Bending square tube

[Dirtyrat]

Have any of you made any benders to make larger radius bends out of 3/4 or 1" square tubing? [S[S

I'm looking for ideas, as I want to start working on the transmission tunnel, and loops around the drive shaft area...

I've seen a few tubing rollers from companies like eastwood, etc, but looking for maybe a home brewed setup...

 

[offroadrolls]

seems like of all the tubing benders a tubing roller would be one of the easier to fabricate. All they are is 3 steel dies that roll. I'd be tempted to weld some pegs to a steel bench and make some dies that'd rotate upon them on.

 

[21willys]

I have a harbor frieght roller that I had dies made to roll 1". When I bought it they didn't offer the 1" or 3/4" dies. It works awesome as long as you don't need to make real tight bends. Worth the few $ IMO.

 

[Sniper]

DR, check out the Tube Coping Calculator thread in the Favorite Links column. I had included a square tube bender link when I did that post, might be something you can use.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Yea I jsut looked at that, I was hoping for one that did not crush the corners....

 

[Old Iron]

Yea I jsut looked at that, I was hoping for one that did not crush the corners....

Unfortunately that's the inherent problem with square tubing. The inside metal has to go somewhere so the inner radius concaves to allow the tube to bend.
Ya might have a better result if, you fill the tube with sand before you try bending it.

 

[Dirtyrat]

I may end up using flat stock for the curved sections, I have to sort out how I want the tunnel to look... just wish I had a nice way of drawing the square tube to shape... or rolling it in a roller....

 

[sneakysnake]

I bought one like this but havnt used it to give a recommendation.Loaned it to my dad and he didnt know how to use it and bent the adjusting threaded shaft so I have to straighten before I can use it.LOL

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...0437?cm_mmc=Housefile-_-SHIPPED-_-1206-_-CONF

 

[Dirtyrat]

That would be perfect! I would love to be able to make some nice bends like that... Just cant pony up $200 for one right now... Man that will go on my list of buys at some point in the near future though...

Thank you!

 

[zzrodder]

I have a tubing roller but I find it's best for larger radius bends. I've done lots of bending with a basic bottle jack type bender but as said above, both methods do ripple the inside side of the tube. For really sharp radius bends, I often resort to using the torch, heat and bend.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Yea, I may make some forms, and try some bending with a little heat... we shall see...
Going to talk to my father as he has some forms he uses for copper, so I might employ his router services to make me up some forms =)

 

[2.3Turbo_T]

Click the link. About halfway down the page under 'Creating an inexpensive tube bender'. The guy fabbed up some quick dies to bend 1" square tubing. Pretty trick!

http://www.hotrodders.com/scratch-built/Body:_Fabricating_the_Skeleton

 

[Ricks Garage]

I bought the bender as pictured above. I too have yet to use it. My plan was to fab a cargo box and a trailer frame with it. The problem with it (as noted on a few websites) is that it needs to be mounted on a VERY firm stand. My plan is to use my truck's trailer hitch and get a trailer jack to support it when bending. It is not suppose to wrinkle the tubing because it is fully supported while bending.


weld on.......[

 

[sneakysnake]

I bought the bender as pictured above. I too have yet to use it. My plan was to fab a cargo box and a trailer frame with it. The problem with it (as noted on a few websites) is that it needs to be mounted on a VERY firm stand. My plan is to use my truck's trailer hitch and get a trailer jack to support it when bending. It is not suppose to wrinkle the tubing because it is fully supported while bending.
weld on.......[

What I did was made a hitch mount then got an adapter and welded it to the frame support by the door of my shop that way it just slips in or I can throw it in the truck and use it at a friends house.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Bent some tube

Well, I decided to see how tough it really is to bend the square tubing, I started with 3/4" tubing with about .062 wall I think.
I grabbed an old rotor, a piece of scrap tubing and scrap brackets to keep the tube from slipping off the rotor. I used the propane heater to warm up the pipe some, and I think it went well for a first attempt. I think I will start making some templates this week for the floor, and make some forms to bend the tube around at work, and use the acetylene torch next time to make it easier to bend.

One other note, I had studs in the holes on the rotor so it wouldnt spin in the vice...
Inside radius is 3.75" or 7.5" diameter on the inside of the tube.

Anyhow, on to a couple pics...

 

[anothersteveg]

That is great! Thanks, I'm sure a number of us are watching anxiously to see how this turns out.[cl

 

[sneakysnake]

May could make a handle and pilot roller to help it bend. Here are some vids. Im working on a slow bend roller from looking at vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqZoEd8iNjk&playnext=1&list=PL84893DA7C7D6B02E

 

[Denny]

Hi guys, Ive always used just a hand conduit bender for half by half inch tube it bends nice.. I have used it to make roof frames, and driveshaft tunnels. thanks Denny

 

[Bonehead]

I use my ring roller for 3/4 square in a tight bend. When you get up to 1 inch sq, it starts to get tougher. I can make a chunk of 1-1/2 look like it is bent to a 4 inch radius, by slot cutting the tube with a series of 1/8 inch cuts then bending, and welding the slots shut, grind to suit. This works well on 1-1/4 too.

 

[Neverdone]

I saw this a long time ago on the pork...........

How about something like that??