stupid pipe bender!

[athif]

so my teacher bought a 200 dollar 16 ton pipe bender to bend my 3/4 pipe

i went to bend my pieces and it cringed the bend, i might as well just use my hands.

what should of i do to ensure that the bends to cringe, fill it with sand?

now i have to go out to the park and steal some sand from the playground and buy a whole new rod.

im not sure if sand will work and i don't want to keep using new metal.

 

[crazycart]

Yup maybe heat it a bit and fill it with sand,works every time.

 

[athif]

i probably should of done that the first time, dam, now i gotta buy another rod and start again.

 

[ironman]

yea it bites i got a pipe bender to real nice one and if piping is than it folds every time.

 

[RobertD]

I found that with my HF pipe bender, some pieces would flatten and some wouldn't. I thought it might be a quality of the pipe issue. Unsure..

For 200 he should've got a tubing bender for a couple hundred more. I think my bender was 70.

 

[AutoMX]

If the tubing is folding, it's just too thin to bend at that angle. if the tube starts to crinkle then the tube is either too thin or a crappy material that won't work well with benders (like 1/2 or 3/4 conduit). The stuff technically still CAN be used but I wouldn't trust it to keep me safe.

 

[athif]

i guess ur right, i might need to put some bracers and brackets to hold it up, when its put together the bike should be able to hold up.

 

[newrider3]

I found some pretty good bending tips on another site that I frequent. Make a mark where you want the center of your bend to be on the pipe, then make two marks an inch out from either end of that. Put it in the bender with the middle mark in the center of the shoe, and bend it a couple pumps. Repeat this on the two other marks until you get the angle you want. Also if there is a seam running down one side in the tube, make sure that is pointing up or down to avoid collapsing.

 

[sayre315]

sand works great

 

[ineed2fly]

Ice works better if you want to deal with it.

 

[kibble]

Ice? What do you do, pack it in or freeze the whole thing so the inside is solid?

 

[sayre315]

i used sand with my 12ton pipe bender and it works pretty good

iv'e bent about 10 bends and all of them have been good

 

[ryf]

I have the 16 ton, make sure the bead line is to the bottom, mine is always to the bottom, I have made 90's without sand on 1/2" and 3/4" by moving the pipe 2-3 inches, the radius is bigger, but no pinching... also, use the 2d roller pin holes out on 1/2" pipe, 3rd on 3/4 much much cleaner and no crimpy... but the bead for the weld is crucial not to be out, to the sides usually works out, but that weld isn't the same metal as the pipe, 30,000 psi pipe with 70,000 psi weld = weld won't bend as fast period. if its on the bottom, it doesn't have to stretch, just hang out and enjoy the ride.

it can't be beat for the price, but its not a mandrel bender, it will always squish the pipe somehow if you bending past 60-75 degrees in a single bend, sand might push that out, but 90's will still be rough... I would plan on 3x30 degrees within 4-6 inches, so that means bend 30, move 2-3 inchs, bend 30, move 2-3 inch, repeat one more time and your at 90 with clean bends and not bad looking, 2x45's kind looked odd and choppy, but 3x30 I had good luck with.

I've spent $400 on steel probably for my mini buggy, keep your mistakes, you can cut them in half later for something. but you won't get it right every time no matter what until you've dropped some dimes on practice. if the HF bender was indexed for angles, It'd be easier, but it was designed for sched 40 rigid conduit which by default no one cares as long as the wire fits a kink does not bother the wires once they are run. the fact that water pipe fits is only a bonus to us since its so cheap! but cheap steel and cheap benders = crappy bends sometimes. keep in mind my ENTIRE buggy is bent in an HF bender and anything round is pipe.

you must use schedule 40 pipe, sold as handrail, black pipe, galvanized pipe (try not to use galv, bad toxic welding fumes)

3/4" schedule 40 is like just over 7/8"ID, and 1.25+/- od, 1/2" is just over 5/8 ID. 1.125+/- OD if you are trying to use thin wall conduit, you can't, period...

you can try using one of the really big dies for smaller pipe, it does help due to the large radius, but it more flattens the steel than kink folds since theres no side support.. a different look, depending on part you are making, it could be OK.

thats my 2 years. hope it helps.