Bending Stainless Steel Tubing By Hand

And there are a couple of ways to cheat that number even lower.

Bending stainless steel tubing by hand.

Homemade hand bending may not be the best technique for really short radii. Rigid metal pipe and tubing tend to be made of copper steel stainless steel or aluminum but are not the same thing. This isn t an exact number because of the differences in temper and metal quality. Available in 1 8 1 4 5 16 3 8 and 1 2 in as well as 3 6 8 10 and 12 mm tubing sizes.

This added hardness increases the amount of force needed to place a bend on a stainless steel sheet. For example 1 x 1 18 gauge steel tubing can be bent to a minimum diameter of about 30 before it starts to kink. As you bend a stainless steel sheet the bend area cold hardens increasing the amount of pressure required to finish the bend. This method tends to damage the tubing however.

They help to prevent damage from bending such as crimping scoring and flattening. 1 to 180 bending range. 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. Swagelok hand tube benders feature roll dies reduce bending force and tube ovality compared to conventional slide block design.

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. 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. For show cars and street rods the polished look of stainless steel is. Stainless steel lines are expensive three to four times more than regular steel lines.

Tubing benders can help create smooth tight radius bends in tubing such as soft copper aluminum and light wall hydraulic tubing. Tubing benders can help to bend aluminum tubing for oil and hydraulic fluid. Stainless steel hard lines are not too difficult to bend but flaring them is.