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Bending tubing without a bender, just heat

30K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  jw_ 
#1 · (Edited)
A buddy and I are working on some parts and we need to bend some tubing. We don't have a bender, don't know someone with a bender, but do have a torch and a good place to start bending. We need to bend 1"x.120 wall and 3/4"x.109 wall mild steel tubing. I figured on making something to bend the tubing around and then heating it up just enough to carefully bend it. The bend needs to be more like a slight arc that doesn't have a constant radius and not anything real tight.

Is this going to make the tubing structurally unsafe in the end? Seen it done and used on frame parts, but never done this myself.
 
#2 ·
scootermcrad said:
A buddy and I are working on some parts and we need to bend some tubing. We don't have a bender, don't know someone with a bender, but do have a torch and a good place to start bending. We need to bend 1"x.120 wall and 3/4"x.109 wall. I figured on making something to bend the tubing around and then heating it up just enough to carefully bend it. The bend needs to be more like a slight arc that doesn't have a constant radius and not anything real tight.

Is this going to make the tubing structurally unsafe in the end? Seen it done and used on frame parts, but never done this myself.
Fill the tube with sand, this will help to keep the bend true and not have any flat spots. Take a piece of qtr inch steel or a 2x12 and make a jig using bolts of a good size
 
#3 ·
The shape I need to bend it to is sort of elagent but only bends one dirction (sort of parabolic). I figured if I took some plywood and cut it to the contour I wanted I could use that as my guide. If needed I could screw some 1/8" flat bar to the wood (so nothing catches on fire and the wood doesn't give), clamp or bolt the whole shabang to a table and give it a good heav-ho after I've got it nice and hot. Not going to mention where I saw that done :rolleyes:, but it seemed to work, but can think of a million ways to improve on the concept to be a little more specific.

I'm mostly concerned about what's going to happen after this thing has been brought up to that temp and cooled off. Should it be cooled fast or left to cool to room temperature? It needs to be strong, but it will get some reinforcement eventually anyway.
 
#4 ·
To temper it heat it all up to a nice straw color and quench it
scootermcrad said:
The shape I need to bend it to is sort of elagent but only bends one dirction (sort of parabolic). I figured if I took some plywood and cut it to the contour I wanted I could use that as my guide. If needed I could screw some 1/8" flat bar to the wood (so nothing catches on fire and the wood doesn't give), clamp or bolt the whole shabang to a table and give it a good heav-ho after I've got it nice and hot. Not going to mention where I saw that done :rolleyes:, but it seemed to work, but can think of a million ways to improve on the concept to be a little more specific.

I'm mostly concerned about what's going to happen after this thing has been brought up to that temp and cooled off. Should it be cooled fast or left to cool to room temperature? It needs to be strong, but it will get some reinforcement eventually anyway.
 
#8 ·
yeah...

what fuller did was lay his sand out in the sun first to bake off any excess moisture (water expands under heat, making a pipe bomb). tack weld or otherwise secure a cap on one end, take and pack that sand in there TIGHT, like fill, tap, bounce it on the floor end wise, pack it in there REAL good, seal the other end leave a hole for vapor to escape. heat well and evenly and pull GENTLY.

steel wheels of various sizes welded to a table make great bucks for bending.
 
#10 ·
I've bent thin wall tubing with heat and sand...but it always freaks me out, I drill vent holes to let the moisture out. But it shouldn't be necesary with 1/8" wall tubing, I bend it all the time with heat and something to wrap it around and never get any noticable flatening. I don't think I would quench it to temper it though. Should be fine if its allowed to slow cool. I'd rather have a frame bend on me when abused than break in two.
 
#11 ·
I remember seeing somewhere that salt is better than sand to use because of its grain shape. I don't remember what exactly that was all about, but apparently it gives a better bend. I don't really know what I'm talking about, though.
 
#12 ·
My welding instructor at school tells us to never quench welds. He says that when i get a job as a welder I could get in huge trouble if I quench welds. The reason why is because when they are cooled fast the metal hardens, but becomes brittle. If it cools slow the metal will slightly return to its prior state. I would say dont quench the bars after your done bending them. let them cool naturally. Better to have the bars bend then to have them snap off when you dont expect it.
 
#13 ·
mushmouth said:
My welding instructor at school tells us to never quench welds. He says that when i get a job as a welder I could get in huge trouble if I quench welds. The reason why is because when they are cooled fast the metal hardens, but becomes brittle. If it cools slow the metal will slightly return to its prior state. I would say dont quench the bars after your done bending them. let them cool naturally. Better to have the bars bend then to have them snap off when you dont expect it.
Sounds right. I know the aircraft guys have gas welded moly for years (way before DIY'ers had access to tig machines) and would stress relieve joints when all the tubes/brackets/gussets were added to a cluster by heating the cluster up w/ torch & allowing to cool as slowly as possible.

And I learned the hard way about quenching a weld on a wrench I bastardized... your welding instructor was right!

-bill
 
#14 ·
mushmouth said:
My welding instructor at school tells us to never quench welds. He says that when i get a job as a welder I could get in huge trouble if I quench welds. The reason why is because when they are cooled fast the metal hardens, but becomes brittle. If it cools slow the metal will slightly return to its prior state. I would say dont quench the bars after your done bending them. let them cool naturally. Better to have the bars bend then to have them snap off when you dont expect it.
My welding instructor even said to bury our stuff in sand to cool it REALLY slowly...
My .02

-Nate
 
#15 ·
mushmouth said:
My welding instructor at school tells us to never quench welds. He says that when i get a job as a welder I could get in huge trouble if I quench welds. The reason why is because when they are cooled fast the metal hardens, but becomes brittle. If it cools slow the metal will slightly return to its prior state. I would say dont quench the bars after your done bending them. let them cool naturally. Better to have the bars bend then to have them snap off when you dont expect it.
He's right. when you quench just welded metal you cause the crystals to stop growing rapidly. This results in smaller grains (especially at the metal surface) surrounded by a hard, brittle substance called Cementite (which has a lot of Carbon in it). This makes the welded material harder but more brittle (the last thing you want in a frame for example).

The process where you quench welding temp material is far different from when you quench steel at relatively low temperatures (less than 300 degrees celsius) as mentioned in the topic earlier. This process is called tempering and is only really suitable for high carbon steels. Tempering is used to create hardness in things like cold chisel blades and wood saws.

You might have seen knife/sword makers temper their knives by quenching. This is how they make their blades hard and able to hold an edge.

You'll also hear some people say that if you lift the flame away slowly you'll remove the stresses in the steel. This is a bit of an old wives tale as well. The process you use when you want remove all internal stresses and maximise it's maleability is called normalising. This involves heating the piece thoroughly to it's upper critical temp (around 800-900 degrees from memory) then cooling it slowly in a furnace over a 24hr period. Naturally you get a great chance of warpage from this so it's a pretty involved process.

Cheers
Scotty
 
#16 ·
rigidshovel said:
He's right. when you quench just welded metal you cause the crystals to stop growing rapidly. This results in smaller grains (especially at the metal surface) surrounded by a hard, brittle substance called Cementite (which has a lot of Carbon in it). This makes the welded material harder but more brittle (the last thing you want in a frame for example).

The process where you quench welding temp material is far different from when you quench steel at relatively low temperatures (less than 300 degrees celsius) as mentioned in the topic earlier. This process is called tempering and is only really suitable for high carbon steels. Tempering is used to create hardness in things like cold chisel blades and wood saws.

You might have seen knife/sword makers temper their knives by quenching. This is how they make their blades hard and able to hold an edge.

You'll also hear some people say that if you lift the flame away slowly you'll remove the stresses in the steel. This is a bit of an old wives tale as well. The process you use when you want remove all internal stresses and maximise it's maleability is called normalising. This involves heating the piece thoroughly to it's upper critical temp (around 800-900 degrees from memory) then cooling it slowly in a furnace over a 24hr period. Naturally you get a great chance of warpage from this so it's a pretty involved process.

Cheers
Scotty
Now THAT'S an explanation!!!!!!! Thanks Scotty! That was very insightlful!

Thanks for all the info guys! I wouldn't have quenched it, but good to know what would happen if I did quench it after welding or heating the tubing. Good for future reference actually!

We're going to build a front end for my buddy's late shovel and the legs will have some bends in them(don't ask). This thread helped out with the design process for sure!

Thanks!
Scooter
 
#18 ·
jw_ said:
better not to heat it. bend it cold.
That's great and ideal, but I don't have the luxury of having access to a bender or someone with one. If the majority of you are telling me that I'm safe bending 1" tubing with a semi-thick wall, then I'm going that route.

Now, if someone tells me without a doubt that this is dangerous and stupid, then i will find another way or won't build it at all.

Now, is this dangerous and stupid or an appropriate measure to take for a bend that has a varying/non liniar radial dimension??? Getting some mixed answers here now.

Maybe it would help if I said the tube that's going to be bent will also have a support from an adjoining tube or a gusset/rib that will run the full length of the curve.

If someone here knows FOR SURE you can make a bend like this with heat and it will be structurly safe, please speak up. THANKS!!
 
#19 ·
nobody can tell you if it's going to be safe. that's going to depend on the design, the loads, the materials, and the quality of the welds. one thing you don't want to fail on a motorcycle is the forks, so if you're in doubt, don't do it.

{QUOTE=scootermcrad]That's great and ideal, but I don't have the luxury of having access to a bender or someone with one. If the majority of you are telling me that I'm safe bending 1" tubing with a semi-thick wall, then I'm going that route.

Now, if someone tells me without a doubt that this is dangerous and stupid, then i will find another way or won't build it at all.

Now, is this dangerous and stupid or an appropriate measure to take for a bend that has a varying/non liniar radial dimension??? Getting some mixed answers here now.

Maybe it would help if I said the tube that's going to be bent will also have a support from an adjoining tube or a gusset/rib that will run the full length of the curve.

If someone here knows FOR SURE you can make a bend like this with heat and it will be structurly safe, please speak up. THANKS!![/QUOTE]
 
#20 ·
jw_ said:
nobody can tell you if it's going to be safe. that's going to depend on the design, the loads, the materials, and the quality of the welds. one thing you don't want to fail on a motorcycle is the forks, so if you're in doubt, don't do it.
Actually, I wasn't in doubt until you said something. I have no doubt that the design is strong and as long as the material isn't significantly weaker than it's produced state it will be a great design... but... it's the process of heating something up enough to get a clean bend that concerns me. If it's going to make the tubing significantly weak then I agree it shouldn't be done. I'm looking for hard facts here. Something with an explanation as detailed as rigidshovel's would be great, but not required

jw, if you are telling me that this process will significantly weaken the tubing then I would like you to expand on your answer so it's clear.

I think I need to re-state the question so the bottom line is clear....

Does anyone know if bending tubing using heat and exercising proper cooling will make the tubing (of the sizes mentioned above) significantly weaker?
 
#21 · (Edited)
what material are you using? detail time now, 1018 steel seamless tubing? no problem whatsoever. seamless 4130 still no problem. 1026 seamless no problems. there's a pattern here, use seamless tubing. sure a cold bend properly supported by an outer die is better but warming tubing up to a dull red doesn't get anywhere close to the temps needed to alter the grain structure adversely. if its welded seam tubing - stop. you said it was .120 wall right? there's plenty of meat there. welded seam tubing is for decoration and has no business on a frame operating near any material limits.

far more people make the wrong choice on welding rod than hurt the steel by forming it. maybe you could find an iron gate place? they typically have a 3 wheel roller that does exactly what you are trying to do cold. two wheels on the bottom one in between above that pushes down and you roll the tubes back and forth to put curvature in them.

feel free to send me pics or sketches, i work at a place that builds high performance steel tube structures every day of the week.

http://www.toolsforbending.com/images/rollformer.jpg

brandon
 
#22 ·
scootermcrad said:
Actually, I wasn't in doubt until you said something. I have no doubt that the design is strong and as long as the material isn't significantly weaker than it's produced state it will be a great design... but... it's the process of heating something up enough to get a clean bend that concerns me. If it's going to make the tubing significantly weak then I agree it shouldn't be done. I'm looking for hard facts here. Something with an explanation as detailed as rigidshovel's would be great, but not required

jw, if you are telling me that this process will significantly weaken the tubing then I would like you to expand on your answer so it's clear.

I think I need to re-state the question so the bottom line is clear....

Does anyone know if bending tubing using heat and exercising proper cooling will make the tubing (of the sizes mentioned above) significantly weaker?
I've seen it done but without normalising it properly afterwards, it would definately be more brittle.

My advice would be to avoid it if possible. It may be ok but to be sure you'd need to do testing (some of it would be destructive). There's massive forces exerted on forks, especially whilst braking and hitting bumps. I watched a show by JJ only a week or so ago about the history of the Chopper, it was a good show but they made mention of how many frames and forks used to snap back in the 'good ole days' when engineering and quality wasn't was it is now.

i spose another way to look at is if the steel ends up being strong enough, then you're friend will have a sweet looking front end. On the other hand, you might end up going to his funeral.

I'd get it bent then TIG welded by a professional if it was me.

Cheers
Scotty
 
#23 ·
stolenmojo said:
1018 steel seamless tubing? no problem whatsoever.
Brandon! Thanks for the detailed answer! Much appreciated!

1018 seemless tubing is the target material, yes. It hasn't been purchased yet, so if you have any better suggestions in mild steel tubing that are 1"ODx.120" wall then let me know.

I will check out some of the local gate shops. Those roll-form benders are awesome! I would like to make a small one for round stock and such.

Thanks guys!
 
#24 ·
Based on what I'm reading from your guys' replies, I'm going to look into having the tubing bent for me.

For the contents and purpose of this thread, what can we say about bending tubing in this matter (using heat)? Can we form a conclusion where it's suitable and where it's not? Is there something that can be said for some basic rules outlining this?

Sorry to sound all technical, but it would be nice to know if there is EVER a reason to go this route when building something...
 
#25 ·
there's no hard fast rules to be taken away here. the fact is the down tube or backbone are heavily loaded in any cycle frame. the more support from other beams you can provide the less likely you are to suffer failure. load paths from the neck are hideous - these amplify with rake tremendously.

no problem on the advice - like i said the wrong rod will ruin your day more times than a little hot forming. check out the business park near the racetrack out there, there's guys building chassis out there. i knew the former crew chief of the orleans truck team very well but the new guy i don't know. i'd be willing to bet they have the right equipment but probably won't be willing to help some joe off of the street. shelby has a place there too. just knock on doors until you find someone who will do it.

good luck, show us pics!
brandon
 
#26 ·
jw_ said:
better not to heat it. bend it cold.
Cold bending work-hardens metal, in this case the steel will have a residual stress in it from cold bending. If it is hot-bent, it will not have significant residual stresses in it (from the bending process), especially if it is cooled slowly. (BTW, "slowly" for low-carbon steel like 1018 means you can shove it in a bucket of water as soon as it has air-cooled a couple minutes; really controlled slow cooling is only important in alloys or high-carbon steel).
 
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