Aluminium Tube bending - Pushing The Limits

Innovative furniture designer maker Jeremy Broun uses a modified 'Useful Tools' hand operated tube bender pushing it to its limits using 38mm annealed aircraft aluminium to achieve a 180 degree bend! www.woodomain.com/online-store for a unique range of hardback books, video integrated e-books, some with plans. The tube bender shown here is available from useful-tools.co.uk/ www.woodomain.com/online-store

[@bikefarmtaiwan1800]

Nice video! Tube bender seems awesome. Aluminum annealing technique info is good too - just like my old metal work teacher taught us!! 3 stars - not just one!!

[@Paljk299]

Nice demonstration thanks. I've been looking for a better tube bending solution and hadn't seen this product before.

[@tobuslieven]

It was really interesting to see how the part of the tool that goes inside the tube works. Great video.

[@KRGraphicsCG]

This is beautiful work. I wish I had something setup for last week to bend solid Aluminium.

[@JG-kv4oi]

Pretty darn nice bends there for such a simple and affordable machine!

[@Gregorynts]

Great video, succinct and easy to understand, thanks for sharing.

[@kommodorez24]

Excellent video, im a big fan of useful tools benders, i build my own bender for 1 inch tubes based on the useful tube bender! nice to see some other videos of this bender working other than the ones from useful tools channel. Cheers from Chile!

[@subbareddy471]

Excellent design.

[@JuanMartinez-pm9yr]

Awesome video.

[@rickd955]

Excellent video.

[@tuanduongdinh1644]

Thanks Sir!

[@sintoantonyvellani3506]

great works

[@WheelDweller]

I was inspired to make an all-aluminum frame for an RV....alas, I'm medically unable to ever try to...thanks though, for the instruction!

[@passiton3801]

Amazing especially done by hand. I contacted a company that did tube forming. Took one look at my ironing stool bends and said our machines cant do that. Really! This guy can do it by hand, but a company can't do it using a machine, unbelievable!

[@daytrader66]

Nice video. I realise that aluminium work hardens, but have you information on hardening again after the bend? Kind regards

[@socratis236]

great jig

[@phillipja2010]

Nice tube bender. Please make a video which also shows bending of square aluminum tubing !

[@2600mx]

Like your video! I am trying to bend a aluminium tube, the same wall thickness as crunches - very thin. I'd like to get your pro opinion on how to do it without break the tube. If I fill the tube with sand and water and packed well, do you think I can bend it with a manual conduit bender without break the tube? Thank you in advance!

[@lucinorosas7066]

exellent video, were can l get one like this, l like.

[@CougarHouseGarage]

Your videos are always so engaging :), The topics for your vids are on point :), This video of yours had me glued to the screen:), What camera do you use to film your episodes?, What microphone do use?

[@Nevertrustalawyer]

Could you use an electric impact wrench ? Seems like it may work.

[@vladdraculea689]

what tool used breuer for the wassily from 20mm mannesmann tube??

[@hasanfurkancengiz]

awesome information. i hope i’ll bend my tubes soon. how much the wall thickness of your tube?

[@jackcutmore]

Hi, do you know where I could buy this material?? Currently living in Costa Rica, but can have items sent from the US

[@yurycz8933]

+ Good idea

[@pc2539]

Thank you for testing for us so we don't have to go through this exercise. may I ask in the latter part of the video you mention after "final tweaking" smooth bends were achieved. What were those final teaks ? Thanks

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

If you watch the video again you will see what the final tweaks refer to which achieved the minimal rippling at the very end - the positioning of the bullet in relation to the mandrel. As I have mentioned in another comment it was impossible (for the jig designer as well) to get a perfectly smooth inner surface. The best we got was hardly noticeable ripples that can be sanded then polished out. That was the compromise. As I said this was pushing the limits of a jig designed to bend a smaller diameter tube.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

Yes you would have to go through the exercise which is primarily getting the centrepoints aligning correctly by trial and error literally a half turn of the nut each time. Im not saying the centre points line up exactly but 'align correctly' hence a precise measurement cannot be given! The fit of the tube on the nylon sleeve (bullet) is a crucial factor and you don't really know that until you try the tube you are using.

[@niteshvalecha8913]

What is Jig tweaking means? I mean what exactly you did with the jig

[@kbtube8125]

no lube for the mandrel?

[@michaeld954]

i like that pipe bender did you make it your self if so can you make a vid on how to make one

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

Why don't you watch the video! It says at very beginning and at 35 seconds it is a Useful Tools bender! It also gives a link to Useful Tools in the description.

[@TheBikerScout]

Nice to see that I'm not the only one who requested the 19mm hex bolt to use with a cheater bar ratchet handle. However, your mandrel rod is way thicker than what David sent me. Was this an upgrade by you or him? I might be running into problems with some slight deflection on my mandrel.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

+TheBikerScout It was an upgrade offered by Useful Tools and necessary because of the torque needed for pushing this jig to the limit. I recall David was sailing around the world when I got involved so his son did the tests with David sending instructions via Morse Code from the Caribbean! The whole exercise spread over most of a year and it was worth the effort just to see how David's original jig could be pushed that little bit further!

[@BushImports]

I love that jig, it makes really nice bends, but the jig and mandrel are a little pricey . Also The best I could tell the largest they make will only bend up to 1 1/2". They might build a person a larger one if asked, I don't know. Still it is a great little machine.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

+Bush Imports No - thats why I called the video 'Pushing the limits'! The jig is only designed to bend inch and three eights. Look at the size of most other jigs for this diameter tube - they are much bigger.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

No, that is the very limit and it took them a lot of time to meet my request to push their stated maximum diameter. Look at how small the jig is. It would need massive gearing to go any bigger. Compare this with other jigs that bend this kind of diameter - they usually take up much more floor space and this one fits on the bench!

[@codprawn]

Nice video but why does everyone get it wrong? The bullet as you call it IS the mandrel - a mandrel is the part that fits inside the tube - not the former which is the curved die.

[@KATLANIRCAM]

Dusakabin üretimi için yardım istiyorum

[@user-no1qy9vp3q]

nice

[@dragonsing692]

king king

[@dragonsing692]

king king

[@polini65]

hi Jeremy that looks very very good!!could I buy 3 of your test tubes ?I just need 3 bended in a U and prefer pipe diameter 44mm

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

+polini65 Inch and a half (38mm) is the very maximum diameter this jig can be pushed (as I state early in in the video), so 44mm is way beyond its capability.

[@patrickfourteu2877]

nickel!!!

[@sentiny]

annealing is for minimising the kinks and breaks, I didnt understand why its left for cool down? also there's another method which is loading the tube with dust Bending Tube and Pipe without kinking it... Tubing Bender Homemade

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

Annealing softens the metal and is the only way to get such large diameter aluminium tube to bend on such a tight radius. Filling with sand would not work.

[@brucemcclary3260]

kemal bsuetp s

[@ernestclarkjr7493]

interesting

[@ABYSSBANDMK]

Interesting to see the annealing process. I have struggled in the past in using bent aluminium tube in structural applications as the annealing process permanently lowers the yield point of the material, unless the metal is artificially age hardened in an oven which can take 8 hours at 200c. Unfortunately this is the only way to achieve almost any bend in aluminium!

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

Yes you are right the downside is it does weaken the metal, I don't know by how much. Do you? I had been thinking of filling the bend itself with a polyester or epoxy resin if I needed a high strength application.

[@ABYSSBANDMK]

Well an example I had was using 6082 aluminium. In T6 condition the yield is around 215Mpa; if you then anneal it is around T4 condition (115Mpa yield). An interesting solution! be careful not to add too much mass, as generally aluminium tube needs to be thicker than if steel was used... and then you can only go so far before you might as well use mild steel! haha

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

Wow, a significant decrease in strength. Glad you raised this important issue. Steel of course would demand a much bigger bender for this diameter tube and then the finishing is tricky for low volume applications whereas aluminium I reckon to polish or sand to a brush finish. Whereas I would use my jig for table legs Id be wary of creating a chair without thorough testing of the bends. I also create lighting use wood and aluminium box and tube section so the added bends give me greater creativity. Would re-annealing post bend and then rapidly quench shake the molecules up and put strength back in ha ha? You can see I'm not really a theoretical person.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

6082 is ideal for machining whereas 6062 aircraft aluminium is better for bending. The wall thickness is the maximum I can bend at this diameter tube and is stout. I forget the precise wall thickness.

[@nautamaran]

6082 hardens by precipitation hardening, also called aging. The alloying elements are allowed to form nano-scale crystals within the metal matrix, but if these are allowed to grow too large they loose effectiveness and the metal softens. The treatment first requires the alloy grains to be minimized by redissolving them into solution within the metal by holding it at an elevated temperature for several hours, then quickly quenched to trap them, uncrystalized, within the metal. The metal is then reheated to a lower temp (190C for 6 hrs for 6082) to allow crystal growth to begin, but the temperature is kept low enough that the growth does not progress too far, a condition called "over aging". engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/8709/6082-aluminium-softened-by-brazing-how-to-harden/8741

[@Siniestro]

if you fill the tubes with sand/salt/sugar it wont warp.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

+SiniestroNetworks that will not work with aluminium

[@adakhochalai]

Woodomain - Jeremy Broun can you please tell why would that be?

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

The solid nylon bullet support is absolutely crucial to avoid rippling/collapse on the inner bend when using aluminium tube. When the title states 'pushing the limits' this means a lot of experimentation/trial has already been done. If sand worked it would have been mentioned! The circular section in this method is maintained and the position of the bullet is crucial, hence my mentioning the word 'tweaking' which means getting the position just right after a few trial bends. The jig was designed by an ex Formula One racing engineer so please respect he knows what he is doing! Normally to achieve such large section bends take far bigger jigs.

[@BushImports]

A person could probably build one of those themselves if they had a few tools to do it.

[@WoodomainJeremyBroun]

+Bush Imports It wasn't why I posted this video - to encourage others to copy the jig, but highlight the amazing notion of tube bending with such a small jig. the guy who designed the jig earns his living selling them so why not buy one?!

[@lucinorosas7066]

exellent video, were can l get one like this, l like.