NO KINKS with a Harbor Freight pipe bender. Easy to do

[@fixitorstripitGardenmachines]

Great advice for anyone who needs to do work like that .

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

👍

[@captainkurtm3494]

Nice video, good tip.. The smoother bend will most likely last longer and look better too!

[@daveharness70]

I just bought this machine. I have 1.75" pipe to bend....old drill rod, to be used for some rock sliders. I regret not buying the larger unit as it took quite the effort to to bend the pipe to 60 degrees without sand. The bend wasn't too bad, as it is fairly thick wall. I'm going to try sand, but may end up breaking the machine! The 12 Ton unit doesn't have a die for 1.75" pipe, either. Not sure if the larger one does. I used the 1.5"....had to hammer the die off the pipe when I was done.

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

The tighter die may have made the bend come out better, but you are 100% right about breaking the piston with a bigger die. They put the biggest die the machine can likely handle in with the kit, and sand makes the bend quite a bit harder. I bend mostly 3/4 for go-kart and minibike frame work, and the thinner walls require sand, or they kink all day

[@barryewalt3250]

The sand worked good Bill👍

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

The difference was surprising. 👍

[@barryewalt3250]

@@GuysPlayingWithTools Yes it was for sure

[@robertmailhos8159]

That is a great idea to put in sand to get the proper bend In the pipe I looked up a video on how to blend electrical conduit that is a bit more complicated than people think all though the instructor is cute 🥰

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I tried a few different things and packed sand worked great and was faster. I haven't tried conduit but it seems like it would work the same way. It's a lot thinner so it should be easier to bend

[@robertmailhos8159]

@@GuysPlayingWithTools it's easy to bend but some of them are going to be a little bit complicated I'll send you a link to the video on how to bend it

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@@robertmailhos8159 cool

[@robertmailhos8159]

@@GuysPlayingWithTools 😎👍👍😎

[@almclean4835]

That’s much easier than inserting a spring. well putting the spring i is real easy, getting it back out after bending the pipe is a pain. Sand from now on I think. Thanks Bill. Have a great Christmas

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I tried springs, but they are still hopelessly stuck in a pipe. 🤣 You just need to band the pipe on the floor one or twice, and the sand shakes loose

[@raymundocarlos5790]

good idea ...thanks ..

[@johnanthony2545]

I’ve viewed this technique before but haven’t had opportunity to use it yet. Nice job.

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I tried a few things I found and this worked well and was also the easiest... win win

[@johnanthony2545]

@@GuysPlayingWithTools I have the same bender. Was my dads so older but still works. Haven’t a clue why he bought it. Quite a work out for even a small task. I’ve been trying to figure out how to install a trigger 😆

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@johnanthony2545 I am planning a guard rail, a couple go karts and a minibike. I am going to wear mine out😁

[@DIYVariety]

It sure works great , cheers bill

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

Thanks, it took a bit of experimenting, but the sand works really well

[@DIYVariety]

@GuysPlayingWithTools yeah they use to do that at my buddies work they used small ball bearing also

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

Sounds like a mandrel bender. That's a bit pricy for my budget.

[@DIYVariety]

@GuysPlayingWithTools oh come on now bill, dont be shy we all know you got dollars lol

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@heterogeneityrocks1 My wife has it all. 🤣

[@Big_Johns]

It turned out nice Bill, looks like you've packed a pipe or two in your time. 🤣👍

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

Hey now 😐🤣🤣 It works really good, you don't want to see everything I tried before I got to that point...

[@Big_Johns]

🤣👍🤣 Renaldo probably packed a few pipes too.... you know, for his glaucoma and all. 😲😎

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@Big_Johns With the motion needed to pack the sand, I was expecting a completely different line of humor. While I was doing it, I was thinking, "Man, I am really settling myself up for it this time" 🤣

[@haneyoakie14]

Learn new stuff every day!

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

Never stop learning. 🙂

[@LewisMowersandBoats]

Wow, nice work Bill It's not easy to do .... getting the kink not to appear 😊

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I tried a few things before I found one that worked. Now then, on to building something fun! 😁

[@LewisMowersandBoats]

​@GuysPlayingWithTools can't wait brother 😊

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@LewisMowersandBoats I am out in the shop welding this morning. All fun, nothing practical. Lol

[@mr1pearl]

At first I thought yeh right the tape is gonna give way that will never work wow that is awesome I want to try ( he said with hand raised , like a little kid 👦 ) hehehehehe !!!!

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I got it to make go-kart frames from scratch. I tried a lot of things and when I got to trying sand the first try failed, then I packed it with the long screwdriver and it surprised me too.It worked 3 times in a row(ran out of pipe) . 😁

[@deanhedin1615]

How about thin wall 1" 304 stainless exhaust tubing?

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I don't work with stainless much. I would suggest trying it out on an end or a leftover piece first. The sand will distribute the bend pretty well, but a little heat might be called for with stainless. It can be unforgiving.

[@1.8t5spd]

what type of sand did you use, anything special?

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I use playground sand from Lowes. Anything with a good consistency would work well, playground sand seems to come out of the pipe easier when I am done than most others. (It can get pretty stuck and take some banging)

[@emorycoker9302]

I have wanted to try filling a pipe with steel ball bearing and see how it would effect the bend?

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I like the way you think. On a mandrel bend, they pull a ball through while bending the pipe, but it takes a LOT of force to get it through the pipe. The sand gives a distributed force on the inside of the pipe where smaller bearings wouldn't. You would most likely have a bunch stick inside the pipe against each other.

[@emorycoker9302]

@GuysPlayingWithTools You might have some stuck, I thought of that but they should be easy to dislodge?

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@@emorycoker9302 I am not sure. The 2 things I would think about are then digging into the metal and getting stuck as a bunch and not having even contact with the metal in the bend and allowing sudden kinks. It would be interesting to try it out

[@MACKERMELCHOR]

Damn people are serious with this sand filling 😂😂😂 I’m just gonna buy the pipe bender

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

The sand is the magic. Pipe benders are mostly the same. The cheaper ones get complaints because the user is usually still learning and makes mistakes that the pros don't. I use this bad boy for all sorts of projects, but I learned a while ago how far I can bend without kinks before I have to fill the pipe. 👍

[@jarnosaarinen4583]

If you can fill the pipe with water, block each end & freeze it! Way better

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

That sounds interesting, but I don't have a freezer outside the one in the kitchen, and it's not very long 🙂

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I just use galvanized, rebar or pvc and fittings. Maybe some tape or pipe insulation to take the roughness out of the cross piece. I can't afford horror fright like you tropical vacationers. Blessings to yall!

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

This will be a money saver in the long run. I am outfitting the garage for fabrication so I can start building karts and minibikes and whatnot from scratch. The best part is, lots of new tools. 😁

[@lewiemcneely9143]

New stuff is good. Profit is nice. It got to 50+ here after 31 this morning. It won't last so stay warm and build that stuff. I'll cheer for you!@@GuysPlayingWithTools

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@@lewiemcneely9143 Thanks

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Sure thing!@@GuysPlayingWithTools

[@Keep_LogicNReason]

the radious of degree has to bigger and still 90 degree

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

I agree, a bigger radius is always an easier bend. 👍 When I build a go kart or minibike part I can't always get away with the larger radius and this is how I handle those,

[@Keep_LogicNReason]

@GuysPlayingWithTools oh I see. Is for create frames

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@user-lk2di2ct5c Yes, it is. For frames, you need different bends all over the place, and sometimes you need a really tight one

[@lesbako1747]

I call bullshit I just used sch 5 1.5 pipe packed with snda and it still kinks right at 40 degrees

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

@lesbako1747 It's not easy to bend a big pipe with thin walls, but kinks usually mean the sand wasn't packed tight enough , or it's a really hard metal(harder metals tend to kink easier). Try it again, but pack the sand tighter at the bend and also a few inches on each side of the bend point. I have gone through it too, where I "miss the bend" so I know it gets frustrating.

[@gravityiskey]

too much work get a better bender

[@GuysPlayingWithTools]

It's pretty much the same routine with any pipe bender (except mandrel).