Bending copper tubing

Steve B · 2011-10-09T01:35:05+00:00

I have some 3/8" copper tubing that I need to bend at a tight radius. Like 2". I have the spiral bender, and another hand held type, but can't find either. Next week, I gotta get organized. In the meantime what's the best way to bend it? I've heard of putting it full of sand. If I do that, do I bend it around something round, or just bend it slowly and cautiously?Steve

Oct 09, 2011 24 Replies

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Newshound 14 years ago

Fair enough if you have spare tube to play with.

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Newshound 14 years ago

Nice idea!

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David Billington 14 years ago

I was using a home made rotary draw bender for the job I did and was bending the tubing to a fairly tight radius using a former I already had made for some solid bar. I found the solid nylon worked fine without any cuts and was fairly easy to remove when pre-lubricated. I think cutting it might make the bending a bit easier but might also lead to the nylon breaking on removal and making removing the remainder a bit of a pig. In my case I just grabbed the nylon bar in the vise and grabbed the bent copper tube and twisted and pulled and the nylon eased out of the bend.

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