Another small radius pipe bender

[Mcgyver]

the results speak for themselves.....and you saved all the futzing about with z/x movements to create the radius.  I did get a lot more than that done in the 6 months  ....so many project rabbit holes the shop is more like a warren. 

[john mills]

the last full time job i had i had to machine mandrels for a company that made tubing for the auto industry pipes for air conditioners  they were from a blue plastic material they had just a short section of i guess the inside radius
of the tube then just a small radius to remove the sharp edge and then the end was just flat  the radius section was only short.     John

[Laurentic]

Thats for that Mike, not seen that method of pipe bending before, very clever and really quite simple when it is looked at in detail but so unusual - I would not have dreamed up that idea, so thanks for sharing it with us.

Chris

[Old Bill]

Hi Mike.

Nice job. A bit more refined than mine! I have used it again to bend the transfer pipe for my Stuart launch Engine as those bends are really critical to the appearance of the final article.





The really tricky bit is getting the second bend in just the right place. I shan't show you my scrap pile...





A nice bend is really satisfying!

Good luck with the rest of the engine!

Steve   

[Vixen]

Hello Steve,

Good to hear from you. Sounds like you are fit and well.

Thanks for the inspiration to make one of these new fangled small radius pipe benders. They say plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery

I like your new design of clamp on the rotating part. I will incorporate that for the next size/radius bends.

As you say, positioning the second bend can be trying. I found the marker pen help a lot.

Cheers

Mike

[PJPickard]

This is going off topic I'm afraid, but here is a link to a great 2 part PDF on tube bending. I think I'm going to make one like in this thread when I get to plumbing my locomotive!

http://ibls.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=The_Art_of_Tube_Bending

[Jasonb]

I was interested in the revised clamp, I can see that by being wider it is less likely to mark the pipe and if doing double bends may make it easier to separate bender from the pipe unless the clamp has a bit more clearance. On the other hand the thinner one like Mike has would be better suited to very close dogleg bends where there may not be sufficient straight pipe to clamp against with the other option. I suppose you can always make whichever option is needed for a particular bend/pipe size combination.

I'm not really one for making tools but am tempted by one of these as it saves having to keep filling pipes with lead for exhausts and steam pipes. I think I may well do awat with the Hex for the spanner, just cross drilling for a tommy bar should do.

[Charles Lamont]

I am annoyed. I made a cute little bender a few years ago. It is very similar in principle, except that it works the other way round with a stationary 'eye'and revolving 'shoe'. But there is no way to use a mandrel with it. Curses.