[Riot Racing]

I need something to bend some piping. The wall thickness would be around .040"
Aluminum and some steall pipe.
Of sorry, i forgot to mention that i need to do 2.5"-3.5" O.D. piping

I actually want to make one because i already have a hydraliuc press.
Anyone even seen any mandrel benders? hydraulic and non

[58Chev]

Here are a couple of links to DIY Benders..

http://www.kinzers.com/don/MachineTools/bender/

http://www.blindchickenracing.com/To...bingbender.htm

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by 58Chev

Here are a couple of links to DIY Benders..

http://www.kinzers.com/don/MachineTools/bender/

http://www.blindchickenracing.com/To...bingbender.htm

WOW, dude your awesome! I havent looked at them long enough but thats a huge help

[powerrodsmike]

You are trying to work with some big OD THINwall tubing. I don't say pipe because I don't think pipe comes that thin. You are in for a real challenge if you want to put anything more than a gentle bend in that stuff. I am going to assume you want to do more than giant sweeping curves so heres my .02. You ask if anyone has seen a mandrel bender.
Yes, I have seen a mandrel bender. Here is what is meant by "mandrel bender" http://www.vansantent.com/definitions.htm Those are EXPENSIVE. Real ones cost tens of thousands of dollars USED. Here is a baby one
http://www.bii1.com/benders_f1.htm
The plans posted by 58chevy include a set marked similar to a hossfeld # 2. That is a very versatile bender.
http://www.hossfeldbender.com/pipeandbar.htm
I have one and wouldn't give it up for anything. The plans on that site include only a few dies for bending flat stock and solid rod. Dies are available from hossfeld manufacturing but they are expensive. If you are going to bend 2 1/2 to 3/1/2 x .040 wall tube you won't do it with a hossfeld style bender. I'm not sure that you can bend that thin of material on a muffler tube bender either. The hossfeld style will kink it unless you get a big radius die to bend it around. Like 20 times the diameter of the tube or bigger. ( That is a guesstimate on my part) Hossfeld doesnt go that big with their own benders so I'm not sure that machine is capable. I am not sure packing it with sand would help either. It would probably burst. That is really thinwall material you are working with. Big od too. There is a company called jd2 that makes benders, (the other site that is on 58chev's post uses the jd2 dies and builds his own frame for them) That company makes a couple of really good benders but I don't think they go that big on the tubeing size either.
http://www.jd2.com/
I have used those benders and they do a really nice job. The way the bender operates enables you to get a tighter radius than most of the other hand benders. They are well worth the money. I would contact them with your bending requirements. What are you building out of 2.5 & 3.5 X.040? That seems really thin for most anything automotive. I am thinking the aluminum is going to be a challenge. I had a greenfield rigid conduit bender,T-frame type, But all it would do on thinwall is kink it. The harbor freight ones which are similar would only be a waste of time for what you are trying to do. You may want to consider going to .125 wall or 187. It will make bending your material alot easier do do satisfactorily. Hope this helps,mikey

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by powerrodsmike

You are trying to work with some big OD THINwall tubing. I don't say pipe because I don't think pipe comes that thin. You are in for a real challenge if you want to put anything more than a gentle bend in that stuff. I am going to assume you want to do more than giant sweeping curves so heres my .02. You ask if anyone has seen a mandrel bender.
Yes, I have seen a mandrel bender. Here is what is meant by "mandrel bender" http://www.vansantent.com/definitions.htm Those are EXPENSIVE. Real ones cost tens of thousands of dollars USED. Here is a baby one
http://www.bii1.com/benders_f1.htm
The plans posted by 58chevy include a set marked similar to a hossfeld # 2. That is a very versatile bender.
http://www.hossfeldbender.com/pipeandbar.htm
I have one and wouldn't give it up for anything. The plans on that site include only a few dies for bending flat stock and solid rod. Dies are available from hossfeld manufacturing but they are expensive. If you are going to bend 2 1/2 to 3/1/2 x .040 wall tube you won't do it with a hossfeld style bender. I'm not sure that you can bend that thin of material on a muffler tube bender either. The hossfeld style will kink it unless you get a big radius die to bend it around. Like 20 times the diameter of the tube or bigger. ( That is a guesstimate on my part) Hossfeld doesnt go that big with their own benders so I'm not sure that machine is capable. I am not sure packing it with sand would help either. It would probably burst. That is really thinwall material you are working with. Big od too. There is a company called jd2 that makes benders, (the other site that is on 58chev's post uses the jd2 dies and builds his own frame for them) That company makes a couple of really good benders but I don't think they go that big on the tubeing size either.
http://www.jd2.com/
I have used those benders and they do a really nice job. The way the bender operates enables you to get a tighter radius than most of the other hand benders. They are well worth the money. I would contact them with your bending requirements. What are you building out of 2.5 & 3.5 X.040? That seems really thin for most anything automotive. I am thinking the aluminum is going to be a challenge. I had a greenfield rigid conduit bender,T-frame type, But all it would do on thinwall is kink it. The harbor freight ones which are similar would only be a waste of time for what you are trying to do. You may want to consider going to .125 wall or 187. It will make bending your material alot easier do do satisfactorily. Hope this helps,mikey

To be perfectly honest; that wall thickness was just a guesstimate.
Im not really sure what size wall thickness i want yet.
ITS PURPOSE: imagine the cold air intake piping. I wanna bend up my own intercooler piping. usally made from aluminum.
Exhuast piping would be nice to make if i adapted my hydraulic press to the bender. What i would need to use stell piping for that wouldn't i?
I think that wall thickness is closer to .100" ???

[powerrodsmike]

If I were you I would buy prebent mandrel bends and weld them together., It looks tricker that way with nickel/nickel/nickel tig welds and you can mock it up easier. You will never bend that big of tube as tight as you need it for IC plumbing without spending $$$. Not anyway that I know of anyway. If you really want to, call a metal fabrication job shop and see if they'll bend up that tube on a real mandrel bender to your specs. That way at least you can say it is your design.

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by powerrodsmike

If I were you I would buy prebent mandrel bends and weld them together., It looks tricker that way with nickel/nickel/nickel tig welds and you can mock it up easier. You will never bend that big of tube as tight as you need it for IC plumbing without spending $$$. Not anyway that I know of anyway. If you really want to, call a metal fabrication job shop and see if they'll bend up that tube on a real mandrel bender to your specs. That way at least you can say it is your design.

Pre mandrel bent tubes are expensive.

I can get 20 ft. of ss321 for a little over $300.

[TechnTool]

You want to bend aluminum tubing for intake tubes? Man, that will be tough. There are custom intake kits for just this purpose, and they are a lot less exspensive than a tubing bender for aluminum. I don't have the links for them, but try picking up one of the hot-shot import magazines that feature little cars like Acuras or Isuzus. they have the merchants that selll these kits.

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by TechnTool

You want to bend aluminum tubing for intake tubes? Man, that will be tough. There are custom intake kits for just this purpose, and they are a lot less exspensive than a tubing bender for aluminum. I don't have the links for them, but try picking up one of the hot-shot import magazines that feature little cars like Acuras or Isuzus. they have the merchants that selll these kits.

Well i dont work in the japaneese market so thats irrelevant. Im also not only building, intakw tubing, Intercooler tubing, down pipes, exhuast. I also work in the engineering field and a tube bender would be handy to have. I just wanted different sized dies to do the different size piping, because like i said above; i WONT only be using this for "intake piping"

[powerrodsmike]

http://www.bendtooling.com/index.htm
They make dies. There is alot of engineering data there on that site you will find useful. They make dies there that will bend 8" diameter tube in a 16" centerline radius so I'm sure that the 3 1/2 " tubing you want to bend will be a cinch. They build dies from 1' on up so you can get all of your dies there. Hope this helps, mikey

[TechnTool]

try this link:
http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by TechnTool

try this link:
http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do

Assuming that the max size tubing i would bend is 3", i was told these benders are not sturdy enough to last long and do the work easily.

also, the tubing size is not directly indicated, it says the dies come in X"-Y" from what i have researched these sized dies would bend anything bigger then 1 3/4"

any thought.???

[oldred]

The HF hydraulic outfits are "pipe" benders, there is a lot of difference between a pipe bender and a tubing bender. The tubing benders they have is for conduit and the like.

[OneMoreTime]

For something like that I would consider metal shaping the pieces..make a hammer form and strech and shrink the metal until you have the right shape..make 2 halves and weld them together for a finished tube..Only way I know in some kind of metal that is that thin..if it is on the intake side the material does not need to be all that thick..maybe even 20 gauge would do the job..

The JD2 which I have does fine for the structural stuff up to 2" like for chassis pieces..and can be used for header tubes as well..anything over 2" well that is another story..

Just look at what you need to do and give it some thought and it will come clear just what kind of technique to use..

If I were to make intake tubes for the same car over and over I may even consider fiberglass as we do use plastic these days for something like that and that may be a bit easier to do..

OMT

[Riot Racing]

I was wondering if i could find a pipe bender or build one myself which could bend some small diameter piping. I will worry about the larger piping benders later.

How can i make a bender that will do mandrel bends? The piping i will most likely use is going to be from 1"-2" dia. with a pretty heavy wall thickness, nothing crazy but i doubt it would kink.
The material will also be steel