How to make Tubing die's is there a how too

[mccutter]

Originally Posted by LKeithR

We've got a Baileigh RB-150 bender and a ton of dies--I'd be willing to bend up your pipe for a very nominal fee...

It is good to see capitalism is alive and well in Canada!

Originally Posted by Camaro Zach

I wouldn't charge you anything

Maybe not so much capitalism here, though...

Or maybe that is just how we roll here in the helpful US!

But I'm thinking a electrical conduit bender might do you in a pinch! What kind of radii you looking for?

I've attached various pics of "construction" style benders. Maybe give you some ideas? Conduit bender? Rebar bender? A bender for copper might make a nice radius but I don't know if it would hold up to SS, esp. thicker wall... Like Keith said, a cheaper bender will give a poor finish. I don't even want to know what the Baleigh I pictured costs!

[rmack898]

Originally Posted by LKeithR

YWe've got a Baileigh RB-150 bender and a ton of dies-
https://www.baileigh.com/tube-bender-rdb-150

Before I left my day job with the Gubmint, I bought a Baileigh RB-250 and a full set of pipe and tube dies. All I can say is that was one hell of a machine. Made in USA and not some re-badged POS. I wish I could justify and afford one for myself.

[slip knot]

Know any electricians with a powered conduit bender? I've conned them into bending all kinda pipe for me over the years.

[Ironman]

If it is not an oddball size a exhaust pipe bender will do up to 3.5" pipe. I've bent 2" stainless this way.

[LKeithR]

Originally Posted by Lowe.Buuck

Somewhere I saw a set up to machine the round bending dies. You need a mill, rotary table and a boring head.

Set the rotary table in the vertical position with the blank centered on the table.

Position the boring head centered and tangent to the outer edge of blank. The cutter height set at the same height as the center of rotation of the RT.

Adjust boring head and rotate table to cut semicircular groove around the blank taking successive deeper cuts.

You could rough out the groove with an end mill in the same setup or on the lathe.

I made a couple of smaller dies on the mill with a rotary table. It works but it's much slower than doing them on a lathe. Much better than nothing, though...

Originally Posted by mccutter

...It is good to see capitalism is alive and well in Canada!...

I guess I should have used a smiley....

...I don't even want to know what the Baleigh I pictured costs!

I think Baileigh lists the bare bender for about $6500 now. Ours is about 15 years old so we paid quite a bit less for it.

Originally Posted by rmack898

Before I left my day job with the Gubmint, I bought a Baileigh RB-250 and a full set of pipe and tube dies. All I can say is that was one hell of a machine. Made in USA and not some re-badged POS. I wish I could justify and afford one for myself.

Yup, it's all tubing, flat bar and plate plus hydraulic parts you can easily buy from Princess Auto or a farm store. Very easy to repair if you ever need to. We haven't had so much as a hiccup from ours in all the years we've had it.

Their principle of operation is dead simple but it's brilliant. Most other benders--like the JD2, for example--suffer from being unable to bend past 90 degrees without taking a second bite on the material. By using two cylinders and a pivot on the centre frame, the Baileigh allows you to make 180 degree bends in a single pass--much more efficient and versatile.

When we were looking for a bender we looked at an Ercolina. They're made in Italy. Good solid machines that seem to work well but they're built on a completely different principle.

The main drive is all gears in an enclosed box. We watched one working at a dealer demonstration before we bought the Baileigh and, while it seemed to work OK it sounded like it was ready to come apart. Having to listen to the sound of those gears grinding away for every bend was something I didn't think I could handle. The motor had a proprietary mount that you could probably only buy from Ercolina and it seemed like all the other parts were special forgings or castings that would be difficult to duplicate. In short, Ercolina went in the exact opposite direction from Baileigh and made a machine that would almost impossible to repair with anything other than original parts. As it turned out the Baileigh was actually a bit cheaper that the Ercolina but even if the Baileigh was more money I would have bought it rather than the Ercolina. It didn't help that the dealer stocked hardly any parts other than die sets...

Originally Posted by Ironman

If it is not an oddball size a exhaust pipe bender will do up to 3.5" pipe. I've bent 2" stainless this way.

The only thing I have found with exhaust tube benders is that, for a given size of tube, the centre-line radius of the die is quite small and there's a much greater chance of crushing the tube. Also, because exhausts are almost always made from tubing rather than pipe I don't think they make pipe dies for them--you have to rely on the closest fitting tube die...

[JBFab]

Baileigh tools are made right here in Wisconsin!

Good stuff, we have one of their pipe benders.

[MetalWolf]

could either one of these be modified to do the same thing

[greywynd]

I used to work with a guy that made boat tops and interior upholstery.

For 3/4-1” tubing for the top frames, he had a bender that the form and follower were made from plastic. I would say it was about 2” thick to make it stronger. It was bolted to plywood, the handle and follower pivoted on a shoulder bolt. There was a clamp at the start of the bend, used a toggle clamp and a piece of plastic, also with the half round groove cut in it.

Worked very similar to a hossfield type bender.

Google “boat top tubing bender”, there’s a few versions out there.


Sent from my iPhone using ShopFloorTalk mobile app

[MetalWolf]

would this bender work?... Although it would be even better if the dies went up to 1"
I'm liking the Baileigh site found dies for my punch not liking the price on some things ut are reasonable compared to making some things
https://www.baileigh.com/manual-tube-bender-rdb-25

[Norm W]

At the bottom of the Baileigh add there is a warning. I says it causes cancer and reproductive harm in California. Must be that they are immunity challenged in California. Either that or any kind of manual work is harmful to them. Come to think about it maybe that is why they want the illegals there.