If I had it to do over again...

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George Stolz

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drg said:
At this point I could only imagine that if you had to make 10 sections of pipe with 4" offsets going on a rack they would be all over the place and look horrible.
Maybe, maybe not. It would look better than this one did, but not perfect by any means. I learned that I needed to make the bends all at once on the floor, and be sure they matched before going any further.I learned a big lesson about slowing down and paying closer attention.

drg said:
Don't underestimate the importance of being consistent in your bends and the way you make simple measurements .
I will make that my object lesson for next week. :)

drg said:
...plus this all takes time, don't expect to become a great conduit man in a few months and hope you don't have to be on a RMC job next week..........enjoy.
You mean "be glad you don't have an RMC job next week?" :D

noxx said:
On your first pic there I would have brought a 90 straight down, with an offset to tuck into the wall. Also, as I'm sure you're aware, the vertical run is wildly out of plum.
Not that you would have known, but that would have sent me over the limit on bends. As the run sits, I have 2 x 90s, a 30?/30? offset, and then my 45?/45? thing pictured. An offset would have sent me over.

Edit to add: Thanks for the replies so far!!! :cool:
 

iwire

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georgestolz said:
Okay. How would you fix this? I'm thinking I need to grab a geometry textbook and refresh my memory on some formulas. Or is there a simple rule to apply to come out looking right?

I just noticed it was wildly out of plumb, that would need to be straightened out.

As far as avoiding the beam I would have handled it the same way with two 45 degree bends.

Normally I would just hold my tape from a point on the wall to a point on the ceiling at a 45 degree angle this would give me my distance between the bends.
 

iwire

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georgestolz said:
Can you elaborate?

A-----------------B------------------C

Do you have one guy feeding at box A, and pull from box C? What are your rules of thumb for determining when you're going to do that?

Don nailed it, I always do it unless it is unavoidable for some reason.

I also keep offsets and kicks 'shallow' (15 to 22.5 degrees) when the work will be hidden, this helps when snaking later.

If the work is exposed I am likely to use harder bends (30 to 45 degrees).

BTW 'saddles' can look good but they can also make pulling tough, I try to plan ahead so that saddles are not needed.
 
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George Stolz

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<Scribbling in notebook...>

:D

iwire said:
Normally I would just hold my tape from a point on the wall to a point on the ceiling at a 45 degree angle this would give me my distance between the bends.
That's what I did.

I think the stairwell below and and the funny angle at which I had to work on it contributed. And my big toe hurt. It was dark. I...

Here's another picture of the setup. I'm thinking that if I knew that my horizontal distance travelled was 30", and my vertical distance travelled was also 30", then there is a way to calculate what the diagonal should be...?
 

iwire

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georgestolz said:
And my big toe hurt. It was dark. I...

Quit your crying and get back to work.... :D

I'm thinking that if I knew that my horizontal distance travelled was 30", and my vertical distance travelled was also 30", then there is a way to calculate what the diagonal should be...?

I am sure there is way to calculate it that make would make the engineers in the room feel warm and fuzzy;) but my way is down right simple.

Transfer the marks to a point where you can just measure the diagonal.
 

drg

Senior Member
I would edit your post and get rid of that sniveling about being in the dark and the "big toe" ....you poor thing.

Again George, don't spend time confusing yourself further with diagrams of included angles and the such , thats not going to help you right now at all .

Simple addition and subtraction , straight line measurements and learn the mutipliers for the different degree bends, it may already have that on your bender head , have you looked ?
 

Shockedby277v

Senior Member
Location
Michigan
It took me awhile before I got the hang of running pipe. The more you do the better you'll get and the more you'll be able to see. As DRG stated, a good magnetic level is a must. I also use a fat max tape measure for those long measurements. For me, those are as important as my battery drill and sawzall.
On stud walls I will use their scrap for supports and such. They usually don't mind if you use their saw. I'll cut a bunch up so I don't need to keep making more.
If I'm running on block, I'll use my tape measure vs my level on horizonal runs. I've ran pipe totally level and because their mud joints aren't level, my pipe looks off. For some reason mason's levels are tad off from mine, and once they get past ceiling height their workmanship start to lack. But as you stated before, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I think your pipe looks good, besides what has been pointed out and your MC needs to be strapped with-in a foot from the box. It's hard to tell from the picture but you might be pushing it. From the pictures it looks pretty open up there. Did you coordinate with the other trades?
 

hardworkingstiff

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Location
Wilmington, NC
georgestolz said:
<Scribbling in notebook...>

I'm thinking that if I knew that my horizontal distance travelled was 30", and my vertical distance travelled was also 30", then there is a way to calculate what the diagonal should be...?

Yes, 42.43"

I used the Pythagorean Theorem.
 

George Stolz

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Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
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Service Manager
Ah, what did he know? :D

Good call. "A squared plus B squared equals C squared."

So,

30" squared + 30" squared = 1800"
The square root of 1800 = 42.43

Thanks, Lou. :cool:
 

George Stolz

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Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
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Service Manager
I was reviewing before heading back to work, and realized I hadn't commented on this:
drg said:
Two pointers I will pass long , I use a magnetic level on my bender handle for every simple 90 and 30 offset bend I make ,
on bends I have in question I take a piece of scrap wire and hand bend the shape so there is a physical idea of what may or may not work .
ShockedBy277 later added to the level thing. I've been using it on 90's, but didn't really think about offsets. I will do that too, thanks for the tips. :)

Today I start month 3. :cool: :)
 
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