Recently our shop has been doing machine work for companies who provide us with the starting material. These companies are using Piping Supplies now because of problems with their current machine shop. We are told these other machine shops have not made delivery times as promised, have not performed the machine work up to their customers’ expectations, and are hard to get answers from. Basically, they are garage and not a professional machine shop.

Piping Supplies has been in business in New Jersey for over 50 years. It is easy to forget over time just how professional we are. This isn’t about blowing our own horn as much as it is about recognizing all we do right. There are several things we take for granted:

1. The machine shop is open Monday through Friday 7 AM till 4 PM throughout the year. That means material deliveries, order pick-ups, quotes and questions are dealt with quickly. With email, we can be reached during nights and weekends too.
2. We ship 98% of our orders correctly and on time. There are a lot of things that go into making this happen. Great material vendors who get us the raw steel we need on time. Employees who show up every day and care about the products they make. Constantly finding ways to improve and machine better and faster.
3. We have a quality assurance program which is approved by the highest level in the Navy for supplying nuclear submarine parts. Not only do we have the program, but we actually use it every day. Shortly we will be approved by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO, for their quality management system 9001:2015. Not bad for a small company.
4. Piping Supplies has been able to transfer a lot of the knowledge gained in the last 50 years as flange experts to the next generation of owners.

Everyone gets caught up in their own industries and businesses. It is easy to see only the problems we have and mistakes we make. It is nice sometimes to be recognized for how good our work really is and how much we do right. Piping Supplies is lucky to have customers who appreciate what we do and let us know it.

When you think of pipe flanges (and I know you all do) you think about power plants, oil refineries, and chemical processing. True, heavy industries use pipe flanges in welded piping systems. Yet, pipe flanges are more than industrial. What may not be clear is the other applications which use pipe flanges. Piping Supplies has made flanges for many uses as a leading pipe flange manufacturer.

A current customer of Piping Supplies, Acme Lingo Flagpole, makes extra-large flag poles called the “Big John” capable of withstanding winds of 130 miles per hour. Custom weld neck flanges machined by Piping Supplies are used to support their flagpoles.

Piping Supplies makes pipe flanges used for roller coasters. Sections of the roller coaster are fabricated, shipped to the site, then bolted together. This makes fabrication is a much more efficient and better quality method of construction than building/welding everything in place.

Pipe flanges are used on massive road signs for the same reason as on roller coasters. You can’t fabricate and transport large signs in one piece. Flanges which bolt together are an easy solution.

Ski lifts are another unique use of pipe flanges. Support poles for ski lifts can be air lifted into remote parts of mountains and bolted to bases using pipe flanges.

Ah, the never-ending use for custom made pipe flanges. Piping Supplies, as pipe flange experts, are luck to have made custom parts for many fun and unique projects around the world.

Although it may not be immediately clear from the layman’s perspective, every aspect of industrial construction has been thoroughly thought out. Every joist, truss, beam, pipe, connector and support meets a very specific need. Each component has a job to do and pipe flanges are part of that engineering toolbox. A flange makes it possible to safely and securely connect pipes to each other as well as various surfaces. The bolts and gaskets that complete the package also help ensure integrity of the system. In fact, it would be impossible to design flanges without accounting for the seal that a gasket provides as well as the locking properties of a bolt. Readers who have a need for pipe flanges as part of an upcoming project are encouraged to continue reading and discover the various design types and their best applications.

Pipe flanges can be threaded, socket weld, slip-on, lap joint, weld neck, blind or another form of custom connection.  Different applications will call for different designs. A male-female threaded connection is often the simplest to design and work with. A socket weld flange is often called for in low-temperature settings when small pipes are in use. A slip-on, weld neck and lap joint flanges also requires welding but different types to suit the traits of the flange itself. The blind flange, which essentially terminates the flow of liquids and gas through the network of pipes, can show the stopping power of a flange, gasket and bolts when used correctly. Design doesn’t end with the types mentioned above. The face of the flange will also vary and serve different purposes. Flanges can have a flat, raised or ring joint faces. Tongue and groove as well as male and female faces will aid in alignment and gasket seal.

A firm that has proven its capability in creating pipe flanges will ask clients about the dimensions they need for the project. Since pipe diameter is going to vary between applications in a commercial setting, flange diameter, bolt circle diameter, thickness and bore size will also vary between jobs. Those maintaining pressurized systems will also have safety considerations in mind so pipe flanges with the correct size and specifications will help create peace of mind. A larger bolt bore is great if you want to ram home beefy connectors; just be sure that the rest of the flange is up to the task and is large enough to handle the stresses. A machinist who is accustomed to the task of making high-pressure pipe flanges out of steel, alloy, copper-nickel and/or aluminum will be able to help clients narrow down the needs for the job at hand.