Tube bender....

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So NOONE (part from Luke) here bends their own tubing?

:confused:
In the USA they have Harbour Freight, you can buy a proper tube roller there for cheap, there are quite a few builders who use them.

Being a scratch frame builder puts you in a fairly small section of the members on the site, being one in Australia without the ease of finding the tools cheaply puts you in an even smaller group... I think you are one of only 3 or 4...

I recommend trying the sand method, that is my next stop...

Luke.
 
Yeah, I broke down and rented a garage... it's big enough to house all my bikes and tools, but then there's no room for me to work... plus it's got no electric. So, I still do most of my wrenching in the basement.

My buddy Paul has a garage, and he's been getting some stuff together (miter saw) and he's been talking about getting a TIG set-up and whatnot...a couple of us wanna get in on it with him... but it's been all talk so far.
 
I sometimes build from scratch...

Here is one of my tubing benders, it was basically free, as I had most of the materials laying around.
I think I bought the nuts and bolts...







2 disks cut out of 3/4 in. plywood. Then the edge of each disk was beveled using my neighbor's router.
When the 2 disks were bolted together, it formed a V shape around the circumference.
I then took a half round file, and did some filing.
Then I made a little loop out of a scrap piece of strap steel and bolted it on.

The disk can be bolted down.
I bolted mine down on the top of a stump. It was also bolted to the wall of the garage for a while...
You'd be surprised what can be done with simple home made tools, for little to no cost.

I've bent 1" x .065 and 3/4" x .065 on this disk with very little effort.

There's another good resource, that I'll post, if I can find it...

Hope this can help someone...

october
 
Yeh that's the way.

Been thinking of turning something up on the wood lathe when I get a chance.
I have lots of big chunks of hardwood laying around which would work.

Suppose ply would be an option too, looking at your contraption there.
I do have a router and everything else required...
Hmmm.


So do you just bend it using your own weight/muscles?

Secure one end and lean on it or something?


:)
 
The disk was bolted to the top of a stump, or the garage wall.
Slide the end of the tube through the loop. The tube is easier to bend if you start with a long piece, and use the leverage. You have to be careful and it does take practice. It's very easy to collapse the tube, or put a flat spot in it.
 
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The disk was bolted to the top of a stump, or the garage wall.
Slide the end of the tube through the loop. The tube is easier to bend if you start with a long piece, and use the leverage. You have to be careful and it does take practice. It's very easy to collapse the tube, or put a flat spot in it.


Yeh see, I was thinking of a setup like yours, but with a bar attached to the middle and a "roller" (don't know the correct lingo) that pushes the tube against the big part as you drag it around....


But I might still get that cheapo bottle jack type and do some mods to it....


:)
 
Here's one I made a few years back.





Bent that one piece of aluminium as shown in the video and never used it again :)

I did use some of the bits for the on I posted on page one in this thread though.
It gets a lot of use when I make my metal art.


(Can't believe that vid has 1.9 mil views haha)


:)


That's a cool homemade set up!
 

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