Pipe threaders & welding black pipe fittings

How many lengths of pipe do you have to do? All the Home Depot stores I've been to have electric threaders in the pipe aisle. Don't know how many cuts/threads are free with a purchase, or how much they'd charge for extras, but it might be worth asking about.
 
Surprised to hear all the disappointment with the HF threaders (well sort of). I purchased their electric threader about 2 years ago for a gas pipe project. It worked great, cut proper threads, had no leaks whatsoever. My only complaint is the attached clamp arraignment, that keeps the pipe from rotating, is a bit wonky, so I just used a proper pipe vise & stand. Since then I've used it for a couple of other projects, with no issues.
 
Surprised to hear all the disappointment with the HF threaders (well sort of). I punched their electric threader about 2 years ago for a gas pipe project. It worked great, cut proper threads, had no leaks whatsoever. My only complaint is the attached clamp arraignment, that keeps the pipe from rotating, is a bit wonky, so I just used a proper pipe vise & stand. Since then I've used it for a couple of other projects, with no issues.
mi experience they cut 2-3 threads ok then went south. cut all day with ridgid
 
The HF threaders must have really gone down hill. I had two of the electrics and two of the hand threaders, still have one of each, and used them in my heating business. Cut literally thousands of threads with them with no issues. I did have one die that was less than ideal. You do have to use enough cutting oil and not run the die to far for good results. Also used them for all my shop air with no leaks. Rigid makes nice stuff, but your talking 8-10 times the cost. Mike
 
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Just a few comments that have been niggling at my mind, nothing very useful. I have done electrical work (rigid conduit) for years. My tooling there is mostly Ridgid, with some unknown dies that are questionable from the mid '80s. They all cut fairly well, with proper lubricant and slow cutting. Hand or power. . .

I do have some Horrible Fright tooling, though no electrical or "pipe" tools. I have found the steel used in their tooling to vary quite widely in quality, especially in temper. A given tool may last quite a while, the next one doesn't last the first use. Same tool, different supply dates. . . I used to have the "standard" that long term or "keeper" tooling was bought from a known name brand and one time tools were bought on as much price or time as anything. That was before tools such as Klein (electrical) were made overseas. Now-a-days I prowl pawn shops and keep an eye out for useful (or unusual) stuff that's U.S. made.

As far as "black" pipe VS galvanized goes, in my experience anyway, there is little difference beyond the black paint and "hot dipped" zinc. The zinc reacts negatively with fuel gas (natural gas), that's where black pipe comes in. Rigid conduit is essentially a 10 foot stick of galvanized pipe that has been lightly reamed so the "drips" won't cut wires. Any and all can be bent with an electrician's conduit bender. Properly done, rigid is bent with a "hickey" bender or power bender. An EMT bender can be used, but they are not as strong and will break down with repeated use. FWIW, a 1/2 EMT bender is a perfect fit on 3/8 ridid, as is a 3/4 to 1/2 and 1" to 3/4. But 3/4 rigid takes a real "man" and a couple of little boys to work with an EMT bender.

Some(?) plumbing codes disallow bending gas or water pipe like conduit. But I'm not a plumber and my work isn't "inspected" so I do so when needed. I do run a pressure test on gas piping for 24 hrs though. Shame on me. . . But for "structural" work where nothing is run through the pipe, it's "open season". Just you don't weld on galvanized, that's deadly.

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FWIW, my official city pressure test on gas plumbing is 24 hours, like yours, @Bi11Hudson. No shame on you.

Although my experience with HF pipe dies was poor, I have bought many things at HF that have worked out well.

It's just that the HF dies for the 1/2" line had an incorrect taper. They did thread into NPT, but the taper was insufficient. They did have some taper so it was deceptive. Beats me if the other dies were ok. Not going to waste my time testing them. I'm just frosted that everything needed to be redone, because every pipe joint leaked. You can't just re-thread them - you have to cut them, refit everything, including cutting new pieces because every pipe is shorter now, and re-thread them all.
 
FYI
I used heavy, dark cutting oil and briefly reverse the threader every turn or two to break the chips. I use a high quality teflon tape and pipe dope on gas or air lines. Also, it's important to fully tighten the pipe into the fitting, should be no more than 2 threads exposed. at least that's how I was taught.
 
FYI
I used heavy, dark cutting oil and briefly reverse the threader every turn or two to break the chips. I use a high quality teflon tape and pipe dope on gas or air lines. Also, it's important to fully tighten the pipe into the fitting, should be no more than 2 threads exposed. at least that's how I was taught.
I agree. Dark cutting oil and reversing the threader helps a lot. In the case of these bad dies, the pipe was tightened into the fitting and I ran out of thread! The threaded length was ok, but the taper was just plain wrong. If the taper is correct, one has a few threads left on the pipe and it's nice and tight in the fitting.
 
A possibly useful observation, I haven't worked installation on rigid in over 40 years and may well be out of date. This thought came up suddenly, out of the "clear blue", as it were.

Conduit thread and pipe thread are functionally the same, except:

Pipe thread has a taper where conduit thread does not. The NEC Code allows pipe thread to be used for conduit but it's not a preferred method. Conduit couplings have a straight thread with a very slight taper, not really enough to notice. As does "store bought" conduit. The difference can only be seen laying a stick of conduit alongside a stick of pipe the same size.

There are several combinations involved here that may have a bearing on the situation. Not liking Chinese made tooling, they are my first thought. That being that when they first started making threading dies, they measured a piece of conduit. Thereby making a conduit thread through lack of knowledge of what they were copying. No further comment, it gets political. . . But a stick of conduit is 10 ft long while pipe is 21 ft. Much easier to handle. . .

The next possibility is "store bought" couplings having conduit thread, being placed for sale as plumbing fittings through the error of, again, not knowing what they were doing. Which is a fairly common problem in today's world. Most conduit devices are specific to electrical work and most pipe fittings to plumbing. They would not normally even be in the same building but for Lowe's and Home Depot and the like where the help has trouble reading labels. More politics. . .

There are several other posiblities where electrical threads and plumbing threads have gotten mixed. This comment is just what sprung to mind first. It may well be you have acquired, mistakenly, conduit threading equipment.

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Thanks all. I think I am going to skip the HF tooling. For $25 more I can buy a Ridgid 3/4" die/holder vs the "multi size kit" of possible junk. Not sure what got into me getting cheap at my age. Life is too short.

Bill - One of my first jobs several decades ago was as an electrician's helper at a paper mill during a large plant reconstruction project. I can't even count the number of bends and threads I put on PVC-coated heavy steel conduit that year. Many thousands? I went from being poked fun at to pretty darn good at it real fast. The electricians I worked with were a specific breed of electrician. They wanted the runs of 10-20 conduits to look and be perfect with all the bends and kicks in a perfect row and they helped instill that in sense of work pride in me.
 
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