same work. Less mess, and the wheel doesnt get smaller as you go. Best $25 i ever spent.

[@lapislignum]

@@BramBiesiekierski If you aren't in a hurry they are great!

[@owlytv]

Hi just wondering if you made these for people?

[@lapislignum]

@@owlytv I do sometimes

[@owlytv]

@@lapislignum how would I get in touch with you?

[@valerijschataloff1329]

Оооо да,синяя изолента...

[@lapislignum]

Лента художника

[@valerijschataloff1329]

@@lapislignum где то в России,скатилась скупая слеза безымянного мастера,после твоего ответа.

[@nugienazrilchannel]

Great Vidio this is sharing..

[@lapislignum]

Thanks!

[@user-vg9rk9kp8v]

Отличная работа!)

[@lapislignum]

Спасибо!

[@jevgenijsalgunov774]

Делая 6 в 1 тоже должно быть вырезано с одной стороны короче нежели с другой ?

[@user-vg9rk9kp8v]

@@jevgenijsalgunov774 для красоты, да. А для эффективности, нужно смотреть порядок работы цилиндров. В идиале делать из аллюминия.

[@djyul]

steam pipe? no need for a weight in the car then. But innovative and a good result! Thought when you were constructing that you were going to weld with mig,but electrode? Cudos dude!!! I am a pipe welder,well done. No leaks???

[@lapislignum]

I only tacked it together, it was either the arc welder or fluxcore MIG. TIG would be the way to go.

[@djyul]

@@lapislignum Dude Mig is solid wire MAG is flux core.There is a big difference. Tig,it will pull more!! I have made collectors,and turbo collectors,merges what ever you want to call them.They pull like fuck,especially when its SSteel! Carbon is not that bad with the wall you are using.Try thin wall SS.You are going to cry!!! Tip,when welding a collector,dont try to go too deep out side,(tig) outside it will pull like the devil when you go too deep into the merge!. Visual weld,and seal weld inside,less pulling and distortion.Outside first!!! have fun! And FYI Tig brings in more heat,if you are not a competent welder,and it does if you are!

[@stevenharpervw]

Wow

[@ja-no6fx]

perfect fit up... welds with stick... please someone

[@RHBTurbochargers]

my thoughts.. oof

[@psk5746]

Nothing wrong with stick. Note it is thicker than normal exhaust pipe. Don't have to TIG everything

[@rossy2998]

@@psk5746 fuck bro i would not be stick welding a manifold its not a gate or dump truck

[@psk5746]

@@rossy2998 well I would. Each to there own

[@williambonnie9229]

@@rossy2998 Of course you wouldn't. You probably can't stick weld....... fool

[@sammyturbo786]

Nice work. How would you do 3 2” pipe into a t4

[@lapislignum]

Same as this but with a 120 degree block instead of 90 degree block/Angie iron, the collector might take some more shaping to fit the flange though.

[@duozhang2155]

👍👍👍

[@sanderwesseltoft6732]

1:50 how do you know how much stickout the pipe need over the sliding board to end up with exactly 1:4 of the circumference on the end of the pipe? Like if you have to short it will just cut the corner, or cut to much if you stick it too far out?

[@lapislignum]

I did a proof of concept with cardboard tube first, and did some rough modeling with a 2D CAD program based on the angle to be used and the grinder offset, I probably double checked to see where the grinder would cut before deciding where to put the screw. It would be easier just to start with a long pipe and mark where the grinder blade will cut it, then cut the pipe down based on that line and put it back in the jig to cut the angles. The main thing to remember is to keep everything longer than it needs to be, better to trim after the angle cuts than have to start again!

[@sylwiaboza9172]

Great job! I dont understand how you get that 6.5mm ? For what ? What angle to build merge 6in1 ?

[@lapislignum]

The 6.5mm is the offset to suit the rectangular port, for 6 into 1 on a single entry Turbo you would use 60 degrees, for a twin entry Turbo there are a few ways to do it.

[@Baccgarage]

60degrees and still two cut for one pipe ?

[@lapislignum]

Yes that's right

[@owlytv]

Hi just wondering if you make these to sell? Also what angle did you set the ramp at you lean the pipe on in the jig and was there a calc for that?

[@lapislignum]

I've sold a few but the shipping cost is bad enough within Australia and they are usually pretty easy to find on eBay. I think the angle was 22.5 degrees.

[@owlytv]

@@lapislignum I'm in Australia :)

[@owlytv]

So sorry how did you workout you needed it at 22.5?

[@lapislignum]

@@owlytv I figured 45 degrees between pipes was a good place to start so I mocked that up and it looked OK. You could make it "pointier" but it depends on how much room there is in the engine bay.

[@Baccgarage]

Me again ! ;-) what's is angle cut, but this angel which you set with wood, 15° ?

[@lapislignum]

15 should be OK, think the angle on the video is closer to 20.

[@guidosamson682]

He my friend, im building a copy. What angle is thepipe on the underblock guide?

[@lapislignum]

22 degrees

[@56WagonWheel]

Nice one, not sure why you need a better welder, you seemed to get by with what you have.

[@lapislignum]

Cheers! Its either get a better welder or become a better welder, I get better results with a TIG than. Stick for this kind of thing.

[@Onizans]

Is there space enough to get bolts in???

[@lapislignum]

T3 flange has studs on the flange so no need in this case. I think the bolts generally go on the turbo side, if the bolts need to on the manifold side you would want to do a dry fit before welding the rest of it.

[@Onizans]

@@lapislignum Yes I did not think of that. Awesome job mate and with stick.. 🤟🤟

[@lapislignum]

@@Onizans Thanks!

[@owlytv]

Did you cut the 6.5 offset on just one of the pipes?

[@lapislignum]

every pipe has the offset on that collector

[@owlytv]

@@lapislignum but in the earlier parts of the video you're cutting them without spacers?

[@lapislignum]

@@owlytv the video shows two merge collectors being made, the first one is for a square/circular outlet (no offset) and the second is for a rectangular outlet.

[@owlytv]

@@lapislignum oh sorry I didn't realise it was for two of them..

[@Baccgarage]

Why you dont use cutt-off saw ( my english is bad - forgive me) to cut angle ? You can set angle to cut on this machine P.s. great job

[@lapislignum]

Mainly to show you don't need one to do this job, you could use a jig in a cut-off saw too for sure.

[@Baccgarage]

@@lapislignum okej thanks :-)

[@lapislignum]

@@Baccgarage No problem! :)

[@wyattbanik4665]

Btw your English is more correct than a whole lot of people's in comments

[@cplat__9753]

maybe u can do something similar but to cut with the machine at min 1:05 (dunno the name in english sry), anyway good job, i dont see the problem using stick welding, maybe use the right rod and current, those are thick wall tubes, should work just fine greetings

[@lapislignum]

We call that machine a "drop saw" here, could make a jig to use one but the blade tends to drift off when you are cutting things on an angle, could be made to work but I figured more people would have a small angle grinder. You would just need to rotate the pipe so the angle gauge rests between the disc and the first cut if you made a drop saw jig.

[@djeletropopstarify]

What kind of steel is it?

[@lapislignum]

"Cold formed structural steel" - looks like it is alloyed with Nickel and Cobalt and not much carbon. It's not stainless if that is what you want to know.

[@wyattbanik4665]

7018 on a manifold. Not my style but 7018 and I don't really get along unless it's vertical but I like your style

[@lapislignum]

Thanks! It's a 6013 rod actually, don't like my chances welding a whole manifold with stick, still need to buy some 7018 rods.

[@timothywhieldon1971]

get good, if you cant weld in all positions, then go back and learn more. Rod makes NO difference with position.

[@lapislignum]

Orientation/direction does play a part in electrode selection but 7018 and 6013 are both "all position" electrodes. I'm still bad in all directions.

[@jouniseppala2987]

How to 3-1 collector? What angle?

[@lapislignum]

120 degrees instead of the 90 degrees I used for this one

[@eduardomarchezinfernandes6170]

please, can you tell me what angle to cut the pipe?

[@lapislignum]

It's about 22 degrees here, but a smaller angle can be used for a nicer merge, or a larger one if you didn't have the room for a long merge section. Making it out of cardboard tube first helps

[@eduardomarchezinfernandes6170]

@@lapislignum thank you very much ..... thanks for the help and congratulations on the videos ..... tomorrow i will try to make one. thanks

[@lapislignum]

Glad this is of help, hope it works out for you!

[@marcinmobil]

360:3=120 😀😀

[@eduardomarchezinfernandes6170]

please .... I can't close the inside ... I'm using a 1 1/2 pipe, when I cut it with a lot of slack inside .... what can it be?

[@lapislignum]

Not sure what you mean, the cuts aren't going straight? Some gaps are OK as the weld will fill them, especially if you are better at welding than me.

[@jononame8915]

Who the hell disliked this video

[@EugenioNS]

gotta work on those welds bro XD

[@lapislignum]

Yep, grinder and paint won't make this the manifold it ain't

[@ismailboudchich3037]

Je m'appelle Ismail Boudechiche du Maroc, je travaille dans le domaine du soudage et j'aimerais travailler dans un pays de l'Union Européenne. Merci

[@charactername7895]

6:09 what is this type metal and thickness this part?

[@lapislignum]

Steel (chrome plated?) about 12mm or half inch thick.

[@charactername7895]

@@lapislignum symbol?

[@lapislignum]

Symbol for what?

[@eduardomarchezinfernandes6170]

how long is the tube?

[@lapislignum]

Roughly 150mm from memory, it depends on the angle and how long you want the primaries to be.

[@eduardomarchezinfernandes6170]

@@lapislignum thank you very much

[@digger8976ify]

Лайк, но блин, столько сил и времени, что бы присрать это все ЭДЕКТРОДОМ!? Столько инструмента, а, хер с ним с аргоном, полуавтомата нет?

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Did something very similar myself except I put a divider plate between the two halves. Trick is to try keep the merged area no bigger than the size of any one pipe. It is one design area these cheap Chinese knock off manifolds never pay attention to, and you suffer lag issues because of it. At 5 minutes 5 seconds the manifold build starts kzbin.info/www/bejne/e16alICVmc51b9U

[@lapislignum]

I figured cutting the pipes this way would make it very easy to add a divider plate for a twinscroll turbine, you could add a second divider just as easily, you would just account for the thickness of the divider plate/s when making the offset shims.

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

@@lapislignum yep, just need to be mindful that because you only have half the amount of pipes merging, you need to have the outlet area of one side equal to the size of the pipe diameter. Or as close as you can get and still fit the flange that goes on top. Making a jig like you did largely takes the guess work out of it.

[@HMattaOficial]

En Argentina no podes comprar ni siquiera ese grosor de tubo. Que desperdicio de material para terminar soldado así !!!

[@lapislignum]

Mira más duro, tampoco es muy fácil de encontrar aquí. Las soldaduras en el extremo son solo para mantenerlas juntas y se soldarán cuando se complete el colector.

[@claythelin4346]

Wouldn’t trust that on a Honda Civic

[@Procharged32]

Be better if you actually told the viewers how to do it

[@lapislignum]

The 22.5 degrees isn't critical (I didn't bother to measure it very accurately) pretty much any angle of incidence can be used and the angle block (90 degrees in this video) will still set the correct rotation for the second cut. I don't usually like commentary on videos as it is usually a poor substitute for showing what is going on, and many people who watch my videos are in non-english speaking countries. I used flashcards in this video to explain a few things which would have taken too long to explain visually but after Procharged32's comment I think I will caption at least these parts of the video on the offchance they will auto-translate to something useful or funny in other languages.