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dpb dpb is offline
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Default bending galvanized pipe

franz fripplfrappl wrote:
On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:18:38 -0500, dpb wrote:

franz fripplfrappl wrote:
I have some galvanized sections for a hoop greenhouse which need to be
bent and/or straightened. The tubing is 2" OD. Any suggestions how to
bend or straighten the pipe?

Is this galvanized pipe or thinwall tubing or...?

What radius of bend/how long are the tubing sections?

Not a lot to work on here for context...


It's galvanized pipe. Uncertain of gauge. Pipes are 10' in length.
As a guess, not sure of radius of bend but would guess 3-6'.


As in Sch 40 galvanized water pipe, EMT, ... ??? How much takes to bend
will be pretty much dependent on what you're trying to bend (as in "doh"
).

Most homebrew greenhouse sections I've seen have used 1-3/8" galvanized
top chain link fence rail which is 18-16(?) gauge. Googling will
undoubtedly lead you to many sources for such.

OTOH, if you're really talking 2" pipe, that's a lot more serious piece
o' work and you'll need a real press and appropriately sized dies.

Harbor Freight has a hydraulic press that's stout enough, but it's
designed more for making bends (as in corners) rather than the general
sweep you'd want for the greenhouse. I suppose w/ some trial and error
and practice you might get there, but it would be pretty difficult to
duplicate bends that way I think.

There are certainly bending presses (mostly roller) that will do it w/
the heavier material but I don't know of any that aren't pretty pricey.
I haven't done any searches, but it sends like a much larger piece of
stock than required for the application and consequently, more of pita
to bend, especially if you really want a smooth radius (which I would
presume for the application you would).

Sorry I don't have more specific ideas...

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