Pipe coping template, printed full size
Put in the two tube sizes and the angle between them, and print a wrap-around template of the cut. Wrap it on the tube, scribe the line and cut. For handrails, roll cages, trailer frames and anywhere round tube meets round tube. Free PDF, no signup.
Updated November 2026
Quick answer
A 1-1/2" OD × 0.120" wall tube teed into a 2" OD tube takes a saddle 1/4" deep (0.223") with the cut that clears the whole wall, and the template wraps 4-11/16" around the tube. That cut leaves a weld gap up to 0.080" at the sides. Cut to the outside edge instead, it is 0.339" deep. Enter your tubes below, download the PDF and print it at Actual size.
How to use the template
- Print it full size. Print at Actual size or 100%. Turn off Fit to page and any shrink or scale setting.
- Measure the square. Put a tape on the 1 inch square in the corner of every page. If it is not 1 inch, fix the print setting and print again.
- Tape the pages. On a template that runs more than one page, trim each page at the border and tape them so the + targets line up.
- Wrap the tube. Square-cut the tube end. Wrap the strip snug with its two edges butted at 0° and 360°, and the straight base line right on the tube end. At an angle, put 0° on the side facing the acute angle.
- Scribe and cut. Soapstone or scribe along the curve. Cut to the line with a band saw, grinder or torch, keeping the cut square to the tube.
- Grind to fit. Offer it up to the header and grind the high spots until it sits down on the header without rocking, then tack it.
How the coping math works
Picture the branch tube coming down onto the header with their centerlines crossing. Go around the branch an angle φ at a time, and at each spot work out how far along the branch the header's surface is. That distance, unrolled flat, is the cut line. The shortest one is the long point, which touches the tube end. Every other spot is cut back from it by the difference.
R is the header radius, r is a radius in the branch wall, θ is the angle between the tubes and φ is the angle around the branch, with 0° on the side facing the acute angle. You cut square to the tube, so the whole wall ends at the same s. Taking the largest s across the wall at each spot means no part of the wall digs into the header. At a tee that is always the inside of the wall. On an angled joint the outside edge touches near the acute side: at 45° on these tubes the touching radius at 0° is 0.75", the outside. The template wraps the outside of the tube, so it is always the OD circumference wide.
Worked example: 1-1/2" × 0.120" wall onto 2" at 90°
- Header radius: R = 2 ÷ 2 = 1".
- At a tee the inside of the wall touches first everywhere, so r = 1.5 ÷ 2 − 0.120 = 0.63".
- At 90°, sin θ = 1 and the cos φ term drops out, so s(φ) = √(R² − r² sin²φ).
- In line with the header (φ = 0°): s = √(1² − 0) = 1.000". At the side (φ = 90°): s = √(1² − 0.63²) = 0.777".
- Deepest cut: 1.000 − 0.777 = 0.223", about 1/4" on the tape.
- Wrap: π × 1.5 = 4.712", about 4-11/16".
The outside edge stands off the header at the sides by 0.080", measured square off the header. That is the weld groove. Figure the cut on the outside of the wall instead (r = 0.75") and it comes out 0.339" deep, tight outside, with the inside of the wall digging in up to 0.087" until you grind it.
Ordering the tube? The steel round tube weight calculator and the steel pipe weight calculator give the pounds per foot for the cut list, and the railing picket spacing calculator lays out the rest of a handrail.
Questions welders keep asking about coping pipe
How do you make a pipe coping template?
Work out where the cut falls all the way around the tube, unroll it flat and print it full size. The strip is as wide as the tube's outside circumference, π × OD, so a 1-1/2" tube wraps 4-11/16" (4.712"). Enter the two ODs, the wall and the angle above and download the PDF. Print it at Actual size, wrap it snug on a square-cut tube end with the base line on the end, scribe the curve and cut to it.
How deep is a saddle cut for a tee?
At 90° the deepest point of the cut is R − √(R² − r²), with R the radius of the tube it lands on and r the inside radius of the branch, the part of the wall that touches first at a tee. A 1-1/2" OD × 0.120" wall tube on a 2" OD tube is 1 − √(1² − 0.63²) = 0.223", about 1/4". Cut to the outside edge instead it is 0.339". When both tubes are the same size the saddle goes the full radius: 2" on 2" is 1.000" deep cut to the outside edge.
Should I cut to the inside or outside diameter?
For a welded joint, cut so no part of the wall digs into the header. You cut square to the tube, so the whole wall ends at the same spot. At the sides of a tee the inside of the wall has to reach further onto the header than the outside, so at a tee that cut follows the inside line. On an angled joint the outside edge touches first near the sharp side, and the template follows it there. The edge that doesn't touch leaves a groove the weld fills: 0.080" at the sides of the 1-1/2" OD × 0.120" wall tube on 2", and 0.184" on 2" Schedule 80 pipe teed into the same pipe. Heavy wall and same-size tubes open it up. Cut to the outside line everywhere and the outside closes up tight, but the inside of the wall digs in up to 0.087" on that 1-1/2" tube and has to be ground to seat. The calculator does both.
Can you cope pipe at an angle?
Yes, from 15° to 90° between the tubes. Under 90 the cut gets deeper on the side facing the sharp (acute) angle and shallower on the other side. The same 1-1/2" tube on 2" tube at 45° is 1.380" deep, against 0.223" at 90°, and leaves a weld gap up to 0.094". Put 0° on the template on the side facing the acute angle. On an angled joint the cut line has a slight bend where the fit hands off from the outside edge to the inside edge. That's meant to be there; follow the line. Over 90? Enter 180 minus your angle. It is the same cut seen from the other side. Under 15° the long point runs too far to work off a paper template.
What if my printer shrinks the template?
Then the cut comes out wrong by the same amount, all the way around. Print at Actual size or 100%, never Fit to page, and put a tape on the 1 inch square before you mark anything. If it measures 15/16", the print is 6.25% small and the wrap on a 1-1/2" tube comes up 0.295" short. Fix the print setting and print it again. The PDF asks the viewer not to scale it, but some printers and browsers do anyway.
Pipe vs tube sizes: what OD do I enter?
Always the real outside diameter. Tube is sold by its OD, so 1-1/2" tube measures 1-1/2" across. Pipe is sold by nominal pipe size (NPS), and the OD is bigger than the name: 1-1/4" pipe is 1.660" OD, 1-1/2" pipe is 1.900" and 2" pipe is 2.375" (ASME B36.10M). Pick the pipe size under either OD box above and the real OD fills in. A handrail of 1-1/4" Schedule 40 pipe (0.140" wall) teed into a 1-1/2" pipe post takes a 0.297" deep cope that clears the whole wall.
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