Pipe Bender???t-top, railings, misc

[cape_fab]

I'm looking into buying a pipe bender for constructing T-Tops and other misc boat items. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know that a ram type bender tends to kink and crack metal in extreme bends. I'm looking more for horizontal bender that forms the pipe around the die. I am looking for manual, CNC, or NC bending options that can be used w/ steel, stainless, & alum. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I built many benders, see the frames on my gallery,
simple, take a 1 inch plate about 4 feet by 2 feet , drill holes at 100mm centres, make pegs with threaded ends to fit thru those holes, pegs 2 inch steel, go to a wreckers yard, buy a 4 inch or 5 inch ram with a 12 inch stroke, get a valve from a hydraulic wholesaler and mount the whole on legs about 30 ins high, with a pump and about a 5hp motor, you will make pushing jigs from hardwood, bend radiii and gradual bends in pipe, you can even bend 90 degrees in up to one and one half ins pipe, steel, in alloy you will need to anneal the pipe, you will need to buy formers for the pipe, email me if you want exact plqans of this,

Originally Posted by cape_fab

I'm looking into buying a pipe bender for constructing T-Tops and other misc boat items. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know that a ram type bender tends to kink and crack metal in extreme bends. I'm looking more for horizontal bender that forms the pipe around the die. I am looking for manual, CNC, or NC bending options that can be used w/ steel, stainless, & alum. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[cape_fab]

I was actually thinking about making one from different components out of the Northern, MSC, or McMaster. For now though I think I'm going to keep looking but if I don't find anything I might be replying with a request for a pic....we'll see. Thanks again!

[CWA]

you want mandral bender or aroarty draw i do alot of rocket launchers i use a roatry draw

I used to build steel yachts proffesionally. For stainless tubing push/pullpits, canopies etc. in 25 - 20mm ss tubing you can make your own simple tube bender that will not damage or kink you tubing.
Make yourself a round die to the raduis you want, grove in half the diameter of the tubing to be bent on the outside. From the centre of your die extend an approx. 1 meter handle with a roller (same raduis groved as die) that run against the die around its circumference. Fit a guide (splitted) against the die where the bend must start, make sure the tube slides easily through this guide and the guide is well secured. Fit the whole contraption on a solid steel table or stand.
To bend, push the desired length of tubing through the guide into between the die and roller, pull the roller handle around the die, any angle op to 180 degrees.
The use of a mandrill is optional. Make different diameter dies for different bents. Much cheaper than CNC methods for one offs and custom work.

[Accurate Towers]

I have a Tower shop and have been useing for years 2 pipe benders.
The Hossfeld #2 bender hydraulic with pipe dies are probably the most common. My second choice is the enerpac one shot, quick and efficient
easily marked for repeditive work. I got tired of the enerpac and built my
own version of the enerpac with an extra set of rollers that allows me to crown my pipe for long bends, bends for side to side bows for example in a
1/2 tower or hardtop.
Both benders are invaluable The Hossfeld will allow me different radiuses
on pipe and the enerpac has softer radiuses for certian parts of my tops.
Overall for a pipe shop anything CNC is overkill. If you intend to mass
produce tops for boats then your in for a real surprise. Its been tryed and failed. That one size fits all stuff just don't get it. A friend of mine did it
and lost his shirt not to mention all the free pipe he gave me. He found
that most guys are can't seem buy just anything, they want to customize their boats and have it the way they want it. The mass produced top
didn't really fit the needs of each boat owner.
The only part of the pipe industry that has done well in mass produced
product is Wakeboard towers. They seem to be realizeing its not easy
to manufacture a product for cheap money. The price of aluminum has nearly doubled in the last year. People ask me to build wakeboard towers
and i will get far more for my product. Take it or leave i tell them.
They ask why so expensive ?? Im a custom shop. You want to pay less
then buy from the magazine. hard but true. good luck.

www.AccurateTowers.com

[Thunderhead19]

Lindsay publications has a good book on actually making one inexpensively. I think it's by Dave Gingery.

[cyclops]

It goes with saying. The bent finish is going to look like the finish on your dies and rollers, especially with aluminum. Good die quality makes one pass, no polishing, bends.