How to bend some square or rectangular tubing

admin

Hi all,  I posted this under welding projects but received no responses but several hundred views so I thought I would try posting it under this forum and see if I can get some advice.I put a bid on building an iron door with scroll work arched doorway. The design calls for 1 1/2" square tubing or 1 1/2" x 1" rectangular tubing making up the door frame and the same material for the door itself.It is to have wooden slats in between iron bars up to the 6' mark and from that point it arches to conform to the contour of the doorway. This part will have the scroll work designs welded to it. Standard gate hardware will finish it off.My question is, can this material be bent by hand with a jig on my steel table? I was thinking that I may have to go to a local fab shop with bending equipment but thought I might run it by my peers here. My concern would be wrinkling it. I have made many such arches out of solid stock over the years, but never made one out of tubing. I have bent pipe by hand and a torch, filling it with sand and applying heat to soften it while I bent it around a jig. Could I do the same to the thin wall rectangular tubing or square tubing?? Maybe just filling it with sand but no heat as it would be relatively easy to bend??  The arc is not sharp, about a 24" radius. Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas?Any help is appreciated.Thanks,TonyReply With Quote
Reply:Benders like a Hossfeld might have dies to make that large of a radius.You can also look into roll benders.   Buy the Harbor Freight one and see this guy:http://www.swagoffroad.com/Harbor-Fr...-Kit_p_74.htmlCon Fuse!Miller Dynasty 350Millermatic 350P-Spoolmatic 30AMiller Multimatic 200Hypertherm PowerMax 1000G3Miller Maxstar 200DX
Reply:Originally Posted by therreraHi all,  I posted this under welding projects but received no responses
Reply:Hey Therrera, I just finished this set of driveway gates with double arches. The frame was 1 1/2" square tubing. I ended up using my cheap chinese 12 ton pipe bender. I was very careful to keep the square tubing "square" to the round pipe die on the bottle jack ram. I also placed a length of 2" wide flat bar across the round top rollers to help keep the square tubing square. Chalk mark your tubing every six inches and line the mark up to middle of your bender die and bend it slightly and move onto your next mark. Works well if you are careful. Attached Images