Well it is a lot easier to just do it after a beer or two... less concern for the consequences of failure I guess.
I really wanted to use 5.5 x .065 inch 304 stainless tubing... yep there is such a thing... but finding it at a reasonable price is impossible... the folks that have it are quite proud of it... one place was $156 a foot.... 11 ft minimum
the low price was $99/ft and would sell 3 ft, but that still falls a little outside the budget.
Yes I can get 6 easily, but it is not the size I prefer... our old tube was 5 x.083, after an pushing incident it was repaired to 5.25 where the pilot is. But available pilots fit very tight, and I wanted a little more room.
I found 5.5 x .065 aluminum... Have a chunk of it coming to see if it looks sturdy enough and I have 5 inch schedule 10 aluminum pipe on the way as well.
One of those is going to work.
Yes I could have rolled stainless sheet and made a tube, but that just added more work for the guy that wants to race next year.