The Story Behind PipeMaster™

In 1995, I was running a boat repair yard in Ballard, Washington, specializing in commercial fishing vessels. One particular job changed everything. I was struggling to fit a 2-inch pipe between a curved mast pipe and a steel plate on the deck. Every time I got one joint to fit, the other would shift out of place. Hours slipped by as I fought with the alignment, growing more frustrated with every failed attempt. Finally, I threw down my tools and drove to the local welding store, convinced that someone must have already invented a tool to solve this problem.

But when I got there, the store manager handed me a box of pipe wraps, an envelope of patterns, and a device that could trace lines around a pipe—none of which would help me. I drove back to the yard, resigned to the old “guess and grind” method, wasting more time, material, and effort than I cared to admit. In the end, I settled for “good enough,” filling in gaps with welds and spending extra time making the joints look presentable.

That experience stuck with me. There had to be a better way.

Over the next year, I became obsessed with finding a solution. I tried every idea I could think of to create a simple, accurate pattern for pipe fitting. My wife bore witness to my relentless experimentation—bits of plastic and rubber boiled on the stove, baked in the oven, and even frozen next to the ice cubes. For every breakthrough, there were countless failures. But I refused to give up.

What you see today on our website is the result of that journey—years of trial, error, and relentless determination. PipeMaster™ eliminates the wasted time, frustration, and guesswork from pipe fitting, allowing for precision every time.

Now, PipeMaster™ offers tools for nearly every tubing or pipe size, from ½-inch tubing to 6-inch diameter pipe. Used in industries worldwide, our tools help professionals save time and achieve perfect weld joints with ease.

What started as one welder’s frustration has grown into a tool trusted around the world. If you’ve ever struggled to fit a pipe joint just right, PipeMaster™ was made for you.