Choosing a Tube and Pipe Bender 101

You’ll want to take several things into consideration when choosing a tube and pipe bender for your application. One of the first steps is to determine your current bending needs and forecast future growth in this aspect of your business. Do you produce one-off projects, do you anticipate bending low- to mid level quantities, or do you have, or want to have, high-quantity mass production that would warrant full automation?

You want to make sure your business does not outgrow the machine whether you choose a manual, hydraulic, or electronically driven option.

INVESTIGATE BASIC BENDER TYPES

Bending tube and pipe can be done using several methods.

Open Rotary Draw Bending—A forming die set with a fixed radius that forms an empty tube or pipe is the most common type of bending. Components bent with open rotary draw bending are often used in motorsport, structural, and industrial applications.

Mandrel Bending—A mandrel, a solid steel plug or series of steel balls, is inserted into the tube to provide internal tubular support for thin-wall, tight-radius applications. Mandrel bending often produces components for headers, turbos, cold air intakes, and mass-produced furniture.

Roll Bending—Pyramid-style positioned, three-roll machines use dies to bend large-radii and coiling applications.

Ram-Style Bending—A single hydraulic ram pushes a forming die or shoe into the tube, causing it to bend between two opposing dies. Ram bending often forms components used in exhaust systems, carports, and gates.

EVALUATE SPEED, ACCURACY, AND REPEATABILITY NEEDS

The speed, accuracy, and repeatability you want will help you choose among four different machine capability levels and power modes.

•Manual benders are economical units that are perfect for do-it-yourself applications, small production runs, and entry-level projects. Bend repeatability and accuracy of the bend angle can vary depending on the operator’s attention to detail.

•Air/hydraulic benders are powered by a combination of hydraulics and shop air (90 to 120 PSI). Although these units offer serious bending power and hands-free bending, they can be painfully slow for production applications. They can be fitted with auto stops that are usually accurate to about 0.5 degree.

•Electric/hydraulic benders are powered by electric/hydraulic pumps and are much faster than the air/hydraulic systems. They too can be fitted with auto stops.

•NC and CNC electromechanical benders are fully programmable and outfitted with encoders, touchscreens, and auto stops. These machines offer highly accurate bends, to 0.1 degree on a production level.

MATCH MACHINE CAPACITY WITH MATERIAL STRENGTH

Many of the industrial-grade, production- style benders on the market today can operate at full capacity on a daily basis. Lighter-duty or entry-level machines may struggle when used at maximum capacity for extended periods of time. The key to efficient, quality bends is making sure your bender can handle the tensile strength of the materials passing through your shop in production numbers you anticipate.

Familiarize yourself with materials for each job, and verify that they are within your machine’s capacity to alleviate costly service issues. Material tensile strength comparison charts are extremely helpful and are available online.

KNOW THE MATERIALS

The details of your application will determine what style of bender and tooling is right for you.

As you prepare for a bending job, the following information is critical to make the best equipment and tooling choices to avoid bend failures like wrinkles, kinks, and crushing:

• Material type
• Size, outside diameter
• Wall thickness
• Centerline radius (CLR) of the desired bend—one-half the diameter of a 180-degree bend

EXPLORE TOOLING OPTIONS

From smooth, flowing bends on stainless steel and aluminum to crush-style bends on square tube, when it comes to bend quality, it’s all about the tooling.

Research the market; literally thousands of tooling options and accessories are available. Learn which tooling will pair with your machine to provide the best-quality bends with the most efficiency.

ASK THE EXPERTS

Whether you are adding bending to your capabilities or expanding or upgrading processes you already provide, consulting with a tube bending specialist can save you time and money by ensuring that you have the best machine for your needs.

Purchasing from a reputable equipment manufacturer with live phone and online support is always a good idea. You will be able to add their bending expertise to your team when you have a tough job and use their services to be sure your equipment keeps functioning at peak levels.

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