Shaped Tubing Solutions for Industry
Righton Blackburns’ beautifully shaped railings and balustrades provide an effective way for you to enhance your new builds and restoration projects.
We offer shaped tubes in six unique designs, including variants of oval and square profiles.
Our shaped tube profiles are enduringly elegant. But the tubes offer more than just aesthetic benefits. They also present ergonomic and structural advantages over conventional round tubing, providing the construction industry with greater possibilities when it comes to choosing metal architecture.
Our engineers can work to architects’ briefs to create custom-made tubing for high-end applications, or for more complex projects where ‘kits’ just can’t meet the requirements. Our shaped tubes are used to make railings and balustrades for staircases, balconies and terraces of all specifications and sizes.
Sculptural and sophisticated, the beautifully engineered tubing offers superior design. From public buildings to family homes, street furniture to commercial properties, the custom-made tubes will help to set your project apart from others.
Why Choose Shaped Tubing?
Sometimes the aesthetics of the tubing is critical to the project. But long-term durability and strength is an essential consideration for architectural applications.
Shaped tubing boasts ergonomic and safety advantages over standard round tubing, such as being both easier and more comfortable to grip. Our D-shaped tube, used predominantly as handrail, has been carefully tested for its ergonomic viability.
Methodical ‘tube deflection testing’ demonstrates that shaped stainless steel tubes formed from standard round tubes are less likely to buckle than their round counterparts. The shaped tubing benefits from increased strength performance (between 20% – 54% depending on the shape). This is crucial for infrastructure applications such as protective guard rails and barriers, which often require immense durability. Sign posts, window trims, bollards, decorative shrouds and luggage kick rails at airports are amongst the many examples of infrastructure that have been fabricated from our uniquely shaped profiles.
Shaped Tubing Materials
Stainless Steel
Most of our tube profiles are fabricated from premium-grade stainless steel. Stainless steel has been the leading material for projecting progressive, modern architecture for more than eighty years. Most of our architectural tubing is fabricated from stainless steel 304L (1.4301) and stainless steel 316L (1.4404) due to its incredible strength, ductility and versatility.
The fact that it is corrosion-resistant makes it hygienic and easier to maintain. Stainless steel is also an extremely sustainable material as it is fully recyclable at end-of-life.
Our stainless steel tubing comes in various finishes, including a brushed satin finish, which is great at hiding fingerprints and blemishes, and a luxurious polished mirror finish. We can even powder coat stainless steel to create a wood-effect.
PVD is available in a wide range of colours for a contemporary look. It is scratch and corrosion resistant.
Stainless Steel 304L (1.4301)
Suitable for structural and decorative purposes, this alloy provides ample strength while retaining a high degree of manipulability.
Stainless Steel 316L (1.4404)
Sometimes referred to as marine-grade stainless steel, this alloy contains a higher nickel and molybdenum content for increased corrosion resistance, making it ideal for marine architecture and other exterior applications.
Duplex/Superduplex
We can also form tubing from duplex and superduplex stainless steel if the tubing will be used in subsea conditions. Duplex stainless steel grades boast many of the benefits of austenitic and ferritic stainless steel.
Aluminium
Aluminium is functional, cost-effective, light but strong, non-corrosive, non-toxic and durable.
Its surface is covered in an extremely thin yet strong layer of oxide film, which makes it highly corrosion-resistant.
Aluminium 5083
Possesses immense strength coupled with excellent formability.
Aluminium 6063
A cost-effective alternative for applications where strength and weight are still key attributes.
Brass CZ108
Brass is an alloy consisting of copper and zinc, which is stronger than pure copper and provides a lighter, gold-like finish. Brass is the most common of the copper- based alloys. It has a good corrosion resistance.
We typically use ‘basis brass’ for tube fabrication as it has excellent cold forming attributes, and can be readily soldered.
Copper Nickel 90/10
We use cupronickel 90/10, which contains 90% copper and 10% nickel, with small quantities of iron and manganese for strength and corrosion-resistance.
Cupronickel 90/10 has a warm colour that is similar to bronze, which makes it an extremely cost-effective alternative to bronze.
Cupronickel has high electrical resistivity.
If you are restoring metal architecture in historic buildings, or you’re seeking an antique look, Righton Blackburns can fabricate tubing from copper, brass or bronze. If you want a highly durable metal but with the traditional warmth of bronze, you could choose 90/10 cupronickel (which is also less expensive than bronze), or use bronze-coloured PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) titanium ion plating on stainless steel.
Twisted oval tube and twisted square tube are popular choices for metalwork used for restoration projects and intricate lighting designs. The tightness of the twist can be varied; this flexibility is useful for instances when past designs need to be replicated.
