Home Distiller

One piece from HF or rigid handle bender? Will the cheap one work for stainless, or do I need the fancy one?

I'm looking for one to use on 1/2" copper tubing,,,and I've already ruled out the one at Home Depot that is called a 'conduit bender' and costs $40 bucks.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Boom

It's hard to make consistent bends with the cheap one. An Imperial 370-FH is about $50usd, it does 3/16 to 1/2", should be fine for copper but I wouldn't use it for 3/8 or 1/2" stainless.
Edit- reread your post, A Rigid 408/36132 is about as cheap as I'd go for stainless, about $125. The above answer was for copper.

I went ahead and bought the $4 one from HF. Completely useless. I'll let you know on the other one.

The issue with the hollow handled benders like your second picture is the handles bend over time. The solid metal handles hold up much better to stainless, especially 0.049" and thicker.

Has anyone tried this bender I found it at ace hardware

The legend on the package says it's for copper, aluminum and soft thinwall steel tubing. Probably need a $150usd + bender or a lucky find at a pawnshop. A bender that can do copper forever can get tore up in a hurry by stainless.

I'd be using it for copper just wondering if any one has used it since we're talking about tube benders

Probably be ok for copper. You could buy it and a short piece of 3/8", bend a 90 and see if it wrinkles or flattens it. Check if the bender is bending (in the wrong plane) at the pivot. They accept returns if it's no good.

Yeah I'd only have a couple of bends.. At $26.00 not a bad tool to have for this hobby

Ive used it with ptetty good results. Just take your time with it.

I just picked up a bender for 3/8" and 1/2" copper from eBay. Most dual sized benders are for 1/4" and 3/8", so it's nice that the one I bought can bend 1/2" tube, a good size for water circuits for condensers.

It's made from solid aluminum. I tested both sizes, and it makes a very clean bend. I'm super-picky on things like flattened tubing and crappy bends; this one does good work. Here it is, and it's on sale, but the shipping is a rip-off. Still, not too bad.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/181353682479

Just got it, and ruined about 3 feet of tubing trying to get a decent elbow that I could weld onto the coil. I might be using a combination of copper and stainless to get what I want.

zaph1 wrote:Just got it, and ruined about 3 feet of tubing trying to get a decent elbow that I could weld onto the coil. I might be using a combination of copper and stainless to get what I want.

What went wrong? I've done a half-dozen bends with complete success.

Have you tried annealing the tube at the bend location? Hit it with a propane torch until you see some colors flashing in that area, then quench.

MoonWhisky wrote:Has anyone tried this bender I found it at ace hardware

I have used one of those benders for almost 40 years and have never had any problems bending annealed copper tubing or brake lines of all the sizes it can accommodate...

BigSwede wrote: What went wrong? I've done a half-dozen bends with complete success.
Have you tried annealing the tube at the bend location? Hit it with a propane torch until you see some colors flashing in that area, then quench.

You do realize that what you are doing is merely ruining the temper, not annealing it? The colors indicate the temperature of the metal. Proper annealing would be "soak at 1650° for 30 minutes and slow cool 50° per hour." Still, I could stick a piece in the forge and see if it makes a difference. I'll let you know.

zaph1 wrote:

BigSwede wrote: What went wrong? I've done a half-dozen bends with complete success.
Have you tried annealing the tube at the bend location? Hit it with a propane torch until you see some colors flashing in that area, then quench.

You do realize that what you are doing is merely ruining the temper, not annealing it? The colors indicate the temperature of the metal. Proper annealing would be "soak at 1650° for 30 minutes and slow cool 50° per hour." Still, I could stick a piece in the forge and see if it makes a difference. I'll let you know.

So the softness I get is in my imagination? I have a bench muffle, I regularly heat treat everything from O1, A2, D2 tool steels, to artificially aging aluminum castings, and yes, I understand proper annealing operations.

But not many guys have a computerized, digital bench muffle. And it's hard to get a 3 foot copper piece into a 8" furnace.

They have a propane torch, and eyes. And when you heat a portion of copper until the periphery of the flame contact flashes blues and purples as the flame moves, that area of the copper is indeed softened.