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Pipe benders

This is another tool I have no experience with, I have not even seen in real life.

I came across a few as "other items sold on EBay". The concept intrigued me as, in future, I will have a need to bend pipes and solid rods up to 1/2" or so into varying shapes.

I did a search and found a bewildering quantity of tools, all purported to do the same thing:

-some were hand held and bent the pipe/rod in a fixed radius - these were cheap

-some were floor/bench top mounted and had several dies, presumably to provide different radii. Some of these had different attachments to make rings, twist metal into corkscrew shapes etc. They varied between $80-$1000.

-some were hydraulic

-some were really, really big and expensive.

I could not find an article which would provide an overview of their use, a review of different makes etc.

So the question is this: Does anyone here have an experience with this sort of tool? Are there types/manufacturers to go for? Are there any caveats?

I am thinking versatility, low volume, low cost.

Any help will be appreciated.

Reply to
Michael Koblic
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what kinds of bends are you planning? remember a video posted here about a gentleman making wind instruments - he used wooden dies to bend brass tubing, and filled tubing with pitch (or low metlt metal) to prevent collapsing - maybe you don't need a new tool after all (sorry to bring possibly bad news)

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Reply to
William Noble

Some clues on exactly what you want to bend would be VERY helpful.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

More info on potential applications would be helpful but....

Any bender needs to be closely matched to the size of the tube/pipe/conduit you are working on as well as the force needed to bend it. Conduit is a funny size, pipe is measured by the ID (and a standardized oddball OD), and tube is generally measured by the OD and wall thickness.

Thin wall conduit is a very funny size, needs dedicated tools, but can easily be bent with the bender head with a suitable piece of pipe for a handle. $20 +/- depending on source and size. Conduit is nice for prototypes to see what the shape will look like but it is very soft material, should NOT be used for anything structural.

Pipe is heavy wall, ID is standardized for pipe sizes, needs fairly heavy equipment to bend it: think 12 ton hydraulic pipe benders from Harbor Freight for $100 or so. This is a press bender that pushes in the center of the pipe. It works without too much crushing only because the wall thickness to so heavy compared to the diameter.

1/8" to 1/4" range steel tube (brake lines) bend nicely with a hand bender, kink quickly without. $10

1/2" OD to 1" can be bent on a bench bender from HF or Hossfield. $60 to $600 depending on capacity, dies included, and manufacturer.

1-1/2" to 2" tube for roll cages really needs a decent hydraulic rotary head bender to do well.
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For production work, the sky is the limit: For only $100,000 you can get a CNC bender that turns a 10' piece of 1"x.120 wall tube into a Bobcat skid steer operator restraint bar with 10 bends in 45 seconds.

Michael Koblic wrote:

Reply to
RoyJ

Reply to
SteveB

That is the thing: I am sort of at the concept stage. The immediate thought is for sundial face supports and decorative/unusual gnomons. This would make it mainly solids, flat, square or round. However, I have been toying with other ideas and copper pipe is a definite possibility.

It's like this: Sometimes you have a job and looking for a tool to do it. Sometimes you come across a tool you did not know existed and start wondering "what can this thing do for me?"

Reply to
Michael Koblic

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