After 8 years I finally tried a magnetic jig for tube layout

Always did my saddle cuts by measuring and marking by hand. Spent like 40 minutes on a single 4 inch tube last Tuesday and got it wrong anyway. Buddy Tom at the union hall in Toledo showed me his $25 magnetic wrap-around jig and I swear it cut my layout time in half. Has anyone else tried one of these or am I late to the party like always lol?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora5351mo ago

...and then Tom tried to tell me the magnetic ones are better than the old school wrap around tape with the holes? I dunno, I've been using the same beat up paper one my dad gave me 15 years ago and it's got beer stains and scribbles all over it but I still get it close enough. My buddy swore by the magnetic one when we were doing a rack of 3 inch stainless for a brewery job last summer and I gotta admit it was kinda nice not fighting the tube while you mark it. But then he dropped his on a concrete floor and the magnet cracked so there goes that.

ninaross1mo ago

My old man actually worked in a pipe fab shop back in the 80s and he told me the real trick is making your own wrap around from a soda can. You cut the top and bottom off, slit it down the side, flatten it out and you got a cheap metal wrap that bends to the pipe perfectly and lasts way longer than paper. I've made like a dozen of them over the years and they're honestly way better than both the paper ones and the magnetic ones because they don't slip and you can mark right on the metal with a scribe. Plus when you drop one you just flatten out another can and you're good to go. Saves you like 20 bucks too lol