Cutting, Threading, Hanging Nubs
Hi all, We have lines from old gas light fixtures poking through a tin ceiling in our parlor floor, and I was hoping to cut them down, thread the ends, and use a bolt to secure the base of a new light fixture directly to the shortened pipe. Has anybody ever attempted something similar? We…
Hi all,
We have lines from old gas light fixtures poking through a tin ceiling in our parlor floor, and I was hoping to cut them down, thread the ends, and use a bolt to secure the base of a new light fixture directly to the shortened pipe. Has anybody ever attempted something similar? We can’t remove the lines or put a proper box in because we’d have to rip up the rosette; the gas lines are, however, anchored solidly to the joist above (and yes, they’re dead!). I’ve seen some ratchet threading sets around, but they all seem professional grade and wildly expensive, and clearly I have no idea what I’m doing. Would a plumber be most likely to have this equipment? Is this even a good idea? We have a few of those deep, bell-shaped covers as a backup, but I’d prefer to use the base from the original fixture (now it’s too shallow to cover the nub, which is 2+ inches).
Any advice, or people you might recommend who might be able to pull this off?
Thanks!
Ok, I understand what you want to do now.
The pipe you see is threaded now because the original gas lamp screwed onto the threaded pipe.
If you are hanging a new fixture, you could cut the pipe with a sawzal, then drill a hole through the pipe and use braided 100 pound capacity picture hanging wire to hand the fixture, covering it with the canopy (if the canopy design has a screw section attached to a chain etc. to which the canopy can attach). I did this before and it was a pain..
the problem is that the threading head needs about an inch and a half clearance… no way to do a shorter throw
I guess it is a radius? It’s just a pipe that hangs straight down. No nipple involved. At some point somebody cut the pipe and threaded the outside. I was hoping to execute the same maneuver: cut the pipe right at the opening and then re-thread it using one of those ratchet-die things. A clamp could also work. A hickey seems to be for connecting two pipes of different widths, but that’s not necessarily the issue. I was just hoping to use the pipe to pin the new fixture’s original plate up close to the ceiling.
If it were possible to get close enough to the ceiling to execute the maneuver, what would be the best way to cut the pipe? This seems pretty straightforward (albeit tricky in the details, such as balance). Threading, not so much, but there has to be a way to add a thread/cap to the end of a cut pipe, no?
Looking like a bell-shaped canopy for me, but I have two more of these to do on another floor so I don’t want to give up hope quite yet…
Thanks again for your responses. I’ll try to take a picture if I get a chance.
if it is a radius as cm says, consider the bell shaped option.. it will cost you way more to hire someone with the skill level to make all of the variables work… i could do it(contractor as well as homeowner), but i would have to charge you way too much to make it work..
The old deep, bell-shaped covers are probably a better idea, but finding anything to fit the gas pipes might be a problem. I’ve been very careful to save the old hickies I’ve found in my house. My ceiling gas pipes have a more coarsely pitched thread than any nuts I’ve been able to find in hardware stores.
There are also extensions you can use with modern shallow canopies to cover the pipe–they fit together, so you can use more than one. IMO though the old bell-shaped canopies look much better.
Eman, the problem is that the protruding pipe is not usually a nipple – it’s actually a radius bend in a pipe nailed to the joist above.
Think twice before cutting the pipe and rethreading. Threading the pipe can be extremely difficult, if not impossible when perched on a ladder 11 feet off the floor, while at the same time trying not to damage the plasterwork. Better bet is to find a hickey that fits your existing threaded pipe and your new fixture.
if the old nipple is not totally frozen in place, just unthread it and replace it w/ a shorter nipple
I thought the gas lines were dead, and then my electrician accidentally punctured on on a different floor and found out otherwise (luckily he had the presence of mind to run downstairs and shut the whole system down). We’ve since disconnected the entire old gas system from the basement and rebuilt it from scratch, so we know all of the old lines are dead. We’ve been removing them where possible, but these ones are up above some pretty ornate parlor-floor tin.
I’ll check out the hickey. The diagrams were a little hard to follow, though. The large top opening will slid up around the gas line, right? But is it then secured with a clamp or something? The gas line is currently threaded for a nut, but that’s the part I wanted to cut off so I could actually cut a new thread. But if there is a clamp it might save me the trouble.
Thanks for your help with this.