A couple of the posts hinted at it but: There are 3 kinds of electrical
grade round metal tubes: thin wall conduit (commonly called EMT),
intermediate (uses standard fittings, has a wall just thick enough to
take the threads) and rigid conduit (same dimensions as pipe, just
different specs for surface finishes) All of them are galvanized or zinc
plated. All of them have funny measuring systems where they are marked
for the inside dimension.

The thin wall conduit used to run about $1.25 per 10' in 1/2" (trade
size), currently running close to $3/ft due to steel prices.
Lightweight, easy to use, easy to bend with a hand bender. Use
hydrochloric acid to strip off the zinc. Down side is that the steel is
fully annealed and VERY soft. You can easily bend the 1/2 and 3/4" sizes
over your knee.

Intermediate grade is much stonger than thinwall but will likely be too
expensive for your needs. Rigid is a high grade water pipe, more $$ yet.

If you are doing frames and handles, take a look at black iron pipe.
Typically sold as gas pipe at Home Depot and others. You can get a
hydraulic bender at Harbor freight, stuff welds great.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=32888

Cheers.


Ronnie wrote:

I'm tired of trying to find 1/2" thin wall, round tubing (not pipe). It
was suggested locally that I try using rigid EMT electrical conduit.
Anyone use this for projects? I don't know why it won't work; it
doesn't appear to be galvanized. The best part is .26 cents a foot
versus $3.00 a foot for mailorder tubing.

Ronnie