That totally depends on what kind of fittings you are using I'd think. What spec fittings are you talking about? SAE ORB, 37 degree flare, ferrule compression?

Regular cast plumbing fittings like Tees, Elbows, Couplings...are there any higher grades / vendors that anyone uses where they take a little more care in ensuring they are free from burrs / hanging chips, etc?

Many of the distributors are selling pipe fittings from overseas with unknown quality.

You might specify particular brand names like Ward Manufacturing where the products are traceable.

Link

That sounds like something you'd need to discuss with your vendor. It could mean they source through a different manufacturer or requires an extra QA step for them which turns into more $$ for you. To handle it on your end, you'd need a receiving processing step of lot testing, maybe some sort of baseline cleaning step, etc.

For us, if we need it purchased at a specific level of cleanliness, we specify a cleanliness level according to our internal standards and require the vendor to abide by it. You just have to prepare to pay for it. Depending on the parts criticality, it then goes through a level of internal verification that it met the specification (lot testing, individual part checks, etc.).

Thanks guys,

Unfortunately we have been purchasing overseas in the past with marginal quality.
Would a post tumble at our facility be of any benefit?

You get what ya pays for.. Its unfortunate but thats life , and its not about to improve any time soon

Got it MM,

but are there any known high-quality sources anyone has experience with that supply good product sans FOD?

You could probably just change vendors and solve this. Where are you buying these dogs? Help us avoid the same problems.

Change to McMaster-Carr, or MSC, or Grainger... Someplace with a more customer centric face who would likely hear a lot of moaning and get returns for offering up the garbage you're receiving.

Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com

bimr; That site is torture!! 2 minutes per click..

Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com

If you are on tbe USA West coast I can recommend a vendor that can provide fittings from multiple sources including domestic. I believe you'll be able to work with them to find a satisfactory supplier. I put these guys to the test ordering some 18 inch SS pipe for cosmetic purposes. The first one arrived with a large dent but it was also brake formed. I got lucky that I was able to reject the pipe for the dent but made sure to specify roll form for the replacement. They had to source an entirely different foundry.

Thanks All,

Tug, we're on the East Coast (PA) but would welcome the recommendation if you think it's worth it.

itsmoked - we started with McMaster Carr and had to move on from there due to the same FOD issues. The cheap imports work well for in-house testing where we can control any issues that arise, but for product sold to a customer we can't chance it.

we have a tumbler in-house, would the be any advantage to run them to see if the burrs / hanging chips can be removed?

Contact McMaster-Carr and inform them. In the past they have been properly responsive. I can see where they might not do 100% inspection on incoming material, but I expect they can deal with this situation.

This is our supplier.

https://torksystems.com/

They are good at sourcing fittings and pipe domestically.

Thanks Tug and 3D...