tube bending die

admin

I worked on the tube bending die  I have been dreaming on for a while today, here's what I have so far, now I'm tossed up on what step I should take next, I wanted to add a  bushing to the center of the plates to connect and center the two, and act as a bushing to the pin the die will rotate on, the holes punched in the plate are currently 1". I was thinking of cutting out a third plate (smaller in diameter) to add to the very center  and weld it to the center of the tube for extra support. I am tossed up on where to put the holes in between the center hole and the edge of the die for the arm to turn the die, I was thinking to put the holes as close to the tube  as possible and  put bushings in those holes and weld them to the outer plates to reinforce the whole thing.originally I had made a copy of a jd2 arms so I was going to make the die accordingly but I sold it, and I was planning to just buy one, now I plan to just make arms just for this one die, so the holes can go where ever I want them to. after I get it all welded up I was thinking about closing up the die completely and filling it with concrete or something to help stiffen it up... if that makes since to you guys. any thoughts or criticism is welcomed. thanks.... oh yeah the plates are 1/4" hr and the tube is 1 3/4" .120" wall mild seamed so this die will be for 1 1/2" tube... I know .120" wall not .125" wall but I don't think the 10 thou will make a difference this is kinda crude anyway Attached Images
Reply:I am very interested in this project. Please let me know how it works out for you.thanks for posting the idea.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:Originally Posted by jamlitI am very interested in this project. Please let me know how it works out for you.thanks for posting the idea.
Reply:I like where you are going with this...
Reply:Love the project! Right up my alley! I would recommend sleeving the die in several places to add more strength to it. Maybe put 4 equally spaced sleeves around the perimeter and one in the middle. I built a tubing roller and sleeved it with pipe(I posted it under home built tubing roller) and it made it incredibly strong. .kris
Reply:Originally Posted by krisk1233Love the project! Right up my alley! I would recommend sleeving the die in several places to add more strength to it. Maybe put 4 equally spaced sleeves around the perimeter and one in the middle. I built a tubing roller and sleeved it with pipe(I posted it under home built tubing roller) and it made it incredibly strong. .kris
Reply:great idea much cheeper than buying one  great job
Reply:I like the way you think, this is the stuff that keep us poor people entertained!
Reply:I have a different type of bender than most of you.  If I need a die I just bolt some plate together and turn the radius on a lathe.  Fast and cheap.  I think if you don't have a lathe you must know someone that does.  If you need to bend square material it is real easy. just use flat plate with a top and bottom larger and bolt together or weld together.My bender is 40 years old and works the way a log splitter works.  The ram pushes the the curved die forward with two outside dies to hold the ends.  It is only 12 tons of force but is enough to bend 2" easily.
Reply:Very clever, I was thinking along those lines but using a center die of wood turned on the lathe with slightly wider alum plates top and bottom to capture the pipe that is being bent.Yours can be made rigid by filling it with sand too.But I like the idea of spacer bushings. I can now go down to home depot and just buy a pre-bent 90 deg corner tube and plasma it open. Thanks for the idea, the best ideas are always simple enough that even I can grasp the jist of it.
Reply:some more progress Attached Images"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal"   -Henry Ford
Reply:Dunno, but you might need the outside diameter of the pipe as the inside of the die so you might want to use the next size pipe to make the die. aye?  die looks nice, good idea!
Reply:I'd say you've got everyones attention with this project... 1200+ views and climbing...I've seen many variations on this before,but you are doing a great job and when you finish it will look factory. Is the 'shoe' made from tubing or pipe? I looked into something similar before and some pipe has inside diameters that are almost perfect for this use and I think some tubing inside diameters fits other sizes. Are you going to put another curved piece on the backside to close the circle and make it totally round? or leave it open? Are you going to make a smaller auxillary roller along the same lines to bend the intended tubing ?Good Luck...You're making this look easier than it is...
Reply:Are you planning to use the same concept with the follower die?  The other day I saw that you had an ealier post without much response on this.  A few steps forward on the work has gotten a lot of interest.  Keep at it and good luck.Rene
Reply:yeah I do plan to make my own follower using the 1 3/4" .120 wall tube, I don't plan to bend another half, the plates you see will get cut so the end product will model after one like a jd2, I bent this tube with a jd2 so I was kinda copying that design to some extent. I am at a thinking stage right now, I have to figure out where to locate the split tube in relation the holes on the plate, and then what steps I am going to take to weld everything up. I already welded the center bushing in the two plates and I wasn't happy with the run out so I cut it apart and now I am at a stand still until I can figure out a way to get it as perfect as possible with what I got. to jonesg I'm not sure what kind of 90 at depot you can get that will work, I do have to say that this is challenging, if it wasn't for the scrap laying around and the welding shop up the street to punch the holes for free I'd just opt to buy the real deal, but I am broke, bored and I like to do ridiculous things sometimes so this is what is currently brewing. the thing that got me to dream this up was an old circle cutter for a O/A torch at work. I'll work on this some more on Monday, I am anxious to try it out, as soon as I do I'll post the results"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal"   -Henry Ford
Reply:Like I said ...you're making this look easy... It ain't I was wondering how much distortion you might experence in the welding together of the pieces... I guess you answered that question when you found out. I imagine Tig would offer the least distortion in assembly. Any other method would require much careful gradual assembly with a lot of short tack welds. If using some method other than Tig (or even Tig) you might want to weld up a jig of sorts with stobs or bolts that hold the entire fixture to prevent movement as it's welded and to hold everything in place. A lot of extra work for a single die,but probably necessary to align things correctly. I wouldn't think solid beads would be required around all joints...most could be tack welds...the exception might be around the shoe itself and even there tack welds all around closely spaced might be sufficient.You could drill & tap a plate for bolts the size of the center holes and clamp the parts down until you get it tacked together,then flip it over to do the other side the same way. The pieces won't shift around then as you work on it and you'll minimize distortion while tacking it together. You could remove single bolts to weld that holes bushing and then replace it and then remove the bolt across from that one to continue the process. Tedious method,but it'll all be straight like it's supposed to be in the end. If you know anyone that melts metal in a backyard foundry they might be able to 'fill' the piece after you get it assembled if you think that's required. Even aluminum filler would make the unit 'solid'.You're doing real well so far .... I'm glad it's you doing it instead of me   You've already accomplished the major hurdles...the rest should be easier..just tedious. Good Luck
Reply:Looks good.  How are you going to power the bender?  If manually you will need a lever multiplier for what you want to bend. Not sure what "run out" is.  Perhaps you could use over size tubing to sleeve your bushing.  Cut them 1/2" shorter than your bushing, then slip them on your bushing then assemble your plates.  Use the oversize tubing to support the plate, so you can clamp the assembly.  I guess you could use washers too, if you can keep them straight to weld them to the bushings.
Reply:Home depot sells 90 deg corners bent from 1 1/2 inch galvi conduit.They also carry 1 1/4 and 2 inch 90 deg sections.Most of the pipe and tube retailers on the internet also sell 90 deg sections.Looking at your design, I think the disks might need to be slightly wider to capture the tube sides, but we'll find out when you give it a go.