# Quick tubing bender



## stevehuckss396 (May 22, 2009)

Needed a 9/32 (.281) tubing bender. Of course you cant find one sooooo, I made this quick and dirty bender. A piece of 1/4 X 1 is used. A 90 degree bend is made on the end and the milling begins. The swivel handel is also 1/4 X 1 milled down to 5/8 wide. There were 4 holes drilled and 3 were tapped. The 2 rollers were made and there ya have it. The entire thing took about an hour and a half start to finish.

I have seen some very nice benders but I could not find plans for any of them so you do what you have to. When the Bismuth gets here I'll let you know if it works or destroys itself.


----------



## bentprop (May 22, 2009)

That's a handy-dandy tool,Steve.I had seen similar ones,but never knew quite how they worked.
Now I know.All I need now is time to make one. I spend too much of it in front of this computer :big:


----------



## RobWilson (May 22, 2009)

Great Tool Steve,looks very handy ;D


----------



## stevehuckss396 (May 22, 2009)

bentprop  said:
			
		

> That's a handy-dandy tool,Steve.I had seen similar ones,but never knew quite how they worked.
> Now I know.All I need now is time to make one. I spend too much of it in front of this computer :big:



I have plans but they only apply to the .281 diameter tube. It can be modified to work at any diameter.


----------



## itowbig (May 22, 2009)

simple is good . nothing wrong with that at all. i like it. (filed away for later)
Thank You very nice of you to share

It's great that there are so many very nice people like your selves that are willing to share such a great wealth of info. 
This Place HMEM is this best place i think for newbie's like me to gather so much info from very talented people as your selves. I'm very thankful that i found this new home, its really great to be here and learn so much.
beers on the house or tea' coffee what ever you drink.


----------



## shred (May 23, 2009)

Looks like it'll work. What method did you use to cut the rollers?

I posted some pics of the goofy way I did over here, and while it works, it's not the best method.

You may be able to bend without the low-melt alloy-- I've been dinking with my bender and 5/32" tube and it's pretty good at not-squashing even an empty tube. (I tried filing the tube with ice and hand-bending before I made the bender but that was not successful.) You may end up wanting to clamp or anchor the tube going into your bender-- the design I used has a clamp of sorts and the bends end up different if the tube is clamped tight enough to not move.


----------



## stevehuckss396 (May 23, 2009)

shred  said:
			
		

> Looks like it'll work. What method did you use to cut the rollers?



I just ground a 5/16 HSS bit down and rounded it over. The groove is made by plunging the tool straight in.


----------



## stevehuckss396 (May 23, 2009)

shred  said:
			
		

> You may be able to bend without the low-melt alloy-- I've been dinking with my bender and 5/32" tube and it's pretty good at not-squashing even an empty tube.



Did you heat the tube to anneal it first?


----------



## deere_x475guy (May 23, 2009)

Nice job Steve!


----------



## shred (May 23, 2009)

stevehuckss396  said:
			
		

> Did you heat the tube to anneal it first?


Yeah I annealed the copper tube first. I don't know how well that works for brass or other metal tube. I also put a solid insert down the tube in the clamp to stop it being bent by the clamp pressure-- that can be skipped with cerrobend.


----------



## stevehuckss396 (May 23, 2009)

shred  said:
			
		

> Yeah I annealed the copper tube first. I don't know how well that works for brass or other metal tube. I also put a solid insert down the tube in the clamp to stop it being bent by the clamp pressure-- that can be skipped with cerrobend.




Just tried it hollow. Disaster! It folded in on itself. I'll wait for the Bismuth.


Hey Bob! Good to hear from you. Send me an email with some pictures of your latest projects!!


----------



## shred (May 24, 2009)

stevehuckss396  said:
			
		

> Just tried it hollow. Disaster! It folded in on itself. I'll wait for the Bismuth.


Yeah, mine did that when the tube wasn't clamped. Neat right angle bend, crimped flat.   Let us know how it works with the filler.


----------



## Noitoen (May 24, 2009)

The other day I saw one of those shows "how it's made" on Discovery channel, the making of a trumpet. The method the use is 2 brass sheets to make the halves of the trumpet, welded the seams lengthwise...blá-blá-blá.... and when it came to bending they used a similar method but the tubes were filled with frozen soapy water. They say the soap turns the ice malleable.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh7RrlazaRc&feature=PlayList&p=8816DC301CC7E68B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=28[/ame]


----------



## RobWilson (May 24, 2009)

Noitoen GREAT VIDEO 
Rob ;D


----------



## itowbig (May 24, 2009)

wow thats as great. i saw this too on tv but never really paid that much too it. but seeing this again i really enjoyed how they did that thank you


----------



## stevehuckss396 (May 24, 2009)

I also like the part where they expand the tubing by putting a ball of the correct size in the tube and pressing it in. Then they take balls that are smaller and use them to ram the bigger ball all the way thru a tube that has a 180 degree bend in it.


----------



## ChooChooMike (May 24, 2009)

I watched that episode a while back, that was VERY COOL !! how they do that  Spinning the bell for finishing and using frozen soap/water to bend the tubing ! They've been doing it that way for 100+ years !!

We got nothing on those old timers


----------

