Speed Rail?

[Wesley Garrison]

I am looking at expanding my grip package with various lengths of SpeedRail and SpeedRail fittings but I can't find a good place to buy the actual PIPE other than ordering it from a larger warehouse which comes with large shipping fee's. My question is where would be a good place to go to look for Aluminum pipe other than Home Depot, Lowe's, or ACE Hardware?

 

-Thanks in advance,

Wesley

[Ross Neugeboren]

I'm pretty sure most metal supply houses would carry schedule 40 pipe. Try a google search for 'metal supply near <your location> '

[Jon Rosenbloom]

You mean you're looking for a place where your next production can buy speedrail. It's an expendable, after all ... (The fittings are another story.)

[Wesley Garrison]

You mean you're looking for a place where your next production can buy speedrail. It's an expendable, after all ... (The fittings are another story.)

 

Well sadly, I work on a fair amount of very small productions that don't have the budget that can cover it. But it would be nice to show up to set with some of my own...

[jason clairy]

Hey Wesley have you tried Chatam steel yet? Also Steel Mart Inc. In ATL has a vey good selection of industrial grade metal products Thats open to the public. http://www.steelmartatlanta.com. Hope this helps.

[John David Miller]

Look for a industrial metal supply warehouse.

 

You want a place that has a good selection of Aluminium.

 

Decide what size Interior Diameter (ID) speedrail you wish to work with. It is important that you order fittings that match the pipe size you are using.

 

For feature film, I strongly recomend 1-1/4" ID PIPE. Look for 6061-T6 Aluminium. Ask for 1-1/4" Schedule 40 PIPE. Get a bundle of 20 footers and get ready to do some cutting.

 

A good pipe organ (http://www.filmtools.com/speedrailcart.html) should have about 12 cuts of 5-1/2', 12 cuts of 5', 12 cut of 4-1/2', all the way down to 1'ers in 6" increments. Use a chopsaw with the proper blade or a manual pipe cutter for nice square cuts, you can cut this alloy easily with a skilsaw (dont forget your glasses). Use a interior and exterior deburring tool after each cut. Lable the ends with a sharpie that tells the length of the pipe.

 

Now you need fittings. I prefer:

http://www.nurail.com/crosses/

 

For a pipe organ this size I find that you should have at least:

 

80 Short Barrell Crosses

72 Swivel T's

42 Split Crosses

24 Square Floor Flanges

24 Wall Flanges

4 Adjustable Flanges

 

Tailor your package to the kind of work you do.

[Phil Rhodes]

I've occasionally used (and seen used) the malleable iron fittings, as opposed to alloy. They're heavier and uglier, but a lot, lot cheaper. I'm not sure what if any caveats exist with them but I'm not generally doing huge, high-risk setups in any case.

 

P

[John David Miller]

I've occasionally used (and seen used) the malleable iron fittings, as opposed to alloy. They're heavier and uglier, but a lot, lot cheaper. I'm not sure what if any caveats exist with them but I'm not generally doing huge, high-risk setups in any case.

 

P

 

The only issue with them is weight. Iron is very heavy. The cart I described would take 4 guys to push. These fittings are great for long term rigs, semi-permanent scaffolding, or rigging underwater where extra weight may be a good thing. They, like you said, are much cheaper and can handle harsh weather very well.