Value-Added Services
Tube slotted, punched or cut to the length you build with, bundled and tagged the way your plant unloads it, from coil our own family pickled or galvanized.
Slotted, cut and bundled before it leaves Erie.
More Than Tube in Mill Lengths.
Each of these saves a step in your plant or a handling step between ours and yours.
Slotting and Punching
Robotic cells slot and punch tube after it comes off the mill, so racking rails and frame members arrive ready to bolt together. Send the hole pattern with your drawing.
Cut-to-Length
A bundle saw cuts finished lengths after the mill, so pieces go straight to your bender or welding fixture with no saw step in your plant.
Clear Coat and Remetalizing
Galvanized tube comes clear coated as standard, with a conductive clear coat to UL 2703 for solar. Remetalizing restores zinc on galvanized tube so the coating protects the whole surface. Clear Coat
Bundles and Traceability
Piece count and bundle weight set to what your forklifts and racks handle, in steel or poly bands (steel only on round). Every tag carries the heat number, and mill test reports go with every shipment.
Coil From Our Own Family
Heidtman Steel buys the coil, sister plants pickle or galvanize it, and we slit it in house to the strip width each size needs, so supply and lead times stay in one family's hands.
Foreign Trade Zone
Heidtman has foreign trade zone capability, for customers bringing in foreign steel or shipping tube overseas: we can legally import your material, make it into tube and export it.
Planning Around Mill Lengths.
Mill lengths run from 20 to 48 feet, and standard bundles are 20, 24 and 40 feet. The right length is the one that leaves the least drop after your saw.
Compare the Standard Lengths
A 7 ft part gives 2 pieces and a 6 ft drop from 20 ft, 3 pieces and a 3 ft drop from 24 ft, and 5 pieces and a 5 ft drop from 40 ft. The 24 ft length wastes the least.
Order a Length That Fits the Part
Because the mill runs any length in its range, a length can be set to a multiple of your part plus saw kerf and a trim cut, so almost nothing goes to scrap.
Or Take Finished Lengths
Cut to length, the pieces arrive ready for your bender, punch or welding fixture, with no saw step in your plant. Give the length and the tolerance you need.
Bundles Your Plant Can Lift.
Tube leaves the mill banded and tagged so each bundle can be traced. Multiple bundle configurations are available, and most standard bundles weigh 2,000 to 6,000 lb.
Standard Bundles
A standard bundle of 2 x 2 is 50 pieces, 10 across and 5 high. A 24 ft bundle of 4 x 2 x .120 is 35 pieces and about 3,850 lb.
Bundles to Your Limit
Tell us the most your crane or forklift can lift, the count your line wants, or the space in your rack, and the bundle is made to it.
Full Truckloads
A flatbed is limited by weight more than space. A load of about 45,000 lb is around 11 bundles of 4 x 2 x .120 at 24 feet.
Questions.
Tell us how your plant receives and uses tube, and we will quote the cutting and bundling to match.
Can you slot or punch tube?
Yes. Robotic cells slot and punch tube after it is made. Send the hole pattern and length with your drawing and we will quote it.
Can you cut tube to length?
Yes. Ask for cut to length on the quote form, with the length and tolerance. The cut-length calculator shows how a part fits each standard mill length.
Can you make bundles to my size?
Yes. Custom bundle counts and weights are available; tell us your crane or forklift limit or the count your line wants.
Where does the steel come from?
From Heidtman Steel, our parent company, which buys the coil; sister plants pickle or galvanize it, and we slit it in house before it reaches the mill.
Can you run tube to a special mill length?
Yes. We run mill lengths from 20 to 48 feet, so a length can be set to fit your part, and shorter pieces can be cut to length. Standard bundles are 20, 24 and 40 feet.
What cut-length tolerance can you hold?
Put the length and tolerance your part needs on the quote form, and we will confirm it with the quote.
How much does a bundle of tube weigh?
Most standard bundles weigh 2,000 to 6,000 lb. The bundle and load planner gives the weight for each size, wall and length.
What is on a bundle tag?
The size, wall, spec, length, piece count, weight and heat number. The tag number is how a bundle is traced, and what to quote if you ever need to make a claim.
What do I need to send for a quote?
The size and wall, the spec and finish, the length (mill length, or your cut length and tolerance), the quantity per order or per year, and where it ships. The quote form asks for each one. Ask for the cutting and bundling on the same quote as the tube, with the cut length and tolerance in their own field.
Tell Us the Size,
Wall and Footage.
One size or a whole program, in mill lengths or cut to your length. The quote form takes about two minutes.