Bender Question..

[Don-in-Japan]

Recently broken out my JD Squared Model 3 bender out of retirement, and attempted to bend some tubing for a bumper project on my truck.. I purchased 2" stainless tube (.095 thickness), and attempted a bend. Flat on the outside, and crumpled on the inside diameter. Is the tubing too thin, or stainless not the best material? Sadly, only standard (inch) sizes I can buy the metalyard are stainless.

[Gocha Ent. Inc.]

Yes to thin I had the same problem it even scared my die.

[rydog1881]

i have had luck bending tubing with a lil trick a friend showed me.. ready... fill it (tube)with sand, then bend it, works with alluminum as well..i cant say it worked every time though, i had a bit of material to practice on first.
ryan

[Don-in-Japan]

I've heard of filling the tube with kiln dried sand, then welding the ends, but didn't want to go thru all that trouble for multiple bends..
A friend of mine built a sand rail buggy from 1.5" tubing and the same thickness, and no problems. (It was stainless as well, purchased from the same place). Any ideas on how thick this stuff has to be? .0125"? Hate to pay the high price of stainless tube, just to weep over crumpled bends..

Thanks,

Don

[Graham08]

JD Squared says the min wall thickness for the 2" die is 0.095", so you should be okay. I've bent 0.120" wall 4130 and 1026 DOM with my 2" die and never had a problem, but I've never had occasion to bend 0.095". My die is a 6.5" CL Radius, which is the only one they show in their catalog, so I'm assuming yours in the same.

I have had similar problems when using my 1.5" by 6.5" CLR die on 0.058" wall 4130...sometimes it wants to wrinkle the inside of the bend. 0.058" is the min recommended wall for that die. I found that it helps a bunch to lube the pressure die with grease from a grease gun rather than the WD40 or spray lithium grease that I had been using.

[Gaslight]

Is it by any chance a 2" pipe die? That would be larger in diameter, and not support the bend on a 2" piece of tubing. Measure everything up to be sure it's a proper fit.

Also for instance a lot of "tube" that is "2"" is actually 1.somethingorother" pipe that when the wall is added is nearly 2" and it might be too small to fit a 2" tubing die.

A lot of stainless is actually pipe. I've made this mistake, knowing that if it was tubing that a piece i am looking at would be 1" say, but it's really a pipe and 1.05..

[Don-in-Japan]

I measured the O.D. with a digital caliper..exactly 2". So, it's not pipe. (Or, if it was, it should still bend, being 2" O.D.).
I thought that since stainless has slightly different properties than steel, I might have to go up in thickness to get smooth bends. Maybe I'll run up there, and pick up a short piece of thicker material and try it.

[Don-in-Japan]

Sorry..and also the die itself isn't a pipe die..

Don

[Don-in-Japan]

Here are a couple pics of the bend..

[rydog1881]

Here are a couple pics of the bend..

why dont you use sch.40 2" pipe , out of curiousity? for strength, i do alot of stainless pipe work on boats and bend pipe with no problem..tubing i have done very little but have also found it crinkles.. so i try to avoid using it..

[Ed ke6bnl]

on my hosfeld the bend radius can dictate the wall thickness the larger the radius the thinner the material. for 1.5 and .125 wall they recommend 5.5in r. I have a 3 in radius and have been succesfull with the 1.5 and .125 wall but it calls for .134 wall. something to think about. Ed ke6bnl

[Don-in-Japan]

I was trying to avoid buying custom dies. Most pipe and tubing overseas here is metric...the stainless I found is the only standard sizes around unless I special order some.

[Tailshaft56]

Their is a low temp melt metal that can be used in place of sand. I think Enco or Wholesale tool carries it. Sorry I don't remember the name but it should be in the welding soldering section.

[Ed ke6bnl]

Their is a low temp melt metal that can be used in place of sand. I think Enco or Wholesale tool carries it. Sorry I don't remember the name but it should be in the welding soldering section.

Ye it melts below water boiling 212* BUT the price per pound is very expensive and I had to take it off my list. Ed ke6bnl