Source for steel tubing plugs?

[Royce Meritt]

OK. Have my marching percussion rack done for the school. I need to find a source for the plastic plugs you would put in the ends of steel tubing. I have bought some in the past for a project I built out of square tubing but the place I ordered them required a HUGE minimum quantity. This wasn't a problem before because I needed a lot then.

For this project I need 16 plastic plugs that will fit in 1" OD round steel tubing (14 ga. wall thickness) and 1 plug for 1 1/2" OD tubing (also 14 ga.). Anyone know of a source for small quantities of something like this?

By the way, tubing CAPS that fit over the OUTSIDE of the tubing will not work in this application. They need to be PLUGS that fit INSIDE the tubing. Thanks.

[Don Frambach]

McMaster-Carr page 3494 of their on-line catalog. http://www.mcmaster-car.com. Just type in "3494" in their search function.

Hope this helps. Don

[Byron Trantham]

Don beat me to it. McMaster Carr...... If you go there look around. They seem to have everything imaginable. :D

[Mike Cutler]

Royce.
How much are you willing to spend? A 1" diameter tube just happens to be the same diameter as a bicycle steering fork, they also come in 1 1/8" . The current "ahead set" style stem system use a plastic cap, or aluminum, that screws into an inverted star bolt inside the tube.
There are literally dozens of makers of these caps/plugs to meet the "stylish" needs of cyclist. Usually the "plain Jane" black ones are discarded for a "trick" aluminium replacement, so your local bike shop may be able to help you out if they do enough custom work.
Check out the Performance Catalog, or Colorado Cyclist, Excel sports, Bike Nashbar, etc...

[Steve Clardy]

Or Reid Supply.

[Dan Gill]

Why don't you make some wooden plugs?

[Rick Whitehead]

You can also try Outwater Plastics-www.outwater.com.
They have all sorts of plugs- round and square.
Hope this helps.
Rick

[Royce Meritt]

Lots of good suggestions as usual. I did end up ordering some from McMaster-Carr. Had to order more than I needed but even with shipping the price was so much lower than anything I could find locally that I decided I could hang on to the extras for a future project.

By the way, if anyone needs any 1" OD tubing plugs I have extras! :)

[Don Frambach]

Glad things worked out from you. When I order somthing from McMaster-Carr, I'm usually surprised to receive it in either one or two days! Good luck.


Don