On Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:21:54 -0400, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Garrett Fulton wrote:

I have bent 3/8" and 1/4" copper tube to some tight radii by wrapping the
area to be bent closely with small copper wire and bending by hand.

Amateur radio types used to bend copper tubing by filling it with
sand to keep it from collapsing while bending.

I did some research on this question some months back when I wanted
to wind copper and aluminum coils to power a "putt-putt" ("pop-pop")
boat. "Spring coil" benders/winders are helpful up to a point (about
270deg), but with really tight turns it's hard to remove the spring
coil from the finished tubing coil.

Through some oversight I actually saved the links to a couple of
sources that I found useful:

Home Distiller: How to wind a perfect coil condenser
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewt...hp?f=2&t=11554

MetalGeek: How to Bend Tubing and Pipe by Hand
http://metalgeek.com/archives/2005/05/01/000047.php

Hope these are helpful.


Frank McKenney
--
"The true rule, in determining to embrace or reject any thing, is
not whether it has any evil in it; but whether it has more of
evil than of good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly
good. Almost every thing ... is an inseparable compound of the
two; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them
is continually demanded." -- Abraham Lincoln
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney aatt mindspring ddoott com