Looking for tubing bender

[fred1diver]

Hey everyone, I keep getting asked to make biminis and dodgers, just need to get a bender, the one I want is only 350$ us but shipping to canada is over 250$ us, so in Canadian money it comes to over 820$
Don’t know what to do
I looked at benders on Amazon, but the bend radius is too tight.
Any ideas for me???

 

[JoeWhite]

Will an electrical conduit bender work? You need 1" diameter. They are available at most hardware stores.

 

[fred1diver]

I think the bend radius might be too tight, but I will look into them

 

[thinwater]

I think the bend radius might be too tight, but I will look into them

Bend a little, move it an inch, bend a little, and repeat. You may have to do this 10 times. Easy, done properly, no difference.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Do you have any harbor freight stores in Canada? They've got a few different models

 

[Head Sail]

Buy the one you want and bake the cost into the price of your Bimini sales.

 

[Ward H]

What bend radius do you need for bimini work?

 

[MikeHoncho]

Assuming you are using stainless, the right radius is going to be a issue with the cheaper traditional benders, they tend to be called kinkers not benders.

 

[dLj]

Interesting thread - I'm actually in the process of rebuilding my old tube bender - it's probably 50 or 60 years old, possibly older. Bought it in the 1980's and it was old then... I used to use it to build stainless structures for boats, Bimini's, rear solar panel platforms, that sort of stuff. A trick I was taught back then was to fill the tubing with sand, cork the ends and then bend. Helps to not kink the tubing.

dj

 

[Tedd]

Do you have a router? I've had success making bending dies in wood with a half-round bit run two ways to make a round groove. Cavet: I've never tried it with stainless, only with mild steel and aluminum. I've also never tried @dLj 's sand method but other people have told me they've had success with it.

 

[kappykaplan]

fill the tubing with sand, cork the ends and then bend. Helps to not kink the tubing.

I've heard/read this somewhere . . .

 

[dLj]

Do you have a router? I've had success making bending dies in wood with a half-round bit run two ways to make a round groove. Cavet: I've never tried it with stainless, only with mild steel and aluminum. I've also never tried @dLj 's sand method but other people have told me they've had success with it.

You could probably use lignum vitea - if you can get it.

dj

p.s. Just an anecdote - lignum vitea was the number one choice for main bearings in ships and submarines until the advent of powder metallurgy with incorporated lubrication. I believe it was in the 1970's when the powder metallurgy product was sufficiently well developed for this commercial application.

 

[Tedd]

You could probably use lignum vitea - if you can get it.

That looks like amazing stuff! It's probably overkill for this application, though. I've done up to 1" mild steel tubing with dies made from plain old hardware store SPF.

 

[dLj]

That looks like amazing stuff! It's probably overkill for this application, though. I've done up to 1" mild steel tubing with dies made from plain old hardware store SPF.

Stainless is really tough on dies - I'm not saying don't try what you're suggesting. I just know how much harder it is to work with stainless compared to mild steel.

The added benefit of lignum vitea is it has a natural lubrication that will really benefit a nice smooth surface. You likely want a polished surface at the end...

dj

 

[Tedd]

All good points, @dLj . The times I've done it I haven't been overly concerned with finish.

 

[DArcy]

I had to replace some aluminum tubes for my winter cover frame and made a bender out of wood. I doubt it would work for stainless the way I made it.

Have you checked out Princess Auto? Best cheap tool store in Canada.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/12-ton-hydraulic-pipe-bender/product/PA0008708000

 

[Tedd]

@DArcy 's post reminded me of another method I've had some success with. I bought one of the dies for the Princess Auto bender he linked to and put it in my arbor press with a wood backing fixture. It's clumsy but it works not too badly if you only have to make a few bends.

[Edited to add: If you're going to do any of these quick-n-dirty methods in stainless you should practice them first with mild steel tubing of the same size. That way, if you make scrap it's much cheaper scrap. It won't take a lot of scrap pieces in stainless to end up costing you more than a proper bender!]

 

[MikeHoncho]

Interesting thread - I'm actually in the process of rebuilding my old tube bender - it's probably 50 or 60 years old, possibly older. Bought it in the 1980's and it was old then... I used to use it to build stainless structures for boats, Bimini's, rear solar panel platforms, that sort of stuff. A trick I was taught back then was to fill the tubing with sand, cork the ends and then bend. Helps to not kink the tubing.

dj

Works well. I’ve also heard of filling small pieces with water and freeze.

 

[jssailem]

I have not had any experience bending SS 316 steel. Found this UK Youtube showing their tube bender.

Interesting problem.

 

[dLj]

I have a totally different kind of tube bender. Mine has a hydraulic piston that pushes a mandrel for the tube diameter into the tube which is supported on two sides. You can make any radius you want up to the limiting diameter of the mandrel, more or less. You can also make compound curves or long curves. Years ago I did hand rails that were close to 30 feet long matching the curvature of the boat. 316 does like lubrication. I liked their internal mandrel, I wouldn't be able to do that with my set-up. I can run large diameter, thick walled material with this bender also. I have to get all the seals redone - I hope they can find them... I want to start doing some boat projects... My Bimini really needs to be rethought and redesigned...

dj