Tips for Bending Hard-Tubing in Custom Loops

[@serkan47chiller]

Finally I found a video that actually shows you hpw to fit the tubes into playce man. The other videos always only showed how to bend and I was like "but yeah how do you know how long it has to be"

[@dantemutti1597]

I just finished my first rigid tubing PC build. I used acrylic tubing and I watch A LOT of how-to videos in preparation. This one was by far the best. The build turned out really great, thank you!

[@UnhingedSystems]

Thank you for watching! Glad you found the video useful!

[@0Metatron]

The 1’st video that actually shows how to do it properly. So many other videos just show a quick brute force bend and I actually found out the long way that I need to bend it very gradually just like you showed. It took me a whole box of tube mistakes to find this out though 😂 Whig’s I’d seen this earlier

[@luckyman1324]

ive bn soft tube for yrs now im atempting petg hard tube cheers for the small tips even the decor tape

[@Z1M0Z1M]

This is a great beginner how to video. Its surprising how many how to videos over simplify and miss the little tips and tricks builders use and this video doesnt which makes it that much easier for beginners to get the bend they can be proud of. I've made so many bend jigs over the years some times I forget even miss the little things. Awesome video.

[@UnhingedSystems]

Thank you for watching! Bending tubes becomes instinctive after a while, but it's still good to go back to basics from time to time IMO.

[@batossayxp]

LIke ur work ty for help

[@UnhingedSystems]

Thank you for the kind comment!

[@Justin-zz2yo]

Thank you!!!

[@cooleyray]

This dude did an indy commercial store work training video lol

[@JHawke1]

For the soapy water, did you use regular tap water? If so, what would be the best practice in terms of cleaning out the tube when you're done bending? Thanks for the great and informative video!

[@UnhingedSystems]

Thank you for the question! I used regular old dish soap and tap water. After bending, the tubes are first well rinsed with tap water, then double-rinsed with distilled water before being used in the loop 👍 Very important to rinse all components thoroughly before filling the loop. I'm going to test with a deionized water soak before a distilled rinse on the radiators to try to reduce ion transfers between copper and nickel, probably won't make much of a difference though.

[@JHawke1]

@@UnhingedSystems Much appreciated, have a great day!

[@onetoomanycats83]

Hey man! Another question for ya. About how long would you say you heat on average to complete the bend? Have you ever timed it?

[@UnhingedSystems]

Great question! It depends on the tube type (acrylic or PETG), and the diameter of the tube, but in general probably about 3-5 minutes per 3" section. I have see some videos of people heating the whole tube and doing massive bends in one go, but I prefer to bend gradually to get the shape I want without distorting the tube. Some bends take 20 minutes, some take up to an hour or more depending on the complexity of the bend(s). Patience is the key, it shouldn't be rushed. Tubing with larger diameters typically have thicker walls and are easier to bend. Smaller diameter tubing with thinner walls are less forgiving.

[@onetoomanycats83]

Hey there, I think you might have the same heat gun as I do--- if you're using 530F for acrylic what fan speed do you go with? A higher or lower speed fan?

[@UnhingedSystems]

I use it on the default medium speed, works wonders. Thank you for the question!

[@onetoomanycats83]

@@UnhingedSystems Thanks for your reply! While on the subject, what sort of cutting attachment do you prefer with the dremel for making cuts? There's a lot of options out there. I've experimented a lot with various hacksaw blades and saw types to get the easiest approach and want to try my dremel as well. Any tips are appreciated! Thanks dude.

[@UnhingedSystems]

@@onetoomanycats83 Great question! I use a standard cutting/grinding (409 Cut-off wheel) wheel on the Dremel. It doesn't make the cleanest cuts due to the limited radius so I sand down the cut flat before adding the chamfered edges. I really want to get the little Dremel chop saw to make things easier, but for now the Dremel works great. The way it heats up the acrylic as it cuts ensures it won't shatter or crack. The trick is not letting the tube vibrate when cutting it as the micro scratches on the tubing can be rather unsightly. I honestly prefer to work with acrylic over PETG any day.

[@damonfields6377]

What about for 2 bends that are perpendicular 90s from one another so like straight out from pump 90 to the left to get to you and then 90 up towards GPU? I hate the look of lots fittings and 90 fittings

[@UnhingedSystems]

You can totally do that. I have entire runs with several bends that have only fittings at the start end end points. Patience and time. Drawing out and measuring out your patching is important. Measure twice, cut once, bend once. The challenge is that if your measurements are off, or you aren't sure where to bend it, you can end up being really far off from your target. Tube bending requires as much spatial awareness and spatial thinking as it does a good respect for measurements and planning. Some people never get good at it, some people ace it out of the gate. Trial and error, patience, and spare tubing is recommended.

[@damonfields6377]

@@UnhingedSystems okeee sounds like I gotta yeet it and present it! Edit: but no for real Ty for the response I for some reason went with hardline as my first build ever and I’m only running into more and more problems. Your video explained way more than anything else I’ve seen THANKS!