BenM78
16th July 2011, 04:26 PM
Further to this thread here - http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/pipe-bending-fail-120570/
I came across a post on another forum that showed the results of heating the die, hammering it a millimetre or so smaller and then bending tube. There is also a thread on this forum http://www.woodworkforums.com/f160/hydraulic-pipe-bender-137313/ showing the same process.
So I gots me a roaring fire going this arvo, with a bit of pipe hooked up to my vacuum on backwards to ensure plenty of heat and brought my 20NB die up to a dull red and proceeded to git it a thorough belting (forging I think they call it...)
First test bend when I got the bender...
http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f65/141320d1278715768-pipe-bending-fail-pipebendfail.jpg
Test bend after 'fixing' the die, this is the exact same piece of 20NB pipe BTW.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6127/5942282426_a537b28881.jpg
The die is a little tight and took a fair bit of persuading to release from the pipe, will file the high points down and see how it goes.
Suffice to say, it seems the chinese dies can be altered to achieve the outcomes expected of them if you are prepared to put a bit of time into fixing them... I really need a proper forge though - an open fire on the ground took a LONG time to get hot enough to heat cast iron!
Ben
I came across a post on another forum that showed the results of heating the die, hammering it a millimetre or so smaller and then bending tube. There is also a thread on this forum http://www.woodworkforums.com/f160/hydraulic-pipe-bender-137313/ showing the same process.
So I gots me a roaring fire going this arvo, with a bit of pipe hooked up to my vacuum on backwards to ensure plenty of heat and brought my 20NB die up to a dull red and proceeded to git it a thorough belting (forging I think they call it...)
First test bend when I got the bender...
http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f65/141320d1278715768-pipe-bending-fail-pipebendfail.jpg
Test bend after 'fixing' the die, this is the exact same piece of 20NB pipe BTW.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6127/5942282426_a537b28881.jpg
The die is a little tight and took a fair bit of persuading to release from the pipe, will file the high points down and see how it goes.
Suffice to say, it seems the chinese dies can be altered to achieve the outcomes expected of them if you are prepared to put a bit of time into fixing them... I really need a proper forge though - an open fire on the ground took a LONG time to get hot enough to heat cast iron!
Ben