I Built a Crazy Header Using Simple Tools 

Use promo code TFSTUBE75 to save $75 on your first tube order with Xometry. The offer expires 10/31/24. Limit one per customer. "Design Best Practices for Tube Bending and Cutting" webinar on 10/10. Register here: xometry.zoom.us/webinar/register/4517264996543/WN_q0qMJU_pSh-fmid5XvRNKw

30 years ago I started with a Tig welder and a saw. I’m now 54 and still fab 7 days a week and love it. 30 years of hard hard work I now have amassed 2 shops and millions in tools. To the next generation use and take advantage of the of the technology available to you. Work your ass off and you can leave this world feeling like you’ve accomplished something.

Thanks for showing us Xometry. Who cares about the other tools being used. They were common tools like you said.

I've been subscribed to both TFS and Garage Fab for a long time. I can confirm neither Aaron nor Justin are tools. They are both great educators!

After building racecar headers from U bends back in the day, this is just wild. What I would have given for access to services like this.

This was cool. Definitely an I bet I could do that moment as a hobbyist that brings a smile to your face.

I run a small shop with repairs and fabrication or anything and everything small (that other big companies in the neighborhood don't want or ask crazy price for) and i use these services regularly. Lazer and flame cut, rolling and bending, also milling and boring. I recently bought a lathe and it is a huge time saver to have that. A little millimg machine is my next purchase, but thats all i can fit in my shop and still have space to work around it. I have a band saw, drill press, welders all types, a table and all sorts of clamps, ... the only things i will keep outsourcing are cnc cutting, rolling, and bending (tube pipe and plate)

Justin I’ve always loved these low tech builds. Thank you again for showing more of them.

I think the non practice before on the new type of material is realistic. I think a lot of people will just grab the torch and "lets see what happens". Really cool company.

Good day - First time caller, long time listener. Thank you for showing us Xometry. Fabrication is a side part of what I do. I have a pipe bender. It's an old-school manual beast that I use a 6ft breaker bar to use. No CNC...using sharpie marks to make sure I bent the dang tube the right way. If anyone is looking at starting in bespoke fabrication, remember to include "opportunity cost" in your ROI breakdown. It would have taken me a couple of days, if I was LUCKY to nail all those bends for a header design. My labor rate is part of the quote, however, it's hard to charge by the hour if you're slow at something. If you add in the time it would take you to do the bends, cuts, etc before the weld, IF you had the machines, there is a use case for Xometry right there.

Thank you for the video @ Thefabricationseries. I have a small shop and threw the years i have purchased welder,plasma cutter air compressor, as time progress working a normal job to fund everything, if i were starting a business and have the basic fab tools have this company bend the pipe for me and i have to assemble weld and make something that requires complex tools, but after time if you make quality good looking parts and eventually end having enough to buy my own equipment. What i like is that F.S. he explains why and how to do it how he started because proper equipment cost thousands of dollars but if you love it theres a way. Beautiful header by the way.

What was the cost on all those parts?

GARAGE FAB is phenomenal, in case anyone watching this isn't aware of that yet!

You are amazing and you have actually taught me to tig again after just barely welding when I was much younger 😊

I hope they share some of their customers reactions to your build. It truly isa showpiece.

Good job on the design with SolidWorks is an extremely robust (if not somewhat confusing at times) CAD program for parts with some simulations. Xometry looks perhaps expensive but pretty cool.

Great watch 😁👍 but.... having an extra set of hands is definitely cheating... the greatest tool known to man, is a well trained pair of hands.. 😉 I make Vintage exhaust systems and use sand bending and hydroforming to get around alot of the bending issues. But it takes lot of practice to master to dark arts. 😊👍 Ben at Raysons Exhausts

Loving the combination of skill and high end modern tech. You's showing a massive future of possibilities. Thank you TFS.

What was the grand total for this from xometry? Was that ever mentioned?

That’s a nice piece! Enjoyed the video! Xometry looks like the do pretty good work also. The 3D printing is changing the game.

Dynamite!!! and very timely for me. Have had a "mode of transportation" that I have been using for 7 years that was made from a chassis I got from China. Long story, but it finally gave up the ghost due to internal rust. I need to replicate what I did from some 4130 but, no longer have the tube bender that I had, Sounds like Xometry might just do the trick. Thanks!!!!

All of the more than three tools you used are low buck ones that everyone probably has. Good job on another great video, thank you for what you do.

You can make a pipe clamp for holding pipes together while you tack them using a locking plier clamp, or what we call mole grips in the UK. They normally come with a swivel plate for clamping flat surfaces, but if you cut them off and weld two small pieces of angle bar on they work well for clamping round surfaces like pipe and bar. You can purchase factory made pipe clamps, they come in all sorts of designs, some are bulky and quite expensive. But majority of pipe fitters like myself just fabricate our own, they are cheap and less bulky. And another tip, when you mark the pipe with a marker for lining up, use a thinner marker and do multiple lines, it will help you to be more accurate.

This is amazing! How would one go about scanning for working room in the engine bay?

I think some of these comments are a little unfair. I’m an average to slightly above average fabricator. But I am what you would consider a power user or a subject matter expert or whatever with 3d modeling software. I’m also busy as hell at work so I cherish my time in my home shop. So methodology like this resonates with me. I do tube laser stuff at work all the time and have started doing it at home too. At home it’s a bit of a luxury since my time doesn’t really cost me. But in a professional setting, a guy with manual tools will be more expensive than farming it to a laser 10 out of 10 times. 27:24

Could this be done with just mandrel bends and tube? Great video, I aspire to be as good as you!!

Nice job, looks great

Like the way that you point out there are services you can use to get started with a buisnes or you can use for a hobby build

I have an idea about using a miter box for woodworking for cutting stuff using a long sawzall blade in place of a bandsaw. I have a grinder and I'll still use that but i have a bunch of nice Diablo blades that are worn in the usual spots and a miter box would stabilize the blade past the midpoint where they are still like new. I've decided to buy a tig and build an exhaust for my HD Dyna vs. buying one for 1400-1800. After I'm done, I'll have an exhaust AND a tig.

Damn that build is awsome..we dont have anything in australia like the companies you are talking about so i have to do all my builds from scratch..companies like this would be a game changer for me for sure..love it..

Thanks again for showing another top video. Really enjoy your channel

Hey. Paste tastes good.

Always great Justin…Paul in Orlando

Looks great, now... where can I send a cad model and get fiberglass parts made? I could build this, but can't quite figure out composites.

Great video and information, great to see ManKandy giving a hand. I really enjoy his videos as well, always lots of information and inspiring ideas from you guys!!

Killer piece. That collector is siiiiiick! I probably would have bolted the flange to the table then as long as you made sure your primaries were all square and in the collector I think you'd be good. I don't think anything you used would be unreasonable to expect a person willing to take on this job to have. Small batch mfg services like you used here are huge for expanding the capability of anyone who wants to build pretty much anything. Good stuff.

i would like to have two of those merge collectors for my headers ,how much are they or do i need to get the demintions from you and have the company xometry make them for me

Liked the video! Good advice

This is cool! I've been dreaming of being able to build out a set of custom headers, but no idea how. I'd be really curious to see how that printed part holds up to the heat, and how well that vortex design works. Xometry and SendCutSend means you don't hardly need any tools any more!

Like that header! That's a work of art!

Man that is SO cool

I see you tried to purge the back of that plate you welded to the 4 tubes... how do you use a tig with mild steel? That's what I'm thinking they are making the rear subframe reinforcement plate for the bmw e46. How do I prevent the back of the plate from sugaring up or oxidizing when you are welding those plates to the body. I'm not expert to weld those with tig but I don't want to spend too much money on a mig

Should have used a megaphone! The collector is something I've also thought about years ago but forgotten about but nice to see pop up now with 3d printing!

Oh yes he is a tool!😂. I’m already subscribed to his channel. He’s got a great video on a Watts link.

When theorizing the twisted merge collector did you factor in pressure pulse tuning? It looks very cool but I'm dubious about the function. The reflected wave may be weakened reducing the low pressure reflected wave weaker leading to lower output. Would very much enjoy some real world testing. You do some incredible work and making it look easy which means you're very good at it. As always, good job.

looks like a great service to bookmark for future use one day, but .. why did they not cut the tubes to the proper length? im confused as to why this wasn't done? or couldn't be done?

I want to know what the header is going on! And hear it too.

Have you ever used a piece of brake line for a purge line extension or something else that would be less likely to melt. I understand the minimal tool idea, but technically, it wouldn't be a tool.

This is an excellent video to show some capabilities of Xometry. I've tested several parts for pricing between brands X and brand SendCutSend. The parts I need made are fairly simple and an example is brand S is (2 x part with bends) = $55. With brand X the same (2 x part with bends) = $148. Prototyping and onesy/twosy parts don't seem competitively priced and I so I won't compare part quality. I think this would have been an even better video if you went over how you designed the header and/or how you uploaded and selected materials. I understand that makes a more involved video but that would add value to this. This is an effective ad and I love the header. We don't get an idea of the pricing scheme for the parts. We don't get and idea of trade off basic tools and money spent on premade parts. I like the swirl collector and I like that they can do that. The guys at Build It Yourself channel had swirl collectors printed for their V10 project.

very cool...well done

OK - another negative comment That is an amazing piece of work and workmanship - even if it was for show, which is too bad, as I'd have liked to hear this actually run!

I'm not through with the video yet, but that video(s) on the back walls method was very neat! Returning to ask if it would be possible to make the vortimerge if you made laser cut profiles on bent tubes?

Of coarse a caliper is a tool, but if you are into this kind of work, who doesn't have that

Superb job 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Anybody else notice the dolly/zoom shot from Jaws! Nice work ManKandy!

Really cool the made your Dyson part!

How do you make a complete seal at the collector with the tubing being so close together? I can't see the welds being 100%. An honest question, I don't build exhausts.

Fun fact, i bought and use that exact caliper for aerospace manufacturing and when i weld in my shop, it’s cheap but works 😅

Since you have a fixture table there (you're using as a "tool") that has known dimensions ( Model table, use in assembly with header), you might as well had Xometry print you a few fixtures, as a means to fasten the printed locating fixtures to ( using 16mm shoulder bolts, and nuts on bottom of table) With such a simple one/two piece runner, you could get away with a single locating fixture for the just the collector. Much easier than fumbling with the tubes in space. This is how I approach header builds, or anything within the tolerances of an FDM or SLS print. Generally, hard (machined) tooling is rarely needed for builds like this. Just an idea...

Hi Justin. Thank you for showing what can be done with little tools. Especially if you are starting to get into fabrication. Having said that, and this is my honest opinion. By the time that you buy a TIG welding machine, even the cheap ones, you will most likely already own a couple of clamps, tape measures and most probably at least one vernier caliper. Everybody will also have some materials like bricks, blocks and other scrap materials to use as temporary props. So you could have used that and leave Mancandy out of the shop. 😂 But I like the idea of the two of you working together. I love his channel. Tell him to start producing more videos. He is way to quiet. 😢😂😂😂

A company that is on Xometry 3D printed my prototype high pressure fuel pump for like $40, it was such a deal compared to a local provider

i dig. some of these comments, tho... smh... i see it along the lines of a homeowner 'builds' their home, but hires an architect to design it to their specifications. same difference. so what if justin didn't bend all the tubes himself. he designed it. what if he had an employee bend the tubes for him instead of xometry? what if he had the setup in his shop to do the bends? it's still *his* build. anyway, technology gets better, materials improve, and the concept of fabrication evolves. as does several other fields or trades. the idea that a hobbyist fabber could have access to something like this is such a short amount of time is pretty cool. it opens up so many possibilities for us as a group, and i believe that there are some younger people looking at this and getting really excited about it. i am!

As much as I have learned from you I think we can float you a few extra tools.

Would be interesting if it where printed with DED instead of PBF. then it might not have that muddy feel, because you would weld in a weld.

I didn't catch any info on price, other than the flange costing $150. So I'll venture a guess the whole set was $1000. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Really curious about the cost on that collector. I bet with a few tweaks you could make the collector one of the easier parts to weld up rather than notoriously the worst. Like, cant the ports out at maybe a 22.5deg angle and spread them apart just a bit so that you've got room to work between them, and just add a 22.5deg bend on the end of the exhaust primaries to match. Probably take up an extra two or three inches of diameter in the engine bay, but it might be a lot easier to weld and, more importantly, look friggin sick. On second thought, since we're already 3D printing parts, could print a center spike-looking piece that welds to the inside 1/3rd of the radius of the primaries, welding without the rest of the collector in the way. Then weld the collector on, and only need to do one bead all the way around. Just a thought. Definitely going to have to keep this in mind for my own projects down the road (if I ever get back to a place where I can have projects again). Thank you for all that you do. Edit: I wouldn't even consider myself an amateur welder, so if I do a project like this I will probably go with ordering some 3D printed coupons to practice with instead of Leroy Jenkins'ing the final product. But also could be a product to consider stocking in the online store for all three people that would buy it.

I saw the part that Abom79 made for you.

Can we please hear it run on something! That collector is sick!

I wonder if the blasting of the 3D printed part gave you trouble

Nice!

I eat pasta 😂

Cool, interesting video 👍😎 i wouldn't be concerned about pendantists complaining about the nominal number of tools - as you said, most people will have those lying around already in their garage/workshop - especially those looking to do work like this 👍 Besides, I've always considered it to be an excuse to buy new tools 😉 Not sure if it's been considered by the XOMETRY folks, but if they could incorporate a laser cutter into the process they could trim tubes to length and, where applicable, cut interlocking 'tabs" rather than straight cuts, to ensure the sections were correctly 'clocked'?

Can you 3D print stainless, or metal ???????

@3:39 ain't that the thing you have Abom79 making, bc those parts look familiar lol. 👍👍

Pretty sure I saw you build a complete roll cage from a grinder and a welder, oh and a tape measure.

This video is extremely helpful for me. I am looking to build a set of headers for my '92 Isuzu Rodeo equipped with the 3.1L V6. My dilemma is that the stock exhaust manifolds have 1" thick flanges with some studs that are used to mount the Alternator and the AC Compressor to the engine. Finding collectors is also part of that as well. THANK YOU for this video. It will help me alot! I find your videos very enjoyable and informative. I anxiously await the next one.

How much for all the scraps, to practice?

This reminds me of the good old days when you fabricated out of your garage. Thank you.

finally met someone who uses onshape just like me :D

very cool

What was the cost of 3D printed collector?

💪🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🔥

Fun

So solid works is a simple tool? Last I checked it was like 6- 8 k a year per seat. Not in the same category as a grinder and welder.

Nice ad

3dp metal is spongy.

🤘🤘👍

@1:17 you typed that last comment twice.

OK, I have to call BS on this whole premise. You used one very expensive tool that almost none of have access to. That’s your brain 🧠 without which none of this would be possible 😜.

F.A.B.

"Right now you can use the services that are out there." Laugh in slightly remote location where ordering a tube would be the cost of a tube bender.

Your table is a tool! Build it on your cement floor like all us poor people.

I'm so confused. To me, this is assembly. If he didn't make the parts, he didn't make the header he assembled it, and to make the parts verry verry, expensive machines were used. Right?

Title is a little misleading. I was trying to figure how you were going to get the bends & fab to look that good in 1 day. That’s an awful lot of pie cuts I was thinking.

Come on. Not marked as an ad, absurdly clickbait title. Beautiful work though! Stuff like xometery, sendcutsend and oshcut are useful, but it’s bullshit to farm out the bending and claim simple tools only.

Sorry, guy. Click bait title. I mean, we can all shorten bud time if we have somebody else do it for us. Tale as old as time.

Is the welding table a "tool"???? 😂😂😂😂

So, basically you made a very complex part with simple tools by sourcing it from another company with lots of expensive and advanced tools?