# Stainless Lilly Pipes



## andyh (2 Nov 2013)

Who else apart from ADA does stainless inlet/outlets?


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## OllieNZ (2 Nov 2013)

NA and they look good


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## sa80mark (2 Nov 2013)

Borneowild

Theres a set for sale in the sales section


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## AverageWhiteBloke (2 Nov 2013)

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=221116639634

They do them also, not sure about the price because i haven't compared. I have dealt with the seller on many occasions mainly for glassware and have found all their products of high quality do far. The majority of things I've ordered came within 2 weeks.


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## Alastair (3 Nov 2013)

Only downside to the ebay ones is I saw a thread on another forum not long ago and somebodies actually started to rust inside.....


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (3 Nov 2013)

Plus they look like They are in little pieces. Which you have to put together


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## Yo-han (3 Nov 2013)

My custom made:



 







20 euro for three pipes! Because he couldn't do the bend he needed to welt multiple pieces together, but compared to the price I say no biggie!


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## AverageWhiteBloke (3 Nov 2013)

ok guys, like I said, I have only ever bought glassware off the seller. nice diy job for the above. 
Op, if I come across anyone selling I'll let you know, good luck with the search. There's a one man band engineer a couple of units up from mine with all the lathes and specialist equipment. If I knew what they were made of and the dims I could ask him for a price to fabricate some if that helps. I have seen him making handrails for a school which I guess were some kind of alloy but it was obviously a lot bigger girth. I can't see why he couldn't make a set with smaller tubing. anyone know what metal would have to be used?


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## Alastair (3 Nov 2013)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> ok guys, like I said, I have only ever bought glassware off the seller. nice diy job for the above.
> Op, if I come across anyone selling I'll let you know, good luck with the search. There's a one man band engineer a couple of units up from mine with all the lathes and specialist equipment. If I knew what they were made of and the dims I could ask him for a price to fabricate some if that helps. I have seen him making handrails for a school which I guess were some kind of alloy but it was obviously a lot bigger girth. I can't see why he couldn't make a set with smaller tubing. anyone know what metal would have to be used?



I was thinking the same and asking the guy's who have made my stand and light arms 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


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## AverageWhiteBloke (3 Nov 2013)

cool let me know how it goes. The guy I know took is semi retired. the engineering place he worked at went pop and he got a little industrial unit and bought some of the equipment with his redundancy. he's the quintessential English bloke with a pipe who loves to make things. I would say he'd love a little project like this. I've seen people who restore old cars and tractors go to see him to get parts made that can no longer be sourced. I'd say these would be a piece of urine for him.


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## tim (3 Nov 2013)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> cool let me know how it goes. The guy I know took is semi retired. the engineering place he worked at went pop and he got a little industrial unit and bought some of the equipment with his redundancy. he's the quintessential English bloke with a pipe who loves to make things. I would say he'd love a little project like this. I've seen people who restore old cars and tractors go to see him to get parts made that can no longer be sourced. I'd say these would be a piece of urine for him.


I think you should approach him awb, stainless steel tubing 13mm external diameter for 12/16 filters or 17mm ed for 16/22 filters should do I'd definately be interested at the right price.


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## Andy Thurston (3 Nov 2013)

316 stainless steel


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## AverageWhiteBloke (3 Nov 2013)

tim said:


> I think you should approach him awb, stainless steel tubing 13mm external diameter for 12/16 filters or 17mm ed for 16/22 filters should do I'd definately be interested at the right price.


Will do, the guy is not in all the time. He just pops in when he has something to do when he's not fishing or shooting ducks with tungsten cartridges  I'll ask him if he could make some that would be suitable for my tank dimensions so at least if no one likes the look of them they are still something I could use and haven't wasted my money.
Maybe be an idea though to work out what would be better to fit the majority of tanks.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (4 Nov 2013)

Not great news, the guy was in today. Had a bit of a chat with him which didn't go well. Apparently his wife hasn't been well. Really ill as it happens, thought I hadn't seen him about much lately. Anyway, long story short he's packing up his unit and given his notice. I found it difficult to crow bar in about the pipes. Briefly mentioned them when he asked what I was after and showed him a picture on my phone. Only thing he said was they could be quite easily made using plumbers pipe benders and springs. I have managed to source some 316 tubing though off one of his contacts. Will see how it goes, hopefully Alistair will have more luck. Natural curiosity will have my engineer friend again but right now his head wasn't rights.


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## tim (4 Nov 2013)

Shame about his wife mate, life is a real bitch sometimes  may try and source some tubing and give it a go myself, how hard can it be lol.


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## sa80mark (4 Nov 2013)

Ive been looking into making my own for my latest tank, a bending spring is never going to work with stainless steel its just to hard, the plumbers benders would work but not many are able to do 180 degree bends and the ones that can have a large internal radius so the gap between the 2 pipes will likely be around 6 inch, ive found a pipe bender thats specifically designed for stainless steel and has a nice small internal radius but there massively expensive at around £200, ive currently got a contact who owns a cnc firm looking into making me some formers so I can make my own, I will update when he gets back to me but if it can come together I can get 316 stainless very cheap and could possibly make up sets of an inlet and outlet for less than £25 depending on length etc


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## tim (4 Nov 2013)

^harder than I thought then


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## sa80mark (4 Nov 2013)

tim said:


> Shame about his wife mate, life is a real bitch sometimes  may try and source some tubing and give it a go myself, how hard can it be lol.



From what Ive found out the bending isnt very difficult the problem is not ruining the finish on the stainless steel if you ruin it its near impossible to get back


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## tim (4 Nov 2013)

sa80mark said:


> Ive been looking into making my own for my latest tank, a bending spring is never going to work with stainless steel its just to hard, the plumbers benders would work but not many are able to do 180 degree bends and the ones that can have a large internal radius so the gap between the 2 pipes will likely be around 6 inch, ive found a pipe bender thats specifically designed for stainless steel and has a nice small internal radius but there massively expensive at around £200, ive currently got a contact who owns a cnc firm looking into making me some formers so I can make my own, I will update when he gets back to me but if it can come together I can get 316 stainless very cheap and could possibly make up sets of an inlet and outlet for less than £25 depending on length etc


Let us know how you get on mate I'd definately be interested in a set, or two or three or four etc etc lol multiple tanks have got me by the danglies


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## sa80mark (4 Nov 2013)

Will do  im back home on Thursday so I will be going to see him anyway  failing that I will just have to buy one of the expensive benders  purely because I love tools and I need one in my life lol


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## tim (4 Nov 2013)

An expensive bender is something a man shouldn't be without


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## Andy Thurston (5 Nov 2013)

sa80mark said:


> From what Ive found out the bending isnt very difficult the problem is not ruining the finish on the stainless steel if you ruin it its near impossible to get back



Believe it or not its much easier to do mirror finish rather than a grit/grained finish. I've done plenty of both and its dirty time consuming work.

I feel a diy pipe bending machine project coming on. With long handles


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