As long as it stays together when you use it I wouldn't worry. I suppose it gives you access to lubricate it, but I can't be certain.

Make yourself some jigs...

One jig holds the strut when one end is crushed, so that the other end ends up in the same plane. Another jig guarantees that you drill at the correct distance from the end of the strut.

I also place blocks of steel and/or wood behind the part of the press that actually comes down and crushes the conduit, to ensure that the the right length of the conduit gets crushed. I also have a piece of wood under the conduit so that the curved shoulder formed by crushing the conduit doesn't cause the strut to move.

There are good pictures of these jigs here: www.timefold.com/domedeck/Page2.html

Actually, while you probably aren't building a dome deck, my dome deck site has a pretty good explanation with many photos of the entire strut making process, including how to avoid splitting your EMT by bending it at a 45 degree angle to the seam (and how to locate the seam).

Shortcut to the good stuff:
www.timefold.com/domedeck/domedeck.html

The actual dome deck web site:
www.timefold.com/guests/ho...age95.html

If you can get some friends to help you out, it will be well worth it. Each person can take on one task:
- cutting struts to the right length
- finding and marking the seams with a sharpie
- crushing the ends of struts
- drilling the ends of struts
- grinding off the flash
- painting the struts (different colors for different lengths, and to protect the cut ends, which will rust otherwise)
- bring pizza and beers to the people working hard in the heat of the day

What I found was that people like to settle into a job they understand, and then the whole team gets into a rhythm. I threw a party when I cut the struts for the Desert nose -- 320+ struts cut from 150 sticks of 3/4" EMT. 180 unique lengths. The team cut the whole set of struts in one day (using my 1-ton press, by the way).

Also, if you plan to use 3/8" hardware (like I do) then I recommend that you acquire a 25/64" cobalt drill bit. This is 1/64"over 3/8", so the bolts fit in just a bit easier. The cobalt drill bit will happily cut through 1000 ends of EMT without needing to be sharpened. You don't need a whole set of cobalt bits (I have one and love it tho). You just need the 25/64" bit.

And, get some mineral oil at a drug store and squirt a tiny amount onto each strut when you drill it. It helps lubricate. Use a slower speed than you would for wood. The oil will keep the bit from overheating and make it last a long, long time.

Also, don't skimp on good paint. Use something like Rustoleum or better. Better to put two lighter coats on than one thick coat that doesn't dry right. And, if you are willing, wipe the ends down with rubbing alcohol right before painting, because the EMT will have oil left over from the drilling process, plus oil from people's hands, tools, etc.

Finally, don't forget to wear protective gear -- the metal is razor sharp when cut, and the little shards of metal from the drilling process make for some nasty metal slivers. Everyone handling conduit except the person painting should wear protective gloves, and anyone grinding or drilling should wear eye protection.