Plates Called “Skelp” Are First Rolled
The pipe now goes through what are known as cross rolls, the axes of which are somewhere near parallel with the axis of the pipe. In these the pipe is rapidly spun around, surface-cleaned and straightened. Going up a cooling incline it goes to tables where the ends are cut off and the product inspected.
A very important part of the inspection is the hydrostatic or water test. One at a time the pieces are tightly fitted in between two water-tight caps, water is turned into the pipe and gradually brought up to the testing pressure of 600 pounds or more per square inch according to specifications.
Charging Skelp into the Heating Furnace
Drawing Butt-weld Pipe
Pipes of diameters between ⅛″ and 3″ are usually made by the butt-weld process.