Made a tubing bender last night...
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From: Port Tobacco, MD
Made a tubing bender last night... Last night I got fed up with my NOS tubing bender and decided to make one. The problem is when the SS tubing gets short it becomes very very difficult to bend. Another problem is when you bend the tubing sometimes it doesn't follow the mandrel exactly....so my solution....
1) Took a piece of 1/8" Plate steel and cut out and oversided NOS bender plate
2) Drilled 3 holes, one center for the bending mandrel and 2 for locators to hold the SS tubing in place
3) Took the 1/16" mandrel and mounted in a lathe and cut it so it was for a 1/8" tube
4) Cut another piece of 1/8" steel out 3/4" wide and drilled 2 holes so you could bolt one mandrel to the lever and one floated as the pivot.
5) Bolted the assembly together and tested it out and it works like a champ, you can take an exact length SS tube, flare both ends and bend it to exacting specifications. This is almost like a manrel bender for the big piping but on a smaller scale.
Phil
1) Took a piece of 1/8" Plate steel and cut out and oversided NOS bender plate
2) Drilled 3 holes, one center for the bending mandrel and 2 for locators to hold the SS tubing in place
3) Took the 1/16" mandrel and mounted in a lathe and cut it so it was for a 1/8" tube
4) Cut another piece of 1/8" steel out 3/4" wide and drilled 2 holes so you could bolt one mandrel to the lever and one floated as the pivot.
5) Bolted the assembly together and tested it out and it works like a champ, you can take an exact length SS tube, flare both ends and bend it to exacting specifications. This is almost like a manrel bender for the big piping but on a smaller scale.
Phil
Last edited by Phil99vette; Feb 25, 2006 at 09:19 PM.
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Thread Starter
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From: Port Tobacco, MD
I think most people realize how tough it is to bend SS not even figure bending it with accuracy. Its a very simple design and works fantastic....stay tuned, I promise pics tonight. You can bend a 6" long piece of SS with one finger....
Thread Starter
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From: Port Tobacco, MD
The bolt sticking up is threaded into the arm and needs to be shortened ~.600".
Dowel just to the right of the silver mandrel is what holds the tube. As the arm rotates around the silver mandrel the gold mandrel holds the tube against the silver and almost mandrel bends it.
Dowel just to the right of the silver mandrel is what holds the tube. As the arm rotates around the silver mandrel the gold mandrel holds the tube against the silver and almost mandrel bends it.
Last edited by Phil99vette; Feb 25, 2006 at 09:07 PM.
Thread Starter
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From: Port Tobacco, MD
The arm is going to be trimmed around the mandrels so a precise measurement can be made on the tube being bent.....
Last edited by Phil99vette; Feb 25, 2006 at 09:08 PM.