- Toxicity: How can I know that the piping was not carrying something horrendously bad for me that can't or would be difficult to be cleaned off?
- Sanitation: How can I clean off the piping, including the inner surfaces, sufficiently?
- Integrity: How can I make sure it will not snap when used?
- Searching: Where would I find this kind of piping?
Any ideas?
1. There is no 100% way to know but there are 2 things you can do to clean reclaimed piping.
A) Bleach. Take regular laundry bleach and mix it to about 50-50 with water. Then with a white rag wipe down entire pipe. If you are having trouble getting anything off, douse it in the mix and let it sit for a few hours. If it is really rusty then use a wire brush ($2-5 @ any hardware store) with the bleach (remember, so long as there are no sharp edges, pipe does not need to be completely rust free). Also if you are a rust nazi, you can coat it in kerosene, let sit, and scrub with the wire brush. After you are satisfied wash with warm soapy water and rinse (preferably somewhere were the bleach can't harm anything).
B) Next is to mix baking soda and water. Stir and continue to add baking soda until it no longer dissolves. Then clean the pipe with this solution taking the wire brush to any part that foams up, you can also pour the solution down the pipe. Wash with warm water and rinse.
The important thing about B is that it will remove any remaining acid. I've used this method a few times with great success.
2. Just test it before using it. One way is to prop it up on something and put one foot on it, then start applying pressure slowly until you can lift yourself onto it. Then slowly start moving your body up and down, then progress to bouncing then jumping. So long as you go slowly you should be fine and if you hear a crack or the pipe starts to bend just get off and try another. If it holds up you might wanna try to stand on it with a friend, if it supports you both its fine. (By the way, do this before cleaning
).
3. Call around to your local contractors and ask them if they have any pipe they will be getting rid of and if you can have it. You might have to pretend to be a student needing it for some project but just keep at it. Don't just show up at a construction site and start digging through the trash, you'll likely get arrested (yeah, I think its dumb too). For me I've found that the "I'm building a Tesla Coil for a science project and need metal piping but can't afford new ones" works best. Also, smaller contractors are more likely to hand over things they are going to throw away than large companies.
This is how I get the majority of my materials. Hope it helped some.
