Commonly Asked Questions about Cylindrical Applications

What are stainless steel spools?

A spool is a fabricated length of tubing with clamp fittings, or flanges at both ends. A couple popular names are cylinders, extensions, tubes, spools, rings, or cylinders. These pieces are classified as spools when the flanges are on both ends.

What is a Stainless Steel Sleeve or Ring?

Stainless Steel sleeves and rings are fabricated from stainless steel cylinders with flanges added to both ends for convenience and ease of connecting and adding extensions. These parts may also be known as tubes. When multiple tubes, spools, or sleeves are connected using gaskets and tri-clamps or bolts, this allows for a free-flowing tube system, eliminating the need for any welding. Because of the clamps, these options offer the ability to be disconnected and moved more easily than welded tubing/cylinders.

What is a ring, spool, or sleeve piece used for?

A metal ring, spool or sleeve may be used for many different applications. Some of the most popular uses would be tubing, home brewing systems, funnel extensions, food processing systems, or packaging and conveying systems. They are not always solely used as extensions!

A spool is given its name because of the flanges on both ends. Below is an example.

What is a spool in a piping system?

In a piping system, a pipe spool is one of the most commonly used terms. Pipe spools are typically fabricated components of a piping system. The three main components are the piping itself, the flanges, and the fittings.

As mentioned in a previous article, flanges are the pieces of the cylindrical piping component that allow for connections or extensions. Without flanges, the pipes would not have a way of holding together. Flanges allow for the piping to be strong and durable, while providing connections. Adding a fitting allows for the flow of material in different directions.

What is the difference between a pipe and a spool?

One main difference is that piping is continuous, while a spool has the ability to be moved, or taken apart easily. They each may vary in size, from small to very large. At Toledo Metal Spinning, we have the ability to form our spools to a diameter of 48 inches, and weigh up to 50 pounds.

Flanges are a crucial aspect to the durability and versatility of spool pieces. Follow along with how we add these to our cylindrical components here!