New to Steel Tube? Start Here.
Short lessons on how tube is made and how to order it, and a size finder that works out what a load weighs.
Lessons.
Each takes a few minutes and ends with the words worth knowing.
- How Tube Is MadeFrom a flat coil to a welded square, in six stations.
- A500 vs. A513Structural or mechanical: what each spec promises and when to order it.
- What Tube Gauge MeansWhy 14 gauge tube is thicker than 14 gauge sheet.
- Inch and Metric SizesEvery size, gauge and length in inches and millimeters.
- How to Measure TubeOutside size, wall, corners and straightness, measured the way the spec does.
- How Tube Is Bundled and ShippedStandard bundles, bands and tags, and how a load rides on a truck.
Calculators.
Find a size and its weight, figure section properties for a design, plan cut lengths, or see how many bundles make a truckload.
Words to Know.
- ERW
- Electric resistance welded. Tube whose seam is welded by heating the strip edges with electric current and squeezing them together. All of our tube is ERW.
- OD
- Outside diameter. Round tube is named by its OD; pipe is named by a nominal size that is not its OD.
- Wall
- The thickness of the steel, in inches or gauge.
- Mill length
- The standard length tube comes off the mill in, before any cut-to-length.
- Heat number
- The steel mill's batch number, printed on the bundle tag so every piece traces back to its steel.
- Pickled and oiled
- Steel with the mill scale removed in acid and a light oil applied to stop rust.
- HSS
- Hollow structural section: the engineering name for structural square, rectangular and round tube.
- Schedule
- A pipe wall thickness standard. Schedule 40 is thicker than Schedule 10 at the same pipe size.
Questions.
Have a question the lessons don't answer? Contact us.
What is the difference between steel tube and pipe?
Tube is named by its actual outside size and wall. Pipe is named by a nominal pipe size and a schedule, and its outside diameter is not the nominal size. See rounds at pipe diameters.
What sizes of steel tube does Heidtman Tubular make?
Squares from 1-1/2 to 6 inches, rectangles from 2 x 1 to 10 x 2, and rounds from 1.900 to 8.000 OD, in walls from .083 to .300 inch. The Size Finder lists every size and wall.
How do I find what a steel tube weighs?
Use the Tube Weight Calculator for weight per foot and per piece, or the Bundle and Load Planner for a whole bundle or truckload.
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.