Buyers looking at pipe mills usually compare line prices and then discover the difference later, in changeover time and spare-part lead times. We quote the whole picture: mill, tooling, cut-off and the consumables that follow, with each item priced so you can compare like for like.
Line Configurations
- Entry end only: uncoiler, shear welder and accumulator for an existing mill.
- Mill and tooling: forming and sizing stands with a designed roll set.
- Cut-off and finishing: flying cold saw, run-out, stacking and strapping.
- Complete lines from HG16 to HG355.
Send the pipe sizes you make and the output you need; the proposal separates the stations so you can phase the investment. Tooling and saws are our own products, so upgrades later stay in one place.
Start With Tonnes per Shift, Not With Line Speed
Two pipe mills with the same diameter range can differ by a factor of three in cost per tonne. The difference is rarely in the steel frame. It is in stand rigidity, drive sizing, the cut-off and — most of all — how long a size change takes. Capacity arithmetic exposes all of it.
The calculation is short: weight per metre × line speed × 60 × hours × utilisation. The weight per metre of a round tube is the strip width times the thickness times 7.85, divided by 1000.
| Tube size | kg / m | Working speed | Output at speed | Per 8 h shift at 70% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25.4 × 1.2 mm | 0.72 | 90 m/min | 3.9 t/h | 22 t |
| 48.3 × 2.0 mm | 2.28 | 60 m/min | 8.2 t/h | 46 t |
| 76.1 × 2.5 mm | 4.54 | 50 m/min | 13.6 t/h | 76 t |
| 114.3 × 3.0 mm | 8.24 | 40 m/min | 19.8 t/h | 111 t |
| 219.1 × 4.0 mm | 21.2 | 22 m/min | 28.0 t/h | 157 t |
Note what the table does not say: that a mill able to run 90 m/min on 25 mm tube will run 90 m/min on 219 mm tube. It will not. The band speed is what the mill can actually hold tolerance at, and that is the number to insist on in a quotation.
A second number matters as much: changeover time. If a mill takes four hours to go from 48 mm to 76 mm, a plant running a mixed order book loses more output to changeovers than to line speed. Quick-change stands, pre-set roll sets and a tooling trolley are unglamorous purchases that often pay back faster than a higher top speed.
New, Used or Rebuilt: Three Honest Options
New
Tooled to your product, documented, with a warranty and spare parts made to drawings that exist. The cost is the highest and the risk is the lowest, and the lead time is the price you pay for both.
Used
Usually 40 to 60% of new for the same nominal size. The real cost arrives afterwards: rolls that were cut for a different region’s strip widths, an HF welder with no spares support, guarding and electrical work needed to meet local rules, and foundations that never match the drawing because the drawing is missing.
Rebuilt
The middle path, and the one that works when the frame is sound and the tooling is not. A rebuilt mill with new rolls, a new cut-off and a re-conditioned welder is often a better buy than a used mill with the original tooling, because the tooling is where the money goes anyway.
What a Used Pipe Mill Really Costs
- Purchase price: 40 to 60% of an equivalent new line.
- New or re-cut roll sets: the largest hidden item, and the one that decides whether the mill makes saleable tube.
- Cut-off rebuild: blade spindle, clamp pads, carriage guides, often the whole saw if it was a friction saw.
- HF welder: boards, transformer, impeder tooling, and cooling water treatment.
- Electrical and guarding work to meet local inspection requirements.
- Erection, alignment, grouting and commissioning, plus the first coil and the learning curve.
Budget 30 to 50% of the purchase price for that list. A used mill bought at 45% of new with 40% of its price spent on bringing it up to standard is no longer a bargain — it is a new mill bought in instalments, with none of the warranty.
Twelve Questions for Any Pipe Mill Supplier
- Which standard will the line hold, and at which wall thickness?
- What is the line speed at the smallest and the largest tube in the range?
- How many stands, what shaft diameter, and what motor kW per stand?
- Are the rolls made in your own workshop or bought in?
- What is the cut length tolerance, measured on which length?
- How long does a size change take, with how many people?
- Which consumables will I be buying every month, and at what price?
- Can I speak to two customers running this model now?
- What is included in commissioning, and how many days?
- What is the warranty, and what does it not cover?
- Which parts are on the shelf and which are made to order?
- What documentation arrives with the machine?
Commissioning Is the Real Delivery Date
A mill arrives as a kit. The delivery date that matters is the day the line runs a full coil at the specified speed and the tubes pass your gauge. Between the two sits foundation work, levelling, pass line alignment, coolant and hydraulic filling, electrical checks, dry runs, the first welded coil, and the operator learning where the controls actually are. A supplier who quotes the shipping date without a commissioning plan is quoting half a project.
The Five-Year View
| Consumable | What drives the cost | Where to hold stock |
|---|---|---|
| Roll sets | Tube sizes run, strip quality, regrind policy | One spare set for the highest-volume size |
| Saw blades | Wall thickness, cut length, blade quality | Two or three blades |
| Impeders / ferrite cores | Welding hours, cooling water quality | Two, always |
| Scarfing knives | Wall, speed, edge condition | A box, not a set |
| HF boards and cables | Duty cycle, dust, water leaks | One board of the most-used type |
Five-year cost of consumables on a busy line can equal a third of the machine price. Ask for that list at order stage, not after the first breakdown — it is the part of the quotation that tells you what owning the mill will feel like.
From the Knowledge Centre
- Specifying a Tube Mill Line: Ten Numbers for the First Meeting
- Accumulator Sizing: What a Coil Change Really Costs
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