Outer Limits 4x4 Board

What type of pipe/tube in the 50mm diameter range is good for bending in a garage jack style bender. The type with a curved former on a jack and two adjustable rollers.

I tried 40mm med balck pipe and it crushes well before even 45 degrees is achieved and the rollers dent the pipe.

Is there a product that bends easier?

Cheers

How far apart did you have the rollers? IMHO the further apart the better.
What wall thickness were you using? Thicker wall will resist crushing ....One trick is to fill it with sand befire bending.

some cheeper benders will crush almost any pipe

It's about 4mm wall but I have crushed heavier in my attempts.

Maybe it is the bender, but I have heard that some types of pipe bend easier too.

Cheers

take it really slow and make up a couple of guides out of angle welded to some tube that the rollers can go inside. This will spread the point loads a bit and won't dent the pipe as much. If you're using seam pipe/tube try different orientations of the seam weld as this may assist with crush problem.

Don't fark around with the the dies that came with the pipe bender IMO. Get a 32nb Dawn die and an adapter (or make one up) and go nuts with some 32nb medium or heavy wall.

IIRC the Die and adapter cost around $100, the 90 degree plus bends are priceless.

Not sure about the type of tube but i know if you tape up one end of the tube and fill the tube with sand and pack it in faily well - ie banging on the tube to settle it etc - and then tape up the other end to hold it all in before attempting to bend it will help significantly as there is support inside the tube to help stop the crushing.

Cheers
James

You will never stop it crushing/dinting completely thats why they have mandrel benders.

Thick side walls and the smallest diameter you can use for the job is the best way to get a good bend.

Oh and make sure the seam is on the side of the bend, not the top or bottom.

OK thanks guys, sounds like a better quality bender might be good for starters, then try some of the methods mentioned.

cheers

I've got a Chinaman's bender, with the standard dies it sh#t house.

Bought a Dawn Die, nb40 for $130, bends are great! You can see the difference in the die as soon as you look at them together.

googled dawn dies

cant find them

were do yoyu get them from

(sorry about the thred hijack)

Repco can order them for you although you will need the one Repco employee in Australia who is competent.
If you tell them to get their Dawn catalogue it may help. You may also have to tell them that yes, they have one, and no, the actual die isn't in there but if they call Dawn they will get it sent to them.

Make sure you specify what size you want and watch them make the call.



Alternatively, an online hunt may turn up easier and cheaper solutions.



EDIT: This is Dawn Tools Australia's website, specifically the pipe bender page. Part numbers are at the bottom, find which one you want and order away.
http://www.dawntools.com.au/products1.php?cat_id=21

The Dawn bender looks like my Bramley. it does a pretty good job.

how much are these things

how much are these things

Wooders wrote:How far apart did you have the rollers? IMHO the further apart the better.
What wall thickness were you using? Thicker wall will resist crushing ....One trick is to fill it with sand befire bending.

The chinese bender will not be able to space the rollers far enough apart for the 1.5" and 2" dawn dies. I phoned Dawn, found out the dimensions for the rollers, then added pieces onto the each end of the chinese bender (Which originally had 3" dies!).

Spray heaps of oil onto the die and rollers before bending, this helps the pipe to slide while bending and also aids removal.

A cool trick I learned to save some $$ is when I purchased 1.5" pipe dawn die was to bend up a piece of 3-4mm pipe 90 degrees or so, trace around the die onto the pipe, remove, then cut the pipe in half lengthwise so you are left with the inside part of the bend. You can then use this piece in the die to bend up 1.25" pipe, make sure you use lots of oil to make removal easy.

wyliespatrol wrote:how much are these things

I liked to know too

slosh wrote:

Wooders wrote:How far apart did you have the rollers? IMHO the further apart the better.
What wall thickness were you using? Thicker wall will resist crushing ....One trick is to fill it with sand befire bending.

The chinese bender will not be able to space the rollers far enough apart for the 1.5" and 2" dawn dies. I phoned Dawn, found out the dimensions for the rollers, then added pieces onto the each end of the chinese bender (Which originally had 3" dies!).

Spray heaps of oil onto the die and rollers before bending, this helps the pipe to slide while bending and also aids removal.

A cool trick I learned to save some $$ is when I purchased 1.5" pipe dawn die was to bend up a piece of 3-4mm pipe 90 degrees or so, trace around the die onto the pipe, remove, then cut the pipe in half lengthwise so you are left with the inside part of the bend. You can then use this piece in the die to bend up 1.25" pipe, make sure you use lots of oil to make removal easy.

So it is better to not have the rollers too close together?

Cheers

The HAFCO dies look similar...
HAFCO $235 with 6 dies + 12T press.
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Produ ... kCode=P066#