I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

"Matty F" wrote in message
...
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

Fill it with dry sand then bend it round a something?

Si

In article
,
Matty F writes
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

Do they have CPC in NZ :-?

http://cpc.farnell.com/TL09892

Principle is the same for all sizes and the one I have here will
accommodate a 1" radius no problem. Do you have any pulleys with a 3/8"
slot to get you started?
--
fred
FIVE TV's superbright logo - not the DOG's, it's ********

In article
s.com, Matty F scribeth thus
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

If you mean 10 mm pipe then bending springs are made for that diameter.
I've got one here. We used the pipe to make a rather special radio
aerial that was odd shaped)..

Failing that, heat it anneal it then stuff it with sand thats a
possible, needs some care 'tho..
--
Tony Sayer

On 12 Sep, 14:03, Matty F wrote:
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

Bending tools (Rothenberger) are available for this size, mostly used
for 6, 8 or 10 mm copper fuel pipe but the 10mm will give
satisfactory result with 3/8" pipe. Ask an oil fired heating engineer
as he will probably make the bend for you with an appropriate drinking
voucher changing hands. The radius might be slightly greater than 1"
but not appreciably so. I see you are in NZ so a bit far to offer for
me

On Sun, 12 Sep 2010 06:03:03 -0700 (PDT), Matty F wrote:
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

One technique that's used to get thick cables around sharp corners
without damaging it is to change the level of the cable as it
goes around the corner.
So for example if the cable starts off at a height of (say) 1m
then instead of keeping that height all the way around, you
bend the cable some distance before the corner (still against
the wall) down towards the corner - so it's at about 90° pointing
towards the floor when you reach the corner. Now, to get round
the corner, the cable only needs to be twisted, not bent and then
another 90° bend at a large radius once it's past the corner
brings it out parallel to the wall, but lower than on the first
side by twice the radius of the curves you put in it.

If all your pipe has to do is get around a corner, that might
do the trick.

--
http://www.thisreallyismyhost.99k.or...0513810832.php

"Matty F" wrote in message
...
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

To do this, I bought 2" diameter plastic wheel with a tyre on it from local
hardware shop. (Possibly for a pram/trolley)

I removed the tyre, used mole grips to hold pipe to wheel at one point and
then carefully bent pipe round the wheel.
Normal central heating pipe benders work in the same way.
(Central heating oil pipe.)

I also have an external spring, and you can get small pipe benders.

Michael Chare

On Sep 13, 10:04 am, Pete Verdon
d wrote:
Matty F wrote:
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

When I had to do that I made an appropriately-sized wooden former by
filing a groove round a block. The groove fit the pipe tightly at the
sides, so it couldn't spread out to flatten. It did pucker slightly on
the inside of the bend, but good enough for what I needed.

I could bend the pipe between two metal plates in a vise.
But first I will have a look at the springs that I've got.

The pipe is underneath this new oiler box that I made:
http://i52.tinypic.com/2vkakiw.jpg

The pipe does seem very soft but tends to flatten when bent.

On Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:04:30 -0700 (PDT), Matty F wrote:

The pipe does seem very soft but tends to flatten when bent.

Thats why you need a former to stop the sides spreading remember that
the outside of the bend needs to stretch and the inside compress. The
compression of the inside is why you get puckers or ripples on the
inside of bends that are too tight or badly pulled.

--
Cheers
Dave.

I could bend the pipe between two metal plates in a vise.
But first I will have a look at the springs that I've got.

The pipe is underneath this new oiler box that I made:http://i52.tinypic.com/2vkakiw.jpg

Use a banjo bolt to connect and then you won`t need to bend it.

Michael Chare wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message
...
I need to put a couple of 1 inch radius bends in 3/8" OD copper pipe,
without flattening it. Any clever ways? I do have some pipe springs
for much larger pipe, but not that small.

To do this, I bought 2" diameter plastic wheel with a tyre on it from
local hardware shop. (Possibly for a pram/trolley)

I removed the tyre, used mole grips to hold pipe to wheel at one point
and then carefully bent pipe round the wheel.
Normal central heating pipe benders work in the same way.
(Central heating oil pipe.)

I also have an external spring, and you can get small pipe benders.

Michael Chare


May sound silly but have you thought about filling the pipe with water
and freezing it then bending it around a former ? Same methods used for
bending pipe work on musical instruments.

Mart.
--

I was about to try sand, then discovered an external spring bender of
the right size. It was rather hard to get the spring off afterwards. I
tried unwinding the spring but had no luck. I had to bend the pipe
back a bit to get the spring off.


Anyway it's finished now:

http://i53.tinypic.com/xaos1z.jpg




JOOI what is the rest of that machine its connected to?...


--
Tony Sayer

In article
s.com, Matty F scribeth thus
On Sep 14, 8:49 pm, tony sayer wrote:
I was about to try sand, then discovered an external spring bender of
the right size. It was rather hard to get the spring off afterwards. I
tried unwinding the spring but had no luck. I had to bend the pipe
back a bit to get the spring off.
Anyway it's finished now:
http://i53.tinypic.com/xaos1z.jpg

JOOI what is the rest of that machine its connected to?...

1891 Baldwin steam tram naked:
http://i44.tinypic.com/wmmufl.jpg
and with its clothes on so it doesn't frighten the horses:
http://i43.tinypic.com/19bgx1.jpg

The oilers feed oil to the axles so I have to make four of them.



Awww, lovely)...

They still have Horses then;?...
--
Tony Sayer

On Sep 14, 10:14 pm, tony sayer wrote:
In article
s.com, Matty F scribeth thus



On Sep 14, 8:49 pm, tony sayer wrote:
I was about to try sand, then discovered an external spring bender of
the right size. It was rather hard to get the spring off afterwards. I
tried unwinding the spring but had no luck. I had to bend the pipe
back a bit to get the spring off.
Anyway it's finished now:
http://i53.tinypic.com/xaos1z.jpg

JOOI what is the rest of that machine its connected to?...

1891 Baldwin steam tram naked:
http://i44.tinypic.com/wmmufl.jpg
and with its clothes on so it doesn't frighten the horses:
http://i43.tinypic.com/19bgx1.jpg

The oilers feed oil to the axles so I have to make four of them.

Awww, lovely)...

They still have Horses then;?...

Yes, actually we do. The horses don't seem to be concerned by steam
engines or anything noisy.

In article
..com, Matty F scribeth thus
On Sep 14, 10:14 pm, tony sayer wrote:
In article
s.com, Matty F scribeth thus



On Sep 14, 8:49 pm, tony sayer wrote:
I was about to try sand, then discovered an external spring bender of
the right size. It was rather hard to get the spring off afterwards. I
tried unwinding the spring but had no luck. I had to bend the pipe
back a bit to get the spring off.
Anyway it's finished now:
http://i53.tinypic.com/xaos1z.jpg

JOOI what is the rest of that machine its connected to?...

1891 Baldwin steam tram naked:
http://i44.tinypic.com/wmmufl.jpg
and with its clothes on so it doesn't frighten the horses:
http://i43.tinypic.com/19bgx1.jpg

The oilers feed oil to the axles so I have to make four of them.

Awww, lovely)...

They still have Horses then;?...

Yes, actually we do. The horses don't seem to be concerned by steam
engines or anything noisy.

Suppose they've become used to them since 1891 ....
--
Tony Sayer