Pipe bender

[gibbo]

I need a pipe bender, either to borrow or steal,err, I meant buy. Have a need to bend some pipe[:p]

[TurboKat]

Ring Jo, she's just bought one & she may be lobbing down this way tonight, if you're real nice to her she might bring it with her.

[chopaweeza]

Use a tubing bender if it's something thats going on the bike mate . You can get bends done commercially pretty cheaply if you scour the yellow pages . Or get someone local off the board that has a bender to do one for you

[gibbo]

Hey Chop, what's the difference? We are going to be bending small diameter aluminium.

[gibbo]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PIPE-TUBING-BENDER-Square-Round-Plumbing-Tool_W0QQitemZ370113101739QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Ha nd_Tools?hash=item370113101739&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
You mean like this?

[latheboy]

What dia. are you bending .. i might be able to pinch one from work for you

[TurboKat]

quote:Originally posted by gibbo

Hey Chop, what's the difference? We are going to be bending small diameter aluminium.

Hotrod roof frame maybe?

[latheboy]

quote:Originally posted by gibbo

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PIPE-TUBING-BENDER-Square-Round-Plumbing-Tool_W0QQitemZ370113101739QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Ha nd_Tools?hash=item370113101739&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
You mean like this?


We have one just like that at work, its never got the size i want but for work stuff its great

[gibbo]

5/8 o/d
Turbo you are a fucken psychic!!
Actually going to build a scaled down spondon, can't afford the real thing;)

[chopaweeza]

quote:Originally posted by gibbo

Hey Chop, what's the difference? We are going to be bending small diameter aluminium.


Pipe benders crush the tubing and oval it. Tubing benders allow the tubing to maintain it's round shape. For motorcycles(not garden gates) round tubing is the strongest cross section shape you can get. When you crush it in a pipe bender it becomes oval along the line of the curve allowing it to flex more and it becomes weaker .

There is alot of math that I could use but thats the ultra short version. For stuff like rigid fuel line and such the hand benders you can but at Bunnings for $20 work well . For bigger stuff either out source the bends , buy something like a JD2 bender or make a Blackjack Bender .

Here's a like to a site maintained by a mentor of mine , Blackjack , and in it you will find some great stuff on the subject & articles that will explain things pretty well. I have used his Bender(using a Barina wheel hub instead of a Feista) with great results on several frames , bars etc .

http://www.thefont.info/contents.htm

[Azrael]

If your looking to do odd shaped bends or want nice rounded corners you can always do it the oldschool way.. When im making frames i just weld the shape to the bench then use heat and a hardback keep it <s>straight</s> hard up against the form when making the bend..
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/64897067041484.jpg


http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/64897067036544.jpg


http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/64897067036613.jpg


http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/64897067035538.jpg

[Azrael]

Not everyones cup of tea and admittedly you need the tools to do it but its satisfying because it turns out nice and you get exactly what u want. Having said that it takes a while, but with a few beers an some tunes it doesnt seem to matter how long it takes..

[JackTar]

Wayne weren't you selling one of these?

[chopaweeza]

Am Blowie . Have my old one set up for 1.25" on the back porch next to were the bikes were when you were up and yeh it's up for sale . Here's a piccy of it before I added the latest handle (thats Neo Dutch BTW). Looks like junk but it makes flawless bends . The heat & bend method makes for a weaker bend than cold bending. When you cold bend it uniformly work hardens the bend adding to it's strength. When you heat & bend it first makes the steel soft , then you bend and then the steel hardens as it cools. But not as hard as a cold bend. Also , hot bending requires alot of luck & skill otherwise you will deform the tube or create an uneven bend . The steel can also warp if the cooling isn't spot on even. I use a JD2 now and with it or the Blackjack I can easily replicate bends super easily and exactly .

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a130/chopaweeza/NeoDutchBending.jpg

[Azrael]

As i said, not everyones cup of tea, never had a problem with losing strength in the steel or needed luck in getting it straight. Cold bending is fine too, i use both methods depending on the bend, the gauge and the application.

[chopaweeza]

Yeh Az. I occasionally use hot bending as well. The strength issue is noticeable with thin walled tubing I found and not so much with tubing over 2.0mm wall . Made a set of half moon tiller bars using hot bending out of 1.6mm DOM and the flexed like a mongrel . Had the next set cold rolled instead and you could really tell the difference . Had several home made frames grace my workshop that have heat bent the rails . All sorts of twists & wobbles in them and the occasional flat spot from over heating or applying pressure on the wrong spot.

[ozzy1100]

good bender chop i need some thing like that for 1 " and up cooper lol
i do a shit load of cooper bends and i allwas marvel at how well a good set of benders work
use the right marks for centre 2 centre and you allways within a few mm or better
heres a pics of what i mean lol
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/85790639760532.jpg

http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/85790639777974.jpg

http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/85790639771808.jpg

and its amazing what u can do over your knee lol
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/85790639753547.jpg

http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/85790639750713.jpg

[chopaweeza]

Not that hard to make Oz. A Blackjack Bender can easily be changed it size in about 5 minutes if you give some fore-thought to the design. Mine had a 1" die that I made as well (lesson people , don;t lend stuff) that required 5 nuts to change and a couple of tack welds to add a sleeve to the channel. Takes about that time to change a die on my JD2 . My old one with a spare hub is for sale for $150 if anyone is interested.

We use a bender from Speedworks at work to do the stainless & copper tubing. Not a bad piece of gear but gives inferior bends to my Blackjack or the JD2 .

[gibbo]

sounds like a bargain to me, to bad you're so far away Chopa.

[ozzy1100]

cool as chop
i like my trusty rigid tube benders
i even use them for some stainless 2