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Tube straightener?? Homemade tool geniuses please chime in!

69K views 27 replies 20 participants last post by  msp177 
#1 ·
Long story short I'm working with some coiled 3/8in stainless steel fuel line for the first time and it has proven to be quite difficult. Right now my piece of fuel line has waves in it like a bobby pin and is no where close to be being straight.

I knew about tools that straighten out fuel line but had no idea they were $200++

That is out of the question, and after looking at pictures of them a little closer the simplicity of the tool doesn't look all that hard to duplicate I would think.

I was thinking a piece of scrap steel plate or something along the lines of that. 5 wheels, not sure where I could find wheels with the slight groove in them like these tools use. Bolt 3 wheels on the bottom, then up top cut two slots vertically, bolt two wheels through the plate/slots. Untighten then tighten back up to adjust the height of the wheels up and down on the slots for whatever sized line you need to straighten. And just run the line through it back and forth. Could slap the tool in a vise to hold it for you while you run the line through it.

Anyone think this crazy idea could work?

Here are my Microsoft paint blue prints :thumbup:

 
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#2 · (Edited)
Hey I think it's very doable, in fact I mad a simple tool to straighten my mig wire so I could gas weld with it. But back to yours. I would make the wheels out of a hard wood and have some one or your self if equips spin them and put a groove in them. It's on the line of a circle bender but dose the opposite. The wood is easy and you could have different sizes and find different uses for it. :D let me knownhownyou make out, or if y'all need to toss some ideas around. Also make sure the tube comes threw nice and straight and no twisting which will add more of a torsional twist and is harder to remove. Cheers :D
 
#3 ·
you can make a tool to remove coil set out of rubber casters. To groove the wheels put a caster wheel on a bolt and nut, tighten the nut down snug, then chuck in a drill and use a course round file to make a groove.

Another way is to clamp both ends of the tubing , then anchor one end to a fixed object, fasten the other end to a come-along hooked to another fixed object. Put some tension on the tubing with the come-along. Go slowly and check your progress, just enough is enough.
 
#4 ·
straight tubing

when i was working on a job and needed st tubing from a coil. i'd cut to length and add some... hang one end on a chain fall and the other to a heavy wt.. lift it or try and it'll straighten right out by slightly stretching it... of course not everyone has a hoist 40' up... maybe hook an end to your truck and pull with a rider mower... easy !!!!!
 
#5 ·
Actually found pretty much exactly what I wanted to make on another site.

Except some guy made his tube straightener out of angle iron pieces. Instead of a piece of plate steel with slots cut in it like I had imagined.

I went to two different hardware stores to find the wheel bearing 'U' grooved rollers but have came up empty handed so far. Quest continues.

I'm not sure if I can post a link to the H.A.M.B on here or not so I wont.

Here are some of the guys pics.



In action

 
#6 ·
sliding patio rollers ?

Those brass colored wheels look like replacements for a sliding glass patio door, also look similar to the rollers on a 10 in commercial grade tile saw sliding table . I used 4 on a plasma cutter trolly that rolled on angle iron for straight line cuts.
 
#8 ·
#18 ·
Tube Straightening Metal Rollers - SOURCE

Looks like the metal ball bearing groved rollers that are attached to the channel iron in the tube straightening photo are from "Sliding Screen Doors". These metal ball bearing rollers are available at most local hardware or HomeDepot stores for $2.00 - $3.00 each. Hope this helps.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Look into youtube -many tube straightening videos & ways . heres an interesting one i came across= Tube Pipe straightening / straightener tool for copper, aluminium, stainless steel etc LONG VIDEO - YouTube
I seen this video back before I made this thread, they weren't available yet at the time though. However I seen them on ebay just recently. They are made specifically for different size of tubing. Around $70 shipped on ebay.

Found that I had other things to accomplish before having to worry about fuel lines. Well I'm back to getting fuel lines done and I have made the tube straighter as seen here.

64 Comet Build for Sema.....Its build time.... - Page 17 - THE H.A.M.B.

Not sure who originally came up with this idea for a straighter cause I have come across a few other threads on different forums with the same design.

Anyways with the suggested pulleys.


The tool would work with smaller diameter tube, but with 3/8in I would need different pulleys.

Small scrap piece sitting in the rollers. The tubing is too big, I think for it to be effective the tube needs to be able to actually sit inside the wheels, not on top.






I would need pulleys that look more like this, but these do not seem like they would have bearing centers in them. So the design would need to be changed and the wheel would need to be sandwiched like they are in the picture.

The groove on these look like they would work with almost any diameter of tubing. They pulleys look like they have a similar groove like the $200 tool in the picture in POST # 15. The brake quip tool.

 
#24 ·
I have had the task every now and then of straightening coiled wire...thousands of feet of it...and built a special tool using bearings with adjustability everywhere that works OK. The worst problems are that the material wants to flip around in the rollers which is solved by forcing it to run in the groove of a large pulley it's natural way first for a couple loops, then formed straight right off of that, and then varying tension creates varying results.

How that relates to tubing? Hmm...probably not exactly, but before I built that I tried something simple that worked OK when just doing a little bit. The material was held in a vice so it didn't flip around, and then a simple tool using wooden dowels (1" dia.) placed to work the material similar to the schemes above was strung along by holding it against the material then walking backward from the vice. You adjusted the angle you held the tool at to suit. For tubing, something made with straight pieces with radius cuts would probably work better, note the material is being forced to slide along the wood without benefit of bearing which may actually help control a little bit.

This wouldn't be a better tool, just a quicker one. Twenty minutes with a drill and table saw should get it built, and a little wax on the wood should prevent scratching the tube.

Maybe I'll try that later and see if I'm full of cr*p or not! Mostly I just uncoil tubing against the floor but no, that doesn't straighten it all the way and I have to finish it across my knee.
 
#25 ·
i bought straight ss tube in 5 foot lengths, same for my brake lines
rarely do you need more than 5 feet before you need a fitting for a fuel filter or a brake fitting
lot easier than dealing with straightening coil stock

for most applications you can tell where coil stock is used
i think straight lines with uniform bends looks better
 
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