[steve]

anyone know where i can get some Dawn dies for my old bender?

I think they have a high side wall which helps prevent kinking?

is there a difference in metric or imperial with these dies?

I have a heap of dies but none fit the tube very well.

[just_cruizin]

Blackwoods have dawn but you know they're expensive. Try any industrial tool shop. Yes tube and Pipe are different, although there shouldn't be a difference between Imperial and Metric as they are based on the same sizes, maybe metric is tube.

[royce]

yes if you are using pipe you need pipe dies, which is all dawn have
I am suprised your dies are no good, unless you are using pipe dies on CHS

Blackwoods have em, dunno if I can get em but.

[steve]

my dies are all funny, don't fit the tube properly at all. Gal pipe or black tube, it doesn't fit snug.

[Lokidog]

Never used a pipe bender before… But if I remember correctly, a friend of mine pack alloy pipe with beach sand before bending it, to stop it from kinking the pipe. It was a long time ago though and I can't remember exactly how he bent it (home made jig or whatever?).

I could have also been pissed when he told me…


Anyway, carry on!

[Lokidog]

There could have been a milk crate or two involved as well

[royce]

its not tube its pipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if its measured on the OD its tube, if its Id'ed by a random number than doesnt match any measurement on the thing its pipe
but the marking on the die should be the same

[Lokidog]

Fixed

[Zook_Fan]

i use tube for all my bar work and it is tube!!!!!

Mine is just a cheapy bender but the tube does not kink unless the rollers are to far away and there is too much give in between the rollers and pipe. You could pack it with sand but that is a lot more work as the sand needs to be sealed in, ie cap ends every time you need to bend.

[steve]

excellent replies...

zookfan, so rollers too far apart cause kinking? i'll have to test the theory.

pipe/tube ? ooo looks like that's a touchy subject!

I don't believe in the sand thoery at all, and don't understand how it'd work really,

[Brett]

the sand is normally done in a mandrill bend unit for exhausts or was when i worked in a tyre shop that did them years ago.

[royce]

there is a few mm difference between the od on tube vs pipe, if you put tube in a pipe die or vice versa its not snug so it flattens and then kinks

I once read about a guy sticking a die in a fire to get it red hot then squished it down to make it a tight fit on the pipe, worked a lot better

[Zook_Fan]

well the theory of the sand is that if it is so tight that no more sand could squeeze into the pipe/tube there is no way that the pipe can distort from perfect round. i don't really like it either because the way i see it the end caps would pop or something before you put enough pressure into the sand.

[ball]

Brett wrote:

the sand is normally done in a mandrill bend unit for exhausts or was when i worked in a tyre shop that did them years ago.

Sand is not used at all in a true mandrel bender. The mandrel is used on the inside to prevent the tube from deforming.

Sand will do a similar job as a mandrel but it needs to be a fine sand and packed tight.

Sand is old school and will work but it takes a long time compared to a real bender.

[TZAR]

There is imperial pipe and metric pipe

Cheap benders hhave imperiel dies inch, two inch etc etc etc

That is all it takes to let the pipe deform.

Sand is a pain in the arse and hardly works. You have to pack it good

Most pipe is metric nowdays apart from some odd bod shit you can get.

Get a metric die

[just_cruizin]

If the material you are using is not a tight fit pack it with some sheet steel, 1.2mm or whatever you need, it's a bit rough but will do the job. I found taking it slow with the bending process gave the material a better chance to deform evenly rather then just pumping it up real quick. Mind you Steve you've bent a lot more stuff then me.