how would you put a square hole in 1 in square tubeing

i found a picture of the origonal fence that came with an old victoran house and have drawn plans for it

How many holes? Just a couple, then drill and file. If lots, then maybe a square hole drill bit.

one every 6 inch in two sides on two rails for 80+ pickets

I'd be tempted to punch two pieces of C channel and then weld them together. At least I would if I had an ironworker to punch them with :)

I'd make a mandrel to fit inside the tube then i'd punch the hole through on a flypress.

Drill through the tubing then drive a square drift through it. Or look on Kings site and see if the sell something like that.

It all depends on what kind of tool/equipment you have, arbor press would be my choice.

welder19

what if you put the holes through the uprights and slid the rail through? that way you would have less structural issues (in my view) and an easer time making the holes with less chance of the tube colapsing. I thought the more holes you put in tubing/pipe the weaker it became? Just my 2c

There is a demo on one of the UMBA videos of making and using a square broach to drift square holes through tubing, I will have to go through my copies to find it.

If it was a bunch, I'd broach them as Wayne suggested. One or two, just drill a hole and file to shape.

How about with a O/A cutting torch? It's not blacksmithing but it would probably be faster with less potential to twist or distort the tubing.

For that many holes in that kind of material, I'd have it done by a specialty shop to cut them out using a waterjet, plasma or laser machine. All they usually need is a template ,Cad file or dimensioned drawing.Unless you are working for minimum wage, this is going to be your most cost effective option. Save your time and energy for the more creative parts of the job.

Just checked up on the UMBA dvd and it is RD47 with Bill Calloway.
He is drilling bellow sized holes through the steel tube to start with and bringing them up to size with a homemade square broach - no heating up just driving through cold, about 60 seconds work.

I have seen Bill do that with the square broach and he makes it look really easy . A bit of practice and this would not be a tough task.

PM me on square broach. mike

Sounds like you have a lot of holes to punch (80+ pickets times 4 holes = 320+ holes). At 6 inch centers that would equate to about 40 feet of rail X 2 for top and bottom = 80 feet.

If this is just a one time deal, you might be better off buying pre-punched railing from someplace like kingmetals.com or your local metal supplier. You can also get it pre-textured usually.

I know kingmetals has punched C-channel that might be right. Below is a price they have for what seems to be about what you could use. You might end up paying more for tooling/fuel not to mention your precious time than buying the material pre-punched.

Most people don't ask about how you made the holes when they look at a fence.
They usually ask how you did the scrolls or other neat elements. Spend you time/effort on the things that really make the project interesting. Try to minimize the grunt work. :-)

If you plan on doing this for more of a production run then yes, some of the other suggestions would be good and you could do it on square tubing.

www.kingmetals.com
Look under fence components.

Punched Channel, 1" wide, 6" center, 1/2" square hole, 20 ft.
Weight: 16.00 lbs
Dimension: 20'-1"-1/2" $22.79

Are you going to arc weld the pickets in? How about with drilling a round hole and welding up the excess? I've also had good luck with drilling a hole and grinding a lathe bit to a 4-sided broach, cutting teeth with a slitting wheel, and H-Pressing through.