lsdweb
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| posted on 29/10/08 at 10:58 PM |
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Bending Aluminium Pipe
Hi All
Is there anyway of forming bends in aluminium tube (e.g. B&Q aerial pole)? These are for a cooling system. Would the Machine Mart bender
(link just make a mess of it?
And when I say the Machine Mart bender I meant the tool not the bloke behind the counter in the S****** branch!
Wyn
[Edited on 30/10/08 by lsdweb]
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blakep82
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| posted on 29/10/08 at 11:00 PM |
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swansea branch, was that? 
erm, which pipe bender do you mean? your link was just a link to machinemart.co.uk
[Edited on 29/10/08 by blakep82]
________________________
IVA manual link http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081997083
don't write OT on a new thread title, you're creating the topic, everything you write is very much ON topic!
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Neil P
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| posted on 29/10/08 at 11:06 PM |
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You want to know if the bender at the Swansea Machine Mart will make a mess of your pole? Don't think I'd give him the opportunity!
The answer is yes, they're useless with any thin walled tube, and not that brilliant with heavy stuff either.
Neil
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joolsmi16
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| posted on 29/10/08 at 11:40 PM |
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bender
Hi Wyn, I use a cheap hydraulic bender for all my chassis tubes which are 25mm and 31 mm with a 1.5mm wall however I do need to fill the tube with
sand to prevent the tube from collapsing.
Jools
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big_wasa
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| posted on 30/10/08 at 06:43 AM |
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Its a pipe bender not a tube bender.
For that swg of tube I doubt you will get it done without a mandrel bender.
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lsdweb
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| posted on 30/10/08 at 07:27 AM |
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Thanks guys - I thought it wouldn't work!
Did I say Swansea btw.....
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speedyxjs
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| posted on 30/10/08 at 07:39 AM |
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I like your locost thinking
How long can i resist the temptation to drop a V8 in?
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nick205
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| posted on 30/10/08 at 10:24 AM |
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Wyn,
What dia pipe work are you trying to make?
Lots of people have used 15 and 22mm copper pipe and solder ring fittings to make up their cooling pipes. You can use a straight solder ring coupler
at each end to provide a good sealing point for hose clips too. The copper also paints quite well so can be made to look decent in the engine bay.
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jabbahutt
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| posted on 30/10/08 at 03:40 PM |
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second vote for copper pipe. spray it up black and you don't notice it. Plus you can run normal coolant hose off the ends for navigating bits
where making it in copper would be a pain.
Cheers
Nigel
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ballcock
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| posted on 30/10/08 at 09:20 PM |
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If you use copper pipe in any size you can bend them by anealing and sand loading, and rather than waste a fitting on the end for a hose stop just
solder on a compression olive, works well. If you feel soldered joints aren't strong enough silver solder them instead.
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lsdweb
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| posted on 31/10/08 at 08:08 AM |
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Thanks all.
I'm looking for the lightest way of plumbing the cooling system so I won't be using copper!
I'll find somebody with a mandrel bender.
Ta
Wyn
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nick205
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| posted on 2/11/08 at 10:30 PM |
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Wyn,
Might not be the most locost route, but Car Builder Solutions will bend and weld ally tube to your requirements and form suitable sealing beads on the
ends too.
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lsdweb
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| posted on 3/11/08 at 07:06 AM |
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Thanks Nick - useful to know!
I'd better get my chassis sorted first!
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