Silly little pipe tip

[gwagensteve]

This is so dumb I'm almost reluctant to post it, but it might help someone out.

I've spent the w/e fabricating a spare tyre carrier for piggles. It's come up a treat, but that's not the point of the thread.

The risers and cross braces are made from 32mm and 42mm OD black pipe. I bought this because it's cheap, easy to work with and readily available. However, as it's name implies, it has a black coating on it that has to be stripped for welding. I've tried filing it away, hand and power sanding, wire wheels and brushes, and flap discs on the grinder. They're all slow and can be too aggressive.

Anyway, I was cleaning it up for paint and discovered that general purpose thinners strips the black coating in seconds, leaving clean bare steel with that nice gunmetal colour.

I'm not sure if I was the only person that didn't know this... but it might help someone in the future.

Steve.