Need tips on bending SS tubing

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Ohio-Ed

Ohio-Ed

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I bought some 1/2" SS tubing on ebay. I'd like to make some pickup tubes, and a hex coil. In a few places I'd like to make a fairly tight radius.

Here is what I have:

1/2" O.D. (.020 wall) 304/304L Stainless Steel beverage grade tubing
# Bright Annealed
# Tensile Strength PSI: 87738
# Yield Strength PSI: 43749
# % Elongation: 50
# Hardness: B-75.5
# Spec: ASTM-A269-08/A249/A249M-08/ASME-SA249/SA249M-07


I've played with it a bit and not very happy with the results so far. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed
 
This is probably NOT going to help you bend SS. I'm not sure you can do it at room temp, it's damn*d brittle.

For bending copper, I fill it with Kosher salt (for small diameter tubes ( ~1/8") cause the sand gets stcuk) or just sand for larger ones. Keeps it from squishing. And when the salt gets stuck inside, hot water dissolves it out.

Make friends with someone at MIT, Boeing, or Wallys Welding shop? I'm not sure if even a Mapp gas cylinder can heat it up enough to help.
 
For diptubes I used a conduit bender. Just walked into lowes with the tube, bent two different tubes. When asked what I was doing I replied my boss wanted to see if this bender would be right for our application before he bought 10 for the crews. it worked quite well but won't work for tight radius bends. The correct tool to use particularly for tight bends in SS is this.
http://www.shoplet.com/Ridgid-400-Series-Instrument-Benders-36132/SEPTLS63236132/spdv
Kinda spendy. If you go this route know that these benders are made for one size tube each so dont accidently buy a 1/4" bender cause you found it for 50 bucks.
 
Thanks for posting this...

Assuming we bought from the same ebay source, I was told nothing tighter than 9" radius is possible with this tube, and it required a tube bender and 200 lbs of force.

I just opened my box of tubing this evening (too busy with the holidays to mess around with it) and I am quite pleased. I'm going to look into spring benders or manual pipe benders at HD tomorrow.

I'm curious if anyone else has any experience with this tube, and how to bend it? I'm looking to bend a 15 inch coil from the current ~24 inch coil.

Thanks,

Bryan
 
A little less expensive alternative is the imperial 364-fhb-08 tube bender for 1/2" Od tubing, Rigid is mighty proud of their 408 benders. I do tubing for a living and have a pretty fair amount of experience bending with most of the benders made, the imperial benders work for the lighter wall thicknesses < .065". The .020 wall tubing is going to be a challenge as the wall thickness is going to cause problems if the 2 halves of the bender do not fit tight, wrinkles at best, flattening or breakage at worst, a better choice is .035 or .049 wall tubing.
 
bkloos said:
Thanks for posting this...

Assuming we bought from the same ebay source, I was told nothing tighter than 9" radius is possible with this tube, and it required a tube bender and 200 lbs of force.

I just opened my box of tubing this evening (too busy with the holidays to mess around with it) and I am quite pleased. I'm going to look into spring benders or manual pipe benders at HD tomorrow.

I'm curious if anyone else has any experience with this tube, and how to bend it? I'm looking to bend a 15 inch coil from the current ~24 inch coil.

Thanks,

Bryan
Click to expand...

You can forget the spring bender... been there done that. The tube kinks and then you play heck getting the spring off.

Tried a cheapo bender that basically holds one end while it rolls the rest... again no go... kinked it.

I heated a piece with a mapp torch and kept it red hot for 2-3 minutes, then put it in a tube bender with a roller and die... That is the best yet. But it still flatened out the top and wrinkled the inside of the bend. This is about a 1-1/2" radius. The tubing had cooled a bit before I bent it, because I lack enough hands to hold the torch, the tubing, and both handles of the bender.

Ed
 
kladue said:
A little less expensive alternative is the imperial 364-fhb-08 tube bender for 1/2" Od tubing, Rigid is mighty proud of their 408 benders. I do tubing for a living and have a pretty fair amount of experience bending with most of the benders made, the imperial benders work for the lighter wall thicknesses < .065". The .020 wall tubing is going to be a challenge as the wall thickness is going to cause problems if the 2 halves of the bender do not fit tight, wrinkles at best, flattening or breakage at worst, a better choice is .035 or .049 wall tubing.
Click to expand...

So far the best I've been able to do wrinkled. Do you think filling the tubing with sand as suggested would help?
 
Ohio-Ed said:
So far the best I've been able to do wrinkled. Do you think filling the tubing with sand as suggested would help?
Click to expand...


Ed,
I would give a look a Kladue's suggestion. So far what he does is the best I have seen.

Filling the tube with sand or salt is an old trick. Just make sure you seal the ends. Brass instruments are done this way, only with a wax like filler. At least as far as I know.

Good luck.
 
1-1/2" radius sounsd tight... Again, I was told from the guy selling the stuf that 9" was about the best he could do. Hmmm. When I looked at the chillers he was selling, they didn't come any tighter than 9".

Did you guys have any luck with with gentle radius bends? My thought was to add a few degrees every few inches (exact numbers TBD) along the existing 24" diameter coil to bring it down to an ~12-14" diameter coil for my dual HXs. Do you think this will be possible?

Thanks for the tip on the spring bender. Won't waste any time there....

Bryan
 
bkloos said:
1-1/2" radius sounsd tight... Again, I was told from the guy selling the stuf that 9" was about the best he could do. Hmmm. When I looked at the chillers he was selling, they didn't come any tighter than 9".

Did you guys have any luck with with gentle radius bends? My thought was to add a few degrees every few inches (exact numbers TBD) along the existing 24" diameter coil to bring it down to an ~12-14" diameter coil for my dual HXs. Do you think this will be possible?

Thanks for the tip on the spring bender. Won't waste any time there....

Bryan
Click to expand...

The problem that I have is I put a coupling for the valve in my MLT as low in the keg as possible. It is only a couple inches above the false bottom. So the pickup tube has to go from horizontal to vertical within 2" or it goes through the FB hole at an angle and won't fit. I could enlarge the hole in the FB, but that will be a last resort. I bent a piece of copper for this, no problem. Now just trying to replace with SS. (I'm thinking that maybe I should just have someone bend me one and be done with it since I think this is the only critical piece)

I don't think you will have a huge problem bending the coils for a hex (I'm planning on one also). The problem you may have is bending the tubing to attach it to your connections.

I have mpt to 1/2" tube swageloc elbows I plan to use... One facing each direction so it will be a "natural" fit for the coil.

I don't know if you have bent tubing or not? I have done several copper coils and have learned a few things. Use the natural coil of the material... just tighten the diameter. I put a corny keg in the middle of the coil and rotated the coil around it as I bent. Plan ahead, it is annealed so it bends fairly easy but once you bend it, it hardens and is way more difficult to re-bend.

For the gentle curve of a 12" coil, the spring bender might help... I am not there yet so I did not try. The spring bender was useless on the tight bends.

Let me know if you learn any more.

Good luck.

Ed
 
I have a Rigid 408 bender and have not been able to bend .020 wall tubing with it without wrinkling. I pretty much only use .035 wall in my products and it works well but is tough to do even with that bender.

The spring tools will not work and don't waste your money on the cheap benders available from HFT, they're horrible on soft copper and useless on stainless IME.
 
I filled my 1/2" SS tubing with sand and hand bent it around a 5 gallon paint can. I spent a day on the phone trying to find a shop that could do this for me. It was very simple for me to do and glad I saved the cash and time.

Somewhere on HBT is a post with photos of a guy who built a wooden jig for bending into a pick up tube, I did not use that as I had the guys in the Industrial Fluid supply house bend my pick up tubes for me, cost an extra $5 each for the service.
 
If you have access to a big pipe threading machine, you can use this to bend your tube. You will have to make a tool to insert where the tube normally goes, and wrap the stainless around that. The tool should consist of a large diameter tube welded (centered of course) to the end of a smaller diameter tube. Hook one end of the tube, and turn the thread machine on. Works like a charm.
 
Alright guys... I think I made some progress.

I took a section of tubing and heated it with a map torch (not sure if this helped because the tubing is already annealed). I let it cool and then took Brewmonk's idea and filled it with salt. I used table salt and packed it tight then used duct tape to seal the ends. I then used a bender from HFT... I can't find it on there site now or I would post a link...but it has a die that is pushed around the radius by a wheel to form the bend... I got a little wrinkle, but it didn't flatten out on top and I think I can live with it.

The top tube is the latest try, the bottom is my best previous attempt (the new one is not sized yet):
Bend-1.jpg


Here you can see the improvement in wrinkle:
Bend-2.jpg


Here is a shot from the other side. Less flattening on the top and a tighter radius:
Bend-3.jpg


So... I think I can live with this, what do you guys think?

Ed
 
Ed I'm impressed you got that HF bender to even do that. I never tried it with SS but all I ever got it to do was mangle soft copper.

Just in case anyone else doesn't already have their tubing, I've done quite a few custom pickup tubes for people. Price is $10 each if the OAL is less than 12". That's for a single bend with the exterior polished and the pickup side flared in 1/2" OD .035 wall 304 stainless.
 
Derrin said:
Ed I'm impressed you got that HF bender to even do that. I never tried it with SS but all I ever got it to do was mangle soft copper.

Just in case anyone else doesn't already have their tubing, I've done quite a few custom pickup tubes for people. Price is $10 each if the OAL is less than 12". That's for a single bend with the exterior polished and the pickup side flared in 1/2" OD .035 wall 304 stainless.
Click to expand...

Derrin... You sure you don't mean $100 per tube? I have your sanke fermentor and you do DAMN NICE work... I really don't want to think that I spent all that effort on something I could have bought from you for $10 and gotten a much better result.

$10 is a kickin price... if anyone is looking.

Ed
 
Derrin said:
Ed I'm impressed you got that HF bender to even do that. I never tried it with SS but all I ever got it to do was mangle soft copper.

Just in case anyone else doesn't already have their tubing, I've done quite a few custom pickup tubes for people. Price is $10 each if the OAL is less than 12". That's for a single bend with the exterior polished and the pickup side flared in 1/2" OD .035 wall 304 stainless.
Click to expand...


Sounds good. Does this have a nut included?
 
kladue said:
A little less expensive alternative is the imperial 364-fhb-08 tube bender for 1/2" Od tubing, Rigid is mighty proud of their 408 benders. I do tubing for a living and have a pretty fair amount of experience bending with most of the benders made, the imperial benders work for the lighter wall thicknesses < .065". The .020 wall tubing is going to be a challenge as the wall thickness is going to cause problems if the 2 halves of the bender do not fit tight, wrinkles at best, flattening or breakage at worst, a better choice is .035 or .049 wall tubing.
Click to expand...

Check tis out it melts at 144*F; http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/thermo/thermo4.html

I bent up some 3/8" stainless with one of my Ridgid high dollar benders without any wrinkling problems on .023" wall thickness SS. First I filled the tubing with that 144*F low melting metal that looks and acts like solder then oiled the slipper shoe and bent away. When done placed the tubing in boiling water to remove the metal filler. There's a correct name for this metal that escapes me at the moment. Using the same process I bent 5/16" brass tubing that only had .014" wall thickness, no way without it splitting, flattening and wrinkling without this filler added first. Yes those Ridgid benders are not cheap but a one time lifetime tool purchase.
 
Reed MFG Hand Tubing Bender. Not sure of the model # for 1/2" but for 3/8 it is TB06. Use them at work all the time. 1/2" can be a pain but once you learn how to use the benders and have sufficient forearm strength it works. I do alot of tubing bending out here on the platform. Usually .035 though.
 
Hey Guys,

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I just picked up the Ridgid 36132 for $94 from improvementdirect.com

When you enter CJ2 as the coupon code, you save a couple bucks...

Bryan
 
bkloos said:
Hey Guys,

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I just picked up the Ridgid 36132 for $94 from improvementdirect.com

When you enter CJ2 as the coupon code, you save a couple bucks...

Bryan
Click to expand...

Yeah a 4A522 Ridgid sold by Grainger for $114 plus Made In China. They have gone to the dogs over the years
plus jacked up their prices big time.
The best price for the Ridgid 36132 is $91.34 on line. Careful what ever you purchase
as good tools last a lifetime with perfect results from brand new to 30 years old and hard use. Trust me on this one as i've purchased four sizes of Ridgid benders, taken care of them and they'll take care of you with great results. Just keep the shoe oiled or use silicone spray before each bend has kept my 30 year tubing bender bending like new still.
 
Yeah a 4A522 Ridgid sold by Grainger for $114 plus Made In China. They have gone to the dogs over the years
plus jacked up their prices big time.
Click to expand...

Does Ridgid have Made in US products, and if so is there a comparable bender from the US source?
 
Sorry I can't answer this one as the last Ridgid bender I purchase was over 9 years ago with all four still made in the good old USA no JAP or China Crap like today. I have 3/16", 1/4", 3/8' and 1/2" in my collection of hand benders used by dad and my lifetime as street rodding and drag racers. Being a licensed A&P mechanic there was no cutting corners when tools are your life used daily.
 
The only way I have done thinwall tubing successfully is with the parker 412 and 424 crank benders with the internal mandrel that keeps the Id from doing distressing things. I used the 424 to make the 1/2"Od inside 1"Od outside CFC for the phase 2 system, bent in octagonal shape with inlet-outlet on same side.
 
Derrin said:
With the PM's I got, I went ahead and put a quick page up for these. It's not in the site nav yet, only available through this link: http://www.brewershardware.com/PickupTubes.htm

Sorry to have kinda hijacked your thread here Ed. :(
Click to expand...

No problem Derrin... wish I had thought to contact you before I went through the hassle to bend my own. Yours look mighty nice.
 
Hey All,
I am a pipe fitter who works in the semiconductor world, I have done a lot of bending of SS tubing and pipe in the 20 years I have been in the trade. The best benders are made by Swagelok in my opinion, they are very pricey but worth every penny. I went out to our shop today and grabbed some 1/2" 316L .020 and bent it with out any deformity to the tubing. Here is a link to the benders I am referring to;

http://www.swagelok.com/search/product_detail.aspx?part=MS-HTB-8
 
Yakima 300

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