Bending Stainless Steel Pipe With Heat

Another method of bending stainless steel tubing is to use a mandrel bending machine which is a flexible insert that fits into your tubing bending it without allowing it to collapse internally.

Bending stainless steel pipe with heat.

I show you how you bending pipe without kinking. Rigid metal pipe and tubing tend to be made of copper steel stainless steel or aluminum but are not the same thing. I am bending pipe by hand without the help of a t. Make sure you get a tube bender and not a pipe bender since a pipe bender won t fit steel tubing and it may cause buckling or kinks.

As you bend a stainless steel sheet the bend area cold hardens increasing the amount of pressure required to finish the bend. Play the flame back and forth along the line keeping. You can make simple bends in iron and steel using nothing more than a torch to heat and soften the metal. However the weldability of different grades can vary considerably.

This makes bending stainless steel with common hand tools difficult and a sheet metal brake is often required although one technique to bend stainless steel using hand tools works well on shorter length bends. Generally tube is measured by the outside diameter while pipe is measured by the inside diameter so pipe may appear thicker than tubing of the same measurement. The pipe was 3 4 and 2 schedule 40 316l stainless steel. There are two ways to bend stainless steel rod one requires force and the other requires heat.

Most grades of stainless steel can be welded by all traditional welding methods. I cold bent nearly every piece of this job with a greenlee electric conduit bender. The specifications called for as few welded joints and flanges as possible. Carbon steel case hardened you may burn the surface carbon out.

For example piece of one inch pipe will seem to have a greater diameter than a piece of one itch tubing. Centre line bend radii should not be smaller than twice the tube diameter. You can also bend steel tubing by securing it in a vice and heating it up with a blow torch until you re able to bend it. Welding of stainless steel.

To bend steel tubing use a tube bender which you can pick up at your local hardware store. If you do not have access to a press brake your other option is to use an oxy acetylene torch to heat the rod. Trailblazer 302g mm 150 weldcraft 20 tig thunderbolt 225 self modified dc xmt 304 spoolmatic 185 s22p12 feeder xr a pull gun xr control 50 feeder harris oa torches and other stuff. Light the torch and adjust it to a neutral flame.

This method tends to damage the tubing however. The stainless tubing can be bent using a ram bender by securing it in place on both ends and ramming the tubing in the center. Galvanized iron you will burn off the outside zinc coating. Rotary bending and hydraulic press bending can both be employed to bend stainless steel tube.

Heating the metal with a soapstone pencil mark a line across the stock to indicate the center of the bend.