Bending Iron Pipe

[BradHall]

I made my first one out of a 2” black pipe nipple 8” long with a galvanized cap on one end. It worked ok for my limited number of builds. I later bought the LMI aluminum pipe and haven’t looked back. Not that expensive. Clamps into the bench vice. Good product I would recommend.

[phavriluk]

When I made my bending pipe, I bought a length of thickwalled aluminum tube from an Ebay metals vendor, a heat blanket from, I think, Lenovo. 500w dimmer, on-off switch, timer (safety!) and a digital thermometer with a thermocouple. Works nice, safe and controllable. I bought stuff meant for the purpose I was using it for and never regretted the expense. It just works. boredom can be a virtue.

[Howard Klepper]

A few things:

2" diameter is too small for most of the work of side bending. A beginner especially will have trouble getting a smooth curve with it. 2" is useful for a Venetian cutaway, but should not be your only pipe.

Aluminum holds more heat per unit weight than steel. And I would never heat up a used muffler pipe in the same place where I was also breathing. I also strongly recommend not using galvanized pipe, because it is easy to melt and burn the zinc, which makes toxic smoke when it burns, and sends little rivulets of molten liquid down the side of the pipe. I made that mistake with my first bending pipe over 40 years ago.

Egg or oval shape is very useful. If you can't find someone with a press, improvise one with a bottle jack (be careful!).

It's actually easier to control heat with a torch than with a BBQ starter. The BBQ starters are the wrong shape.

[KingCavalier]

Do be careful because all metals release nasty gases when heated.
I buy my Aluminum and some other goodies from onlinemetalsdotcom

They sell by the foot.

SA

[mirwa]

For those that may have not noted, post is 7 yrs old.

Steve

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

A few things:

2" diameter is too small for most of the work of side bending. A beginner especially will have trouble getting a smooth curve with it. 2" is useful for a Venetian cutaway, but should not be your only pipe.

Aluminum holds more heat per unit weight than steel. And I would never heat up a used muffler pipe in the same place where I was also breathing. I also strongly recommend not using galvanized pipe, because it is easy to melt and burn the zinc, which makes toxic smoke when it burns, and sends little rivulets of molten liquid down the side of the pipe. I made that mistake with my first bending pipe over 40 years ago.

Egg or oval shape is very useful. If you can't find someone with a press, improvise one with a bottle jack (be careful!).

It's actually easier to control heat with a torch than with a BBQ starter. The BBQ starters are the wrong shape.

Old topic, but all still usable for anyone new.

I went to my local industrial plumbing shop and they sold me 18" scraps of 4" and 2" copper pipe inexpensively. I clamp them in my machinist's vise and made a cradle to hold my propane torch at the correct height and angle to aim the flame down the pipe.

I cut some scrap 1/4" aluminum plate to fit inside the pipes and added some flat head screws to keep the heat from hitting my belly.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Old topic, but all still usable for anyone new.

I went to my local industrial plumbing shop and they sold me 18" scraps of 4" and 2" copper pipe inexpensively. I clamp them in my machinist's vise and made a cradle to hold my propane torch at the correct height and angle to aim the flame down the pipe.

I cut some scrap 1/4" aluminum plate to fit inside the pipes and added some flat head screws to keep the heat from hitting my belly.

Copper seems to work well. I've been using the same copper pipe for over 25 years now and just stick a propane torch in the back of it. But I use a beer can cut in half and stuffed in the end of the pipe to keep my belly from burnin.'

I do the same as you, hold the pipe in a vice.

[M Hayden]

Exhaust pipe extenders for cars can be big enough, cheap, chromed (so they wpn’t stain wood) and easily bendable (I made mine egg-shaped in cross section to do sharper and softer bends).

[Quickstep192]

Aluminum electrical conduit is another option. It’s relatively inexpensive, you just need to figure out what to do with the other 9 feet