How to Quickly Remove Internal Weld Seams from Steel Tubing

Who needs to remove internal weld seams from steel tubing?! Makers EVERYWHERE that need two pieces of square steel tube to 'sleeve' together, that's who! That little internal weld prevents two pieces that 'should' fit together from doing so but removing the thin bead of steel from the ENTIRE length of the outer piece of square tube is nearly impossible... UNTIL NOW!

This video shows how you can make a Version 1.0 "Seams Impossible" tool just like the one invented by Matt Jackson of Next Level Carpentry. This clever invention cuts away the weld bead from inside a piece of 1 1/4" square steel tube OF ANY LENGTH completely and almost effortlessly so that a piece of 1" square tube fits neatly and smoothly inside!

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Here's a popular video showing "the allthread method" for removing internal weld seams:

And here's the 'brute force/drive-thru' method:

Please don't trash these guys for their videos showing effective alternative methods for doing this... they were able to get the job done with less fuss and fabrication which may well be all that's needed!

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[maastomunkki]

In my books, this custom tool of yours is a simple and superb piece of macgyverism refined to the next level.(: Even the wooden version performs admirably and it would seem I need to make one or two for myself! Thank you for sharing this with us!

[scottlear]

I really like your tool and video for the Seams Impossible. I am an electrician with 35 years in the trade and experienced mostly in commercial and some heavy industrial work. In your video you mentioned collaboration with other trades to come up with better solutions to issues on the job. I also came up with an invention a few years ago and as a result I expanded my tool collection. This made me search out someone to do machining for me. Most shops I found in my area do highly precision work for aerospace and performance automotive. They weren’t interested in my work. So I proceeded alone. The best tool I have in my tool box is a willingness to work with other tradesmen. Some of the projects that I’m most proud to have been a part of involved working together to hand over something that was exactly what they wanted. By working with other trades I’ve learned a lot about other trades made some good friends and a background that keeps me going with my projects. My current project is making a mount for a train bell from the 1850’s, I’ve got train track, large structural lumber and finish woodworking along with metal work. It’s been a really cool project. I’ll be purchasing the Seams Impossible, I ran into the problem you found the answer to. I got past it with a rotary file and extension, but what a pain in the neck. Nice tool, great idea

[MrExNavy]

I love this tool. I would make a couple small changes. Shave a flat spot on the shaft where the set screws go so the screws have a flat surface of the shaft to tighten up to and prevent spinning. Go one step further and cut a shallow v-groove into the flat spot to line up with the set screws so a pointed screw could be used and make it almost impossible to it to slip. Having a flat spot as well as a groove make it so the user can use flat screws or pointed screws depending on what they have access to or can make themselves. I would also drill a couple small divets to line up with the set screws (pointed tip screws) to prevent the shaft from pulling off the extension. I have a couple more ideas for this tool to try adding but I'll save those to try out in my own shop when I get my new lathe.

[alejandroveliz]

You are a genius man. Thanks. That was what I was looking for in my jobs.

[renderwood]

You need to make a matryoshka -version of all the possible pipe sizes inside each other. Have you can up with other simple uses for pipes like this than the stand you had in the beginning?

[ryano]

Great invention
If you mounted the block in the center of a longer jacket (say 5 inches) and could you push cut the seam out? I think this would have 2 advantages: 1) there would be almost no chance of pulling the extension off 2) You could clear the seam put of a piece twice the length of the extension, starting from each end and meeting in the middle, even of the seam was off center you could just turn the jacket around before the 2nd cut.
Just something you might try.

[MedicDillahunty]

This would make an excellent Kickstarter product. This should be mass produced!

[V-eq]

For asymmetrically located weldseams you could turn the jacket around on the tool for the second, reverse pass. Or let the jacket inside the tube and drag the tool through form the other side.

I wonder whether the full length jacket is necessary at all. The place of contact between cutter ball and tube is the area where a form is needed to keep the cutter at its intended working height (depth). So a flat sheet made to the inner dimensions of the tube with a rigid connection to the tool is all that is needed. It will not tilt because of the long shaft of the tool. Any movement of the shaft by the operator is limited by the tube itself. Only at the very end of the operation the opportunity to lift the shaft out of alignment is increased which has the danger of cutting deeper into the seam area. That could be avoided by a second profile mounted at the other end of the tool's body. I would also make a dado in the bottom of the tool which clears the weldseam. This way the tool's body sits on the tube outside the seam. And it's possible to set the cutting ball flush with the bottom. Then it grinds only the protuding seam itself away and not dig into the tube wall itself. The tube is not weakened. Cheers, Manfred.

[johncourtneidge]

Very nice, thank-you.

Very bext wishes to you both, for all your projects!

[edouard]

Très bonne idée merci pour le partage👍

[stefanogiannini]

very clever and usefull, thank you very much! :)

[bobd.]

To solve the seam removal issue as the Seems Impossible tool exits the tube you could make the wood block an inch longer and the the tool in an inch so that there is some block that remains in side the tube to act as a guide as the tool exits the tube. So a 3 inch long wood block in place of the 2 inch block with the tool installed in the center of the length of the block.

[danchadwick]

The aim is to make telescoping tubes, why not use the inner tube as the jacket? Cutoff grinder to adapt tube for the 2.0 cutter.

[tjw]

at 2:06 you're still on the intro, you lost me even though I was really interested in this content. NOTE to all youtube creators: shorten your intros. get to the point already!

[terrinewman]

there's avideo of the same thing from fireball tool from about a year ago!

[ViralMag_Ravager]

Could have used this about 15yrs ago when I was still doing custom fabrication welding projects, your solution would truely have been a great timesaver. I appreciate watching people coming up with creative solutions, great job sir.

[NextLevelCarpentry]

IMPORTANT UPDATE!! To all of those who get a "Bandwidth Exeeded" or similar error message when you go to the Greg's Garage Web Store: Greg was able to contact his web manager (on a Sunday no less) to get the site back up and running yesterday but it appears near VIRAL traffic has caused bandwidth overload again!
It seems the bandwidth overload condition is intermittent because I've tried a few times just now and the Store Page worked fine.
Please try again later as we address the unprecedented traffic generated by curious and enthusiastic viewer interest in the Seams Impossible V2.0 tool and it's usefulness.
Thanks again for your interest and patience!
Best, Matt Jackson/ Next Level Carpentry

[mdunbar]

This is definitely a viable idea, we have been using the same tool to remove weld seams from square tubing for over 40 years. Ours is a bit different in that we actually have a separate block for each size tubing, but we only cut 3 sizes. We used a smaller WIDTH block and put various bolt on shims on the sides in order to shift the tool to hit the weld seam, as it changes location with every batch of tubing.

[NathanNostaw]

Very neat idea. I use an air chisel gun with an extra-long dog-leg chisel (reground for flush cutting). Gets me 200mm from each end, 400mm total. I can see that your method could have unlimited reach with enough extension rods. Well done on the design.

[johntaylor]

This is the best solution to removing the internal weld I have seen. I have tried other techniques with only fair results.