I've been tearing 1/2" tube bends for a week and didn't know why until this video, which was a revelation. Thanks for posting this, it was huuuuuuuuugely helpful to this hobbyist
This is absolutely an amazing video. As a high end hobby metal fabricator that retrieved a thousand feet of new 1’” thin wall square tubing from a dump site, I do a lot of square tubing fabrication. After getting tied of welding all my corners, I bought a cheap mechanical bender, but it didn’t work because it did not have the modified die for square benders. Unfortunately, I already got rid of the junk I bought, but with his video I will fabricate my own. Super video - just presents the concept that works and let the fabricator figure out the details in design. Thank you.
Outstanding Bill, very helpful. I build climbing deer stands and bending square tubing has always been a problem without an expensive machine. Thanks for the great video.
THANK you, Sir! Beautiful work and so happy you shared the "inside bend" secret (NOBODY else seems to reveal this super important tip). You saved me a LOT of time. Very grateful.
Awesome video. The hand bender was exactly what I was looking for since I'm only bending one size tube for a side project. This design helps me out big time since I can save money and just build the bender my self. Thanks for the vid!
"Not an engineer". Lol. This is the best video i have seen in a very long time. I'm needing a cheap way of bending Al tube, for an invention. Thank you so very much!
Well I increased the wheel to 7" diameter using Starboard material. Finally got the two 45° bend that I needed to fabricate the "Arc" for my boat's bimini hard top frame. I'll head out on Monday and buy 40' of aluminum tubing that's needed fabricate the frame. Thx for this video Bill.
Good ideas, thx. That retical railing is sweet. I am an engineer... anyone can get things done in a muli million dollar factory. Diy at home separates the men from the boys. Most the guys and ladies I work with don't work on cars or build anything...big difference in making a drawing and making a finished part, I should have been a machinist, sitting in front of the computer all day sucks, haha
Jeremy Laxton agree.. just before i watched this i seen a video where someone bends a peace of steel by beating the hell out of it with a hammer. this one looks MUCH better.
Nicely done and very creative. Really enjoyed your knowledge sharing. I used to bend tubing on my first job as a tool and die machinist for Drag Specialties, but I like your DIY creativity and machine builds.
WOW nice idea. I'll be making one on Monday. Its Friday and if it wasn't a cold day in hell, Tucson wt 6in of snow( no really, maybe more) I'd be at work making it right now.
You might not be an engineer but dude, you have some great skills there. that said the use what you got approach kinda makes you an engineer really. Great work
I’ve been in engineering for over 30 years. Half the mechanical engineers I’ve met can’t maintain their own cars. Engineering is a skill in my opinion, not a title.
Just subscribed to your channel just getting into bending metal like the square three quarter inch hand bender you built .With the Ridge nice clean bend . Thank you
"If I were smarter I would have made it 6 " longer !" From here your doing just fine great info thanks for some great content. I can see why you wear gloves in that first clip
This is the first of your vids I have seen, probably not the last. I knew instantly you were from Alaska when you called it a "snowmachine". Dead giveaway.
Hi Bill I to enjoyed your tubing video. When and if you can would appreciate more. The hydraulic benders would be very interesting. Your truly has been to Alaska 3x love it there.
I would be willing to bet that you're a lot like my father when he needed something he made it he didn't go out and buy it because back in those days when he was younger there was no Town anywhere close by if something broke you fixed it if you didn't have the stuff to fix it you made the stuff to fix it I'm very impressed by what you have done it's amazing what a person can do when they use their imagination instead of their billfold I'm 74 years old and the people like you and me we're all dying out younger Generations are so stupid that there's no way they could get by if they had to use their brain
My dad always used to say kids today had no common sense and he was talking about my generation, i think having curiosity about the world around you is more important then anything, some have it others unfortunately don't and are bored with the world around them.
If you send me an email i can send you some pictures with a tape held in front of the bender so you can get some measurements, on my home page click "about" then there should be a link to my email.
Hi Bill, I love the video, I couldn't find info anywhere on how to get a square tube bender under $1000 - so I am knocked out. I have a question. I'm going to build a couch for my wife and and wanted to have the whole thing about a foot off the ground on a single contiguous leg of square tubing. I was looking at steel and possibly chroming it (not sure about this as I know the size and shape would be really, really large. or better a piece of stainless steel square tubing.. probably about 1 1/4". Do you think a piece of stainless steel tubing could be bent without hydraulics and by the methods you've shown.. Suggestions?? Many thanks for the video - it's awesome!!
I dont know about stainless what i did on those deck rails was i had them powder coated that gives them a nice look and easier to work with. Some of the tubing if it is to high a tensile strength it will just kink so try it before you buy a bunch.
Yes the larger the inner wheel the larger the radius, the smaller ones are a little harder to bend without kinking so i think this is about as tight as i could make it and i use the other bender for a different radius.
Hey Bill, so I'm trying to build a square tubing bender out of a log splitter similar to the one you use with the rebar bender. Could you tell me the OD of the part that does the pushing force, that you put the round wire on to get the bend? And also how far apart are the two pieces that work as "holders" or stops on each side? My first attempt was with a 3 inch OD roller welded to the splitter wedge and my stops are 14 inches apart. I am bending 1 inch square tubing and want to get to a 90. It kinked at about 45 degrees. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
You can get my email from my page i think it says business but i have no business and i will try and get you what you need, just got back form a fishing trip so working on that now.
It's the "wire" on the former. It deforms the inner edge of the radiused tube so the metal has somewhere to go rather than pucker up. So the humped former pushes the middle in until the sides of the tube* touch the former allowing the inside radius to be smaller than the outer one. *tube - RHS, box section, rectangular tube etc.
I would just try it and see, if it does not work just make the diameter of the circle larger. I used wood to get it where i needed then i made it out of metal. .
Using a Harboar Freight bender, I machined a 1/4 radius on a 3" diameter die. Then I bent .060" aluminum tubing but the sides bowed out. How can I prevent the sides from bowing out?
I just used trial and error and that is why all my projects use steel 3/4" .060 or 1" .120 cause that is what found i could bend with what i had. Try a larger diameter radius, i starter with plywood cutouts until i found what worked.
Well the 4" diameter die didn't work. Still had bowing. Then my small lathe died on me so I'll have to repair that first before buying turning a 6" round stock. Bummer.
I have no plans to sell the bender, if you don't feel confident building one I think you can buy a bender from Harbor Freight and just modify the dies to bend square tubing like I have shown by adding an inner edge to bend the middle of the tube first.
