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Thread: Metal Work Advice Needed

  1. #1
    Tribal Elder Humakt's Avatar
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    Metal Work Advice Needed

    Need some advice from any metal workers here.
    I want to put a 90 degree bend in a length of aluminium pipe. It's about index finger diameter.

    What's the best way?

    Should I get it red hot first? Will aluminium take it? Then let it cool naturally or drop it in water?
    I don't think it's heat treated ally. It's an old fishing rod rest. What's the best way of putting a 90 degree bend in it. It's a tube (hollow), not a rod. I'd rather it didn't collapse when I bend it, or not collapse too much (I accept some corruption is inevitable).

    Any advice appreciated.
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  2. #2
    Moderator jus_young's Avatar
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    I reckon you will struggle on this one. The wall thickness is usually too thin to bend it effectively without having a proper bending tool. The only thing I can suggest is filling the tube with sand to minimise distortion and then try bending it but you will have to keep the radius of the bend quite large. Don't heat it as this makes it softer and increases the risk of collapse.


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  3. #3
    Woodsman bopdude's Avatar
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    If you have any friends who are old school fitters they may have some pipe bending gear, in another life long long ago I used to bend small bore copper etc for instrumentation works

  4. #4
    Tribal Elder Humakt's Avatar
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    Job done.
    I did a bit of Googling on the interwebatron to see what others had to say and the common advice (bar using a specialist bit of machinery I don't have) was to fill it with sand and bend it.
    Which is what I did.
    It came out alright. Since I wanted a fairly tight bend I decided to do it in two 45 degree bends, slightly apart, rather than one 90 degree bend.
    There was some collapse, but not that bad - it's going nowhere on show and is taking no weight.
    'What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare' - William Henry Davies

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