PipeForge Manual & Tutorials

Web-based 3D designer for ultra-high-purity gas and industrial liquid piping: pick real catalog parts, snap them together, and get drawings + a complete material take-off a technician can build and order from.

1. What is PipeForge

PipeForge lets you design piping systems in 3D directly in the browser — like a small, focused CAD tool. Every part in the catalog has a real part number, description, material, and standard joining method. The app enforces real-world connection rules, computes orbital weld joints and bend data, and generates the paperwork: isometric drawing sheet, 2D schematic, and a Material Take-Off (MTO) with order quantities.

Covered systems: 316L UHP tube (Dockweiler ultron / TCC grades), Swagelok / Uni-Lok / Vigor tube fittings, NPT pipe, GCE Druva regulators, VCR face-seal hardware, PP-H and HDPE plastic fusion systems, and pipe supports.

2. Quick start (5 minutes)

1. In the left catalog, click SS-400-6 (union) — it drops into the scene. Hover any part first to see its rendered preview.
2. Click the green port marker on the union — it turns yellow (active). The catalog now lists only compatible parts.
3. Click SS-400-9 (elbow) — it snaps on. The next free port activates automatically, so keep clicking parts to chain the run.
4. Open the bottom Material Take-Off — your parts are already listed. Press Z to zoom to fit, then try the Iso view button.
5. Click Iso sheet in the toolbar — a full A3 drawing with dimensions, weld and bend schedules, MTO, and safety notes. Download it as SVG.

3. Interface tour

• Left — Part Catalog: search, filter by family / size / brand, live part preview, and the custom-part form at the bottom.
• Center — 3D viewport: left-drag empty space to pan, right-drag to orbit (pan in the 2D views), scroll to zoom. Drag a part with the left button to move it; hold Shift to lock the drag to one axis, Esc cancels the drag. Green spheres are free ports, yellow is the active port, gray are connected, orange rings mark weld joints, and a cyan cube marks a tube that can be split.
• Right — Properties: part spec, move/rotate controls, tube length, bend data, port list with connect/disconnect.
• Bottom — MTO: live material take-off with CSV export.
• Top toolbar: view presets (3D/Iso/Top/Front/Side), PNG snapshot, Schematic, Iso sheet, Sketch run, AI designer, Save/Load/Clear.

4. Joining methods (what connects to what)

PipeForge only allows joints that exist as real products. If you pick an incompatible part for the active port, the joint is refused and the app suggests the adapter you would use in reality (e.g. a reducing union).

5. Building a system

• Chain building: activate a port (green sphere) → click a compatible part. The active port auto-advances, so a whole stick builds in clicks.
• Auto-connect (A): select a free part and it snaps onto the nearest free compatible port in the assembly.
• Mid-run insertion: click the cyan cube at a tube’s center, then pick a weld tee/union — the tube splits into two correct segments with the fitting joined in the middle.
• Overlap protection: parts that are not connected cannot occupy the same space — overlapping drops and drags are refused automatically.

6. Moving, rotating, stretching

• Move: drag any free (unconnected) part with the left mouse button — grid-snapped to 0.25 in. Hold Shift to constrain the drag to the X or Z axis, Esc cancels mid-drag. Arrow keys nudge, PgUp/PgDn lift.
• Rotate: quick 90° buttons, or any angle 0–360° around X/Y/Z from the Properties panel (AutoCAD/Revit style).
• Stretch: Dockweiler tubes and PP-H/HDPE pipes have a Length field, and the selected tube shows orange handles at both ends — right-drag a handle to stretch or shrink the tube in place (works on vertical runs too; Esc cancels). Beyond the 6 in standard stick, orbital weld joints appear automatically (orange rings + weld schedule).
• Connected parts are locked in place — disconnect their ports first to reposition.

7. Sketch run (freehand drafting)

1. Toolbar → Sketch run (or press S).
2. Click points on the floor — amber markers show the route.
3. Finish run: PipeForge builds it from Dockweiler 1/4 in ULTRON tube with real elbows at 90° corners, all weld-connected — MTO and weld joints included.

8. 2D drawings, export & import

• Ortho views: Top / Front / Side toolbar buttons — flat orthographic projection, rotation locked.
• Schematic: auto-laid-out P&ID-style diagram (SVG download).
• Iso sheet: A3 isometric drawing — pipe centerlines with face-to-face dimensions (in + mm), part labels, weld schedule (OD / wall / ID / orbital GTAW), bend schedule (R / arc / setback / gain), MTO with order notes, installation & safety notes, title block.
• PNG: one-click viewport snapshot, in any view.
• Export ▾ → DXF: native AutoCAD exchange — every part as 3D solid faces (layer PARTS), port-to-port centerlines (CENTERLINES), and part-number labels (LABELS), in inches.
• Export ▾ → PDF: vector line drawing of the current camera view (3D / Iso / Top / Front / Side) on A4 — wireframe, so line work stays crisp at any zoom (hidden lines are not removed).
• Export ▾ → IFC: BIM exchange (IFC4 STEP) — straight tube/pipe runs become IfcPipeSegment, fittings and valves become IfcPipeFitting, with faceted solid geometry in metres.
• Export ▾ → DWG: DWG is a closed Autodesk format with no legitimate open writer, so PipeForge exports DXF instead and you convert it with the free ODA File Converter (Open Design Alliance) — a one-click, lossless DXF→DWG step.
• Import ▾ → PDF catalog → parts: upload a vendor catalog (Swagelok, Parker, …). PipeForge reads the text, detects part numbers, fitting types (elbow / tee / valve / …) and sizes, and shows a review list — only the rows you approve become catalog parts (Custom section). Scanned PDFs with no embedded text are flagged for manual entry instead of guessed.
• Import ▾ → DXF drawing → underlay: site-plan linework (lines, polylines, arcs, circles) lands as a locked reference layer under the model — visible, never editable.
• Import ▾ → PDF drawing → underlay: page 1 renders as a positioned image on the same locked layer. Set its true scale with Calibrate scale (2 points): click two points on the underlay, enter the real distance. Offset X/Z fields fine-position it. Underlays are session-only (not saved).
• Import ▾ → DWG drawing: same rule as export — convert to DXF with the ODA File Converter first, then import the DXF.

9. MTO & ordering

The MTO groups everything by part number with quantities. Tube and pipe rows additionally compute how many standard sticks to order from the total run length (e.g. “3 sticks × 6 in — total run 18 in”). Export CSV gives a spreadsheet-ready ordering list. Supports (strut, clamps, hangers) are listed too — add them so the order is complete.

10. Custom parts & manifolds

Bottom of the catalog → + Add custom part / manifold. Pick a template (union, elbow, tee, ball/needle valve, regulator, gauge, or VMB-style manifold block with 2–8 outlets), set size, end type, brand, and part number. Custom parts are saved in the browser and behave exactly like built-in ones — including MTO and drawings.

11. AI designer (your own key)

Toolbar → AI: describe the system in words and the AI places the complete project (parts chain-connected along the flow path, then zoom-to-fit).

• Endpoint: any OpenAI-compatible API — OpenAI (https://api.openai.com/v1), OpenRouter, Groq, or local Ollama (http://localhost:11434/v1 — no key needed, fully offline).
• Key storage: your key is stored only in this browser’s localStorage and sent only to the endpoint you configure. Nothing passes through our server.
• Good prompts name the flow path: “1/4 in UHP N2 stick: 12 in tube, weld elbow, diaphragm valve, EMD point-of-use regulator, gauge, VCR cap”.
• Unknown or un-joinable parts are skipped and reported — nothing breaks.

12. Keyboard shortcuts

13. Piping systems & safety

• UHP stainless (ultron / TCC): cleanroom handling, ends capped until welding, orbital GTAW with 99.999% Ar purge, He leak test before service.
• PP-H / HDPE: heat fusion per DVS 2207 (element ≈ 210 °C), respect heat/soak/cooling times, never load fresh joints.
• Supports: anchor per load calculation, maintain slope/drain, never hang other services from gas lines.
• The iso sheet prints the safety notes that match the systems in your model.

14. Save, load, autosave

The project autosaves to the browser on every change. Save (Ctrl+S) downloads a JSON project file; Load restores it. Custom parts are stored separately in the browser and reload automatically.

15. FAQ

• A part won’t join? Read the amber banner — it names the adapter you need (e.g. a reducing union). Sizes and joining methods must match, like real hardware.
• Can’t move a part? It has connections — disconnect its ports in the Properties panel first.
• Tube length won’t change? Same reason — only unconnected tubes stretch.
• Are dimensions certified vendor data? No — they are approximate engineering values for design and visualization; verify against vendor catalogs before fabrication.
• Where is my data? Everything stays in your browser (localStorage) and in the JSON files you export. No account, no server storage.

16. Desktop app downloads

PipeForge also runs as a local desktop app (same features, works offline). Installers are built by GitHub Actions from the same code as this site:

Note: accounts / cloud sync in the desktop app require the Supabase env vars at build time; otherwise it runs in local-only mode.