Bending pipe

[Steved]

Hi there. I am guessing that someone on this board has some pictures or input on this.

How do you bend pipe without it kinking?

I would like to bend, aluminum, SS, mild steel pipe up to 3/4" OD.

I have no idea how this is done, the only pipe that I have bent has been copper with the 'ring sleeve' to prevent kinking.

Thanks for your comments!

Steve

[ASKANDY]

Steve,
There are many pipe or tube benders on the market.
I use the one from Irvan/Smith.

http://www.irvansmith.com/catalog2/parts/irvan_tubing_bender.shtml

They have others available as well depending on your needs. They also have manual ones if you are on a tighter budget. The key to not kinking is in the dies. A Mandral bender is awesome but pricey

Good luck

Andy

[aametalmaster]

Here is a nice small bender. http://www.shopoutfitters.com
Bob

[tackit]

I read you can take clean sand put it on a piece of sheet steel and build a fire under it to get the moisture out. Then weld a bottom cap on one end of the pipe to be bent and pack the sand really tight all the way to the top. Then weld the top cap on (making sure) you leave a weep hole for any steam pressure to escape from moisture that could still be in the sand, then heat pipe sensibly and bend it around your homemade die.

I read this on a home built aircraft sight, it's just for making a few bends to get by not a production thing. I have never done this myself so I can't vouch for its safety or the final outcome.

[fun4now]

the post (Got some pictures back... )is about a bender that is under $100 and comes with several die's. hankj said it is great .it is 1 i have been looking at and now that the review is in ill be getting 1. you might want to look into it. some form of bender is almost a must . im shoure ther areother ways but for $100.00 the bender is the way to go. only problem is once you get it you will go nuts looking for more stuff to bend. hankj said he had to go get more stock.
good luck

[fun4now]

link

here is the link to the bender

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/NTESearch?storeId=6970&catalogId=4006970&langId=-1&PHOTOS=on&KEYWORDS=parts+bender&kw_fmt=parts+bender

[sparky123]

to bend pipe i use the emt hand benders for my work truck . they can be had for a small price at the big box stores or you can support your local electrical supply warehouse for a little more. they can be a bit difficut to use a first for bending other than electrical conduit but once you get the hang of it they work all right. they are no where near as good as a hydrulic pipe bender but once you get the hang of it they do all right.

[Steved]

I have seen hydraulic pipe benders on the web and it would seem to me that they would not be all that difficult to build. (I have several spare screw jacks, hydraulic jacks that I could never throw away)

From what you are saying, it is all in the dies for the bending. Do you think that it would be a decent project to make one of these or are there unforseen gottchas that I am not seeing?

The ones that I have seen seem to be straight stock welded into a brace with a jack underneath.

[bobw]

pipe bending video

here is a link that features a video about pipe bending.

check it out

http://www.fournierenterprises.com/VideoPage.html