SS Battlestar....attempt II

[star-art]

As the one who designed the armature, I guess I can comment. You can't countersink the screw. Due to the curvature of the inner wall of the pipe, it will stick out no matter what. If you can get it to clear, you would not have enough material left to hold the bolt. This would weaken the joint considerably.

There is a special connector available for IPS pipe railing that fits around the bolt. It has the cross section of the letter "C" so it is not a full circle.

Another thing we learned recently is that you must EPOXY this armature together. Bolting it is not enough. Even when tight, you can still move the pipe if you hammer on it. The best results come from using a combination of quality epoxy (3M ScotchWeld) and stainless steel bolts.

BUT, with that said, the armature must absolutely positively be 100% in perfect alignment before you epoxy it. It is very easy for things to be off just a bit here and there. This can wreak havoc with the proper alignment and installation of the structure to the armature.

Hope that helps. . .