How to bend a round pipe at home. How to bend a pipe without a pipe bender - proven options for different types of pipes

When carrying out construction work, a bent profile pipe is increasingly being used. The design and manufacturing methods of these materials endow them with excellent characteristics.

Therefore, many are interested in how to bend a profile pipe at home. After all, such a need arises often.

It should be noted right away that profile pipe products have a more aesthetic appearance than their round "brothers". And bending can be done:

1. in a specialized workshop.
2. Independently, at home.

If preference is given to the second option, then you should know that for these actions you will have to have certain knowledge. Watch the video on our website and you will succeed.

Features of bending profile assortment

The fact is that when changing the configuration, the pipe is affected by two forces:

• compression, which has an effect from the inside;
• tension acting from the outside.

When a professional pipe is bent incorrectly, it changes its shape and loses the coaxial location of some sections. Also, a stretching wall may simply not withstand mechanical stress and become unusable. In addition to these problems, incorrect contraction and wrinkling of the inner wall of the folded workpiece can occur.


It is not uncommon for cases that it is easy to bend a pipe from a profile along a radius, but the workpiece is crumpled. After that, it is already suitable only for scrap metal.

The combination of these factors affects the unjustified increase in costs, which a serious owner will never allow. Therefore, despite the fact that this pipe range is quite flexible, you should not rush to process it, and before bending the pipe along the radius at home, it is important to study the technology in detail. This will be discussed further.

Technology should not be neglected. Only for a master armed with knowledge, the question of how to bend a profile at home will not create big problems. All recommendations on how to bend profiled metal products correctly are given by professional craftsmen who have studied this problem in practice for a long time.

The influence of the technical characteristics of the material on the choice of bending method

First, you need to know that the concept of "trade pipe" includes an assortment of any geometric configuration. But, to make it easier to understand, it is customary to call the profile assortment of the following form:

• square;
• rectangular;
• oval, etc.

This is due to the fact that round types are placed in the design of a pipeline for supplying liquid or gas, where significant pressure is provided. A profile of a different shape is found in various household structures and structures.

Square rolled metal is distinguished by the cross-sectional index and the dimensions of the walls. Both of these factors indicate the minimum angle for bending rolled metal, at which it will not become unusable.

There are a lot of engineering nuances in the question of how to bend a product without a pipe bender. But you don't need to know all of them to work from home. But it is important to know the following.

1. Thin products with a cross section of up to 20 mm without a pipe bender must be bent in an area that is 2.5 times longer than the height of the pipe itself.
2. Thick rolled metal can be bent without a pipe bender in an area that is three times longer than the section. If this point is ignored, then the metal will crack on the outside or deform from the inside.
3. Bending a profile pipe is dangerous in one respect: the occurrence of a fracture at the site of the operation, as a result of which the part is sent for final marriage or for rework for smaller products.
4. The limiting condition is the following ratio - the minimum radius should not be less than two and a half dimensions along the bend section. For example, for a profile with a thickness of 40 mm, the minimum internal radius will be 40 x 2.5 = 100 mm.

Before bending a steel profile pipe at home, one more rule should be remembered.

After exposure, the pipe strives to return to its original shape. For this reason, if you bend on your own, without a profile bender, then it is better to bend a little more than is necessary according to the scheme. If you bend the workpiece a little more, then in the end the rounding will turn out as the scheme requires.

All these conventions must be taken into account before bending one or another rolled metal, otherwise it is useless to get enough of a high-quality end result.

Methods that are used to bend

Do-it-yourself bending of a profile pipe at home is done in the following ways:

• Bending by means of special technical devices. People call them pipe benders.
• Using various hand tools.
• By using physical force. But, this is only true for small diameters.

If you make a bend at home, then you need to consider:

• The amount of bend.
• Manufacturing materials.
• The value of the wall thickness.
• Section.

IMPORTANT! Measures for the deformation of profile pipe-rolling products are carried out in acceptable norms, set to the cross section and wall thickness. During operation, it is necessary to control that the cross section does not flatten and that internal fractures do not occur.

See how to bend a professional pipe and common mistakes, and below is a video of the process.

How to bend over the mandrel

In home workshops, rolled metal with a wall thickness of no more than 3 mm can be bent using a mandrel. The best option for solving the problem, if you need to bend a professional pipe by 20 with your own hands, is a profile bending machine, on the upper part of which there is enough space for finishing equipment. Such devices perfectly cope with products with a diameter of 40 mm.

When changing the shape of the assortment by 20 and 40 mm, on the workbench choose the optimal space for installing the element for fixing. To facilitate the work on one side of the machine, there are holes that are located close to each other.

The problem of how to bend a profile pipe at home without a mandrel pipe bender is not difficult to solve. The required radius during deformation is obtained due to the installation of a special template. For its manufacture, thick plywood is used. But, if work on bending profile pipes is required to be done often, then you can make a template from a metal corner.

Bending with the use of internal countermeasures

There are many different ways to bend a pipe without a pipe bender along the radius at home. Here are some of them.

These methods refer to work using improvised means.

Any greenhouse, gazebo, and other home extension cannot do without the use of a bent professional pipe. And practice shows that the question of how to bend a profile pipe does not create any difficulties.

The most important thing during the deformation of a professional pipe without a special manual device at home is the safety of the pipe product itself. And home craftsmen solve the problem of how to bend the profile in the following ways:

• finishing with a grinder or welding;
• using a spring
• filling of rolled metal with sand;
• bend with water.

Each method on how to bend a professional pipe yourself without a pipe bender that a home master can use has its own advantages and disadvantages. You need to familiarize yourself with them in order to stop at the most optimal option for your conditions.
Watch the video

Bending without a pipe bender - cutting with a grinder and welding

Such devices use manual drives, but if you develop the design further, it may well be the starting point for developing your own business.

When dealing with flexible profiles at home, you need to consider a number of circumstances:

• when purchasing profiles, make sure that they are all the same size and steel grade and belong to the same delivery lot;
• when using welded profiles, orient the side with a seam to the inner radius, otherwise it may break;
• when working with a grinder, do not forget to use protective equipment in the form of glasses or a mask;
• it should be borne in mind that it is not always possible to bend the end sections to the required size, therefore, when calculating the length of the workpiece, it is necessary to take into account their length and cut off such pieces at the end of the formation of the part;
• after installing the products in place, it is necessary to carry out anti-corrosion treatment of the metal and continue to do it regularly.

Bending services

Such a service could not but become a separate line of business development, since it involves the use of rather complex technological equipment in the industrial version.

Video - how to bend a profile pipe

Profile pipe bending services are also on the market and involve the execution of both radius bending and arch bending. Separation occurs in this way because specific equipment is used for each of these operations. In the first case, this is a pipe bender, in the second, a three-roll rolling.

It must be admitted that the price indicators for performing such operations are very acceptable, as follows:

• the cost of one corner bend is 30 rubles;
• one linear meter of an arched span will also cost 30 rubles.

In comparison with the cost of metal and delivery of material in the Moscow region, this is really practically for nothing.

Special devices for bending

Bending machines for such a process use those designed specifically for products of a certain type. You can buy a bending machine, or you can do it yourself at home.

Making a bending machine with your own hands

To create a bending machine, the best option is the manual view of the device. The design of the structure depends on the diameters with which to interact.

For pipe materials with a diameter of up to 20 mm, a simple fixture can be made consisting of steel pins placed in a concrete slab. The pipe inserted between the pins is bent to the desired dimensions.

But, when the diameter exceeds 20 mm, then for the construction it is necessary to develop more complex drawings of a bending machine for a profile pipe.

A pair of rollers with a round side section on the edges is fixed to a stable, powerful base. The radius of this face of the roller must match the diameter of the pipe product to be bent.

The workpiece is inserted between the rollers and its end is fixed. The other end is attached to the winch, and it is put into action. When the angle on the pipe reaches the required parameter, the winch is stopped.

ADVICE. The network provides many drawings of pipe benders prepared by craftsmen. The main thing to pay attention to is whether all the exact dimensions are in the diagram. Otherwise, the work of the bending machine may not be of high quality.

Watch the video

The whole process of creating a pipe bender with your own hands must be divided into the following steps.

1. Making shafts and fixing gears and bearings on them. The gears are fixed through the key. Bearings are advised to be purchased complete with supports.
2. Gears and chain are suitable for any machine. Parts from a foreign car are of better quality.
3. Using a welding machine, the base is welded, and the clamp shaft is screwed to it.
4. Next, weld the spring nuts and a platform for them.
5. Screw the support shafts at the bottom.
6. A tension chain is being built.
7. At the final stage, the handle is attached to the shaft. To it (to make it easier to bend), it is advised to use a handle that rotates.

Such a device quickly performs deformation by passing a tubular product through it.

The creation of such a bending machine is quite inexpensive. And such a device will come in handy in a private house very often, and in some cases it turns out to be simply irreplaceable.

These are the simplest pipe benders, after watching the video materials and studying the drawings, you can learn how to bend correctly and choose the best design option.

It is not difficult to cope with such a slave as making a bending machine, but it will save money. This saving can be about 20 - 30 thousand rubles.

Home repair, in particular the repair of a private house, often requires the use of pipes, and not always perfectly even. In such a situation, the question arises: how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender at home? If you know all the tricks of this process, then doing it is quite simple.

Methods for bending a metal pipe at an angle of 90 °

Metal - the material is strong enough, but with a special impact it is quite easy to bend. Today, there are several methods for bending a metal pipe with your own hands.

Modification of a profile pipe

This type of metal structures is often used for the construction of greenhouses of various sizes and purposes, as well as gazebos and other buildings on the site. The main feature of the building material of such a pipeline is that it is very easy to damage it when bent, for example, it can easily flatten or crack. The way out of this situation is quite simple. Its cavity must be filled with dry fine sand or water (in the future, the water must be frozen). It is these actions that will eliminate the possibility of damage to the pipe and achieve the desired result. The same technique is suitable for both duralumin and brass pipelines.

How to bend a square profile pipe?

If you have a square pipe with a small cross section in your hands, then it can be easily bent without heating. However, filling the cavity with sand or water is still desirable. Unlike the usual round blanks, you will need a rubber mallet.

The pipeline itself must be placed on two reliable supports. After that, using the mallet directly, bend the product, and all actions must be performed very smoothly and carefully to avoid possible damage. If you need to achieve a sufficiently large angle of curvature, to facilitate the process, the material can be heated at the place of the intended bend.

Rules for bending metal-plastic

It is the metal-plastic pipe that is most often used to equip the underfloor heating system. To ensure the efficiency of the system, it is necessary to ensure parallel operation of the pipeline with the heating system.

Features of laying a warm floor imply the presence of a large number of folds. However, they are not available for free sale. You have to make bends yourself, and for this you need to know all the secrets of the material and the procedure for carrying out.

Just as in the case of a metal blank, there are several ways to obtain the necessary inversion:

• the easiest and cheapest method to bend the pipe on your own, without the use of improvised means. To do this, the building structure should be clamped tightly in fists and bent smoothly. Try to exclude the possibility of a strong inflection. There is a norm for this, which assumes the presence of 15 ° curvature for every 1-2 cm of the metal-plastic blank;
• for another method, you need to take care of the presence of pieces of wire with which you need to fill the cavities. This will achieve a smooth and even bend in the shortest possible time;
• as for a metal pipeline, dry fine sand can be used as a filler, which must be poured into the cavity and the pipe openings closed with plugs. One end of the building structure must be fixed, and it is desirable to do this quite reliably and firmly, and then, using a blowtorch or gas burner, heat the place of further bending. Checking the readiness of the material to change the shape is checked by a piece of paper.

Features of bending a polypropylene pipe

There are situations when it is simply vital for you to bend a polypropylene pipe. However, the opinions of manufacturers agree on one thing: it is undesirable to do this. But if you can't do without it, use one of two possible methods.

The main methods for bending polypropylene material:

• the first method involves all the same heating of the bend. For these purposes, you need to use a building hair dryer. The optimum end temperature is 150°C. Further, it is recommended to protect your hands with high temperature resistant gloves, bend the product to the desired shape. The main thing is not to forget about the basic rule: the thickened wall of the polypropylene structure must be placed on the outside of the bend. Now wait for the material to cool completely and inspect it carefully. There should be no dents or cracks on the surface;
• the second method is cold. Everyone can bend such a pipe with their hands, however, the bending radius should not exceed 8 diameters of the pipe used, otherwise you can simply break it.

How to effectively bend a plastic pipe?

The instruction, which will help you bend the PVC pipe quite easily, includes several points, by following which you will give the desired shape to the plastic pipeline without outside help at home. So, to work with a PVC pipe, you need to follow these steps:

1. Get a fiberboard, from which in the future you will need to build a special frame. You need this frame in order to give the plastic structure a certain shape.
2. After giving the plate the desired shape, it must be properly sanded. It is better to use fine sandpaper for this.
3. The next step involves shaping the silicone into a shell of the right size and shape for your plastic blank. This shell serves as a fastener for the PVC structure in a frame prepared in advance. In addition, it is able to perform a protective function against scratches, chips and other mechanical damage to which the surface of a plastic pipe is exposed.
4. Now you should place the object itself in the prepared protective shell.
5. The next step involves heating the bend. The plastic, exposed to high temperatures, begins to soften and settle on the installed frame. Such actions will eventually lead to the formation of the desired shape of the plastic blank.
6. After shaping, it must be allowed to cool. It takes ten to fifteen minutes to do this. Only after that, you can safely remove your modified PVC pipe from the frame, after which the building structure must be left again to completely cool it.

It is quite difficult to achieve an ideal pipe bend, regardless of its material, at home. However, if you carefully study the theory and conduct more than one experiment on unnecessary sections of such a pipe, in practice you will clearly understand how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender and you can do it at any time convenient for you. Be sure to use our tips to do the job as correctly as possible and without big losses.

If you started a repair, then you may need pipes. But not always in this case they should be perfectly even. This raises the question of how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender. If you are familiar with the tricks of this process, then you can solve the problem quite simply.

How to bend a pipe at a right angle

Metal acts as a sufficiently strong material, but with a special impact it can be bent. To date, there are several ways to solve this issue. The first technology is the use of pegs. But you must remember that this method can damage the pipe or even break it. This can be avoided by filling the internal cavity with dry sand. Plugs should be installed at both ends.

The next step is to start bending. To do this, pegs are dug into the ground. You will use them as leverage. If you are not confident in your abilities, then first you should practice on unnecessary pipe sections. If you are faced with the question of how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender, then with the help of this technology you can change the shape of the product, the diameter of which varies from 16 to 20 mm. For pipes of a larger diameter, this technique is not suitable, since the process will be quite complicated. It is also important to take into account the material that underlies. For example, for galvanizing it is recommended to use other methods.

Use of heating technology

Before bending a pipe without a pipe bender, you should think about what technology is best suited for this. Heat may be the best solution. This method is commonly used for steel and aluminum piping. For the procedure, the product is fixed in a vice, but first it must be filled and heated with a gas burner in the place that you plan to bend. The temperature is determined quite simply: when a piece of paper approaches the pipe, it should begin to smoke. When a steel billet is used, it should turn red when heated. For safety, the master should wear gloves.

Plano-parallel plate

If you are faced with the task of how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender, you can use a plane-parallel plate. This technique involves fixing the product in the clamp. After that, you can bend, and this must be done along the plate. This technique is considered not only economical, but also simple. In order to achieve a positive result, several plates should be used, each of which has a different curvature. The main condition is the use of a steel pipe. The length of the product should be quite impressive.

Using a metal spring

Quite often, home craftsmen think about the question of how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender at home. To do this, you can use a metal spring. This technique is excellent for non-ferrous metal pipes, which have good ductility.

A spring is used to prevent deformation. To get a good result, you should take into account the size of the spring, which must correspond to the inner diameter of the metal structure. This requirement is due to the fact that the pipe is to be inserted into the cavity. After that, bending can be carried out by tying the spring with a wire to simplify the process of further extraction.

If you need to bend a profile pipe without a pipe bender, water can be used as a filler instead of sand. The cavity of the pipe is filled, after which the product is clogged on both sides with plugs. Freeze the water and then heat the material. However, this method cannot be used for galvanized blanks.

Profile pipe and its modification

This type of metal structure is quite popular in the construction of greenhouses and gazebos in the backyard. The main feature of the building material is that it can be damaged when bent. The way out of this situation may be to fill the internal cavity with fine sand or water. These actions allow you to eliminate the possibility of damage to the pipe and achieve an excellent result. This technique is suitable for brass and duralumin pipeline.

If you are thinking about the question of how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender for a canopy, then you can use it for this. It is used for square profile products. The pipeline is installed on reliable supports, and then a mallet is used. Actions must be careful and smooth to eliminate the possibility of damage. If it is necessary to achieve a large angle, then to facilitate the process, it is necessary to heat the pipe in the place where it should be bent.

Metal-plastic bending methods

Quite often, owners of suburban real estate are wondering how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender. When metal-plastic is available, you can use your own strength without using improvised means. The product is clamped and smoothly bent. In this case, it is important to exclude the possibility of an inflection. It is important to follow the rules that say that for every 2 cm of the workpiece, the bending angle can be 15 °.

If you are faced with the question of how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender for a greenhouse, then you can use pieces of wire that fill the internal cavity. This allows you to achieve an even and smooth bend in the shortest possible time. Dry fine sand can be used as a filler. It falls asleep inside, and the edges are closed with plugs. Then one end of the product must be fixed, ensuring the reliability and strength of fastening. Using a gas burner or a blowtorch, the bend should be heated. The material is checked for readiness with a piece of paper.

Polypropylene pipe bending methods

If you need to change the direction of the bend, you can use one of two possible methods. The first involves heating the fold. For this, a building hair dryer is usually used. The optimum heating temperature is 150 °C. Hands should be protected with gloves that are resistant to high temperatures.

At the final stage, the product is bent to the desired shape. The thickened wall should be located on the outside of the bend. Once the material has cooled, it will need to be checked for cracks and dents. Another way to bend such a pipe is cold. However, the bending radius should not be more than 8 diameters, otherwise the product may break.

How to bend plastic pipe

In order to bend a PVC pipe, you need to buy fiberboard. Of these, you can build a frame that will be needed to give the structure a certain shape. As soon as you give the plate the desired shape, you should sand it, it is better to use fine sandpaper for this.

The next step is to form a silicone shell for the plastic blank. It will act as a fastener for the PVC structure in the frame. In addition, it will perform a protective role against chips, mechanical damage and scratches. The object is placed in a prepared protective shell, and after the bending point is heated. The plastic softens and sits on the frame. Such actions will allow you to get the desired shape of the plastic blank. The product is left until it cools down. This will take 15 minutes. After the PVC pipe can be removed from the frame, leaving it to cool completely.

If you are faced with the question of how to bend an aluminum pipe without a pipe bender, then you can use a grinder to carry out the work, with which several thin cuts must be made at the site of the intended bend. The product is pre-clamped in a vise. As soon as the cuts are made, they should be cleaned of chips, only after that you can begin to bend the pipe.

Sometimes the product needs to be bent in the form of a circle. As soon as the ring closes, the holes are welded, and some craftsmen even use a soldering iron for this. In order to make the fold point neat, it is additionally ground and coated with a protective agent. This avoids corrosion and premature failure of the joint.

Conclusion

It doesn't matter what material the pipe is based on. It is quite difficult to achieve the ideal bend. But if you first get acquainted with the theory, then it will be possible to bend the pipe even without a pipe bender.

Anyone who is independently engaged in plumbing work using various types of pipes can face such a problem. If you are not an expert in this field, then, of course, you do not have special tools and professional equipment for carrying out such work. Next, we will talk about different ways to bend a pipe at home without a pipe bender, depending on the material from which they are made.

1. When bent, such pipes may decrease in diameter or even break. The easiest and most effective way to avoid deformation or breakage at home of our product: fill the pipe to the eyeballs with dry, finely sifted sand and install plugs at its ends. At home, it is easiest to drive in wooden chopsticks, but only in such a way that it is easy to pull them out later, while avoiding deformation of the pipe itself.

Now the pipe can be safely bent. If the metal or alloy is soft, then this procedure is easy to do with your own hands, or you can use, for example, another pipe of a larger diameter fixed or dug into the ground, using the lever method, we make a bend. In winter, instead of sand, you can use plain water: fill it; waiting for it to freeze we bend and heat the pipe, turning the ice back into water.

2. If we are dealing with aluminum or steel pipes, then we need a gas burner or blowtorch. Before starting work, fill the tube with sand (as described above) and securely fasten one end (for example, in a vise). We evenly heat the section of the future fold.

An indicator of sufficient heating of the steel pipe will be its bright red color, and we bring a piece of paper to the place of heating of the aluminum pipe, it should smoke or catch fire. We put on gloves to avoid burns, and begin to slowly bend.

REMEMBER! Galvanized bending pipes must not be heated.

3. Square pipes with a small section can be bent without heating, only with the obligatory backfilling of sand, or pouring water in winter. In this case, you will additionally need a rubber mallet. We put such a pipe with its ends on two supports and with a mallet we slowly bend the product to the desired shape. If the bending angle is too large, then the square-shaped steel pipe can be heated at the bending point.

We have a profile pipe. How to bend a pipe without a pipe bender if you want to keep its shape? To do this, we need a strong spring. We put the spring inside our pipe at the place of the bend, after tying it securely with wire so that it can be, then it is easy to pull it back out. We bend our product.

We will need many bends of the metal-plastic pipe when installing underfloor heating. Such bends will help to use the heat-conducting surface of our product more efficiently.

1. The easiest way is to smoothly bend such a pipe with your hands. In this case, it should be borne in mind that the bend should be within 15 degrees for every 1.5 - 2 cm. In this way, you can do everything we need to install a warm floor, bends.

2. There is another way. For it, we need small pieces of wire, which we put inside the product until it is completely filled. The wire will give us the opportunity to make more even bends.

3. But what if you cannot make an accurate and smooth bend without a pipe bender? To do this, we need to install a plug at one end of the pipe, you can use a wooden chopstick, and fill in dry, fine sand to the edges of the pipe. We also put a plug on the other end of the pipe. We securely fasten one end of the product and heat the place of bending with a blowtorch. We bring a piece of paper to the place of heating, if it smolders, then the heating is sufficient. We take gloves and make a bend of the desired shape, remove the plugs, pour out the sand.

How to bend a polypropylene pipe?

In general, manufacturers of polypropylene pipes do not recommend bending their products at home, but it can still be done. There are two such methods in total.

1. For the first method, we need to pre-heat our pipe with a building hair dryer to a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius and, using gloves, bend the product to the desired angle. In this case, one condition must be strictly observed: the thickened wall of the pipe must always be placed on the outside of the curved corner. After the pipe has cooled down, inspect the bend in the pipe. There should be no dents or cracks.

2. In the second way, you can bend a polypropylene pipe cold, but at the same time, the bending radius should not exceed 8 diameters of the pipe itself.

How to bend a plastic pipe?

To work with plastic, you will need to do the following operations:

1. Make a special frame out of fiberboard in order to give the plastic blank the necessary shape;
2. Sand this frame with fine sandpaper;
3. Next, use a special silicone molding machine to make a suitable shell for a plastic blank, it is needed specifically for fixing the pipe in our frame, including it will not allow scratches, chips and various dents to appear on the plastic surface;
4. Install the plastic pipe into the manufactured shell;
5. Fix the part well in the frame, then place all the elements on the molding machine;
6. As soon as the plastic begins to soften during heating, it will gradually begin to settle on the frame, as a result of which it will give the workpiece the necessary shape;
7. And the last thing to do is to wait about ten to fifteen minutes to remove the plastic pipe from the frame and wait for it to cool completely.

In our article, we looked at many ways to bend a pipe at home without a pipe bender. We can do all of the above methods with our own hands, without having practically any special devices and tools. Bent pipes may also be required in other cases: make a coil for a moonshine still, connect a washing machine without special factory curved pipes for power supply and drainage, and so on.

Pipe Benders

It would be wrong not to mention special tools for pipe bending. In general, qualified specialists in working with pipes mainly use special pipe benders.

According to the bending method, such tools are of the following types:

• Crossbow - (a certain form is used, which is needed for pipes of a special diameter);
• Spring - (based on a steel spring, which helps to independently bend plastic pipes without deformation);
• Segmental - (pipe bending is carried out using a special segment, it is able to pull the workpiece around it);
• Mandrel - (as a rule, they allow bending pipes with thin walls and small radii).

By type of drive, as a rule, they are:

• Manual - (used in most cases for bending pipes of small diameter, such as stainless steel, thin polymers, and other non-ferrous alloys);
• Hydraulic - (industrial, make it possible to shape pipes up to three inches directly in diameter);
• Electromechanical- (used for various pipe diameters, allow you to achieve high accuracy of the required bending radius of the product, as well as the accuracy of the angle).

For work at home, a regular manual pipe bender is perfect. It will be enough to bend stainless, aluminum, brass, copper thin-walled pipes, including those coated with plastic, that is, which do not exceed a diameter of 25 millimeters.

I hope that this article will make it much easier for you to carry out repairs in your own house or apartment.

Surely, many home craftsmen have repeatedly faced the question: how to bend pipes of small diameter along a certain radius to give them the necessary rounded configuration. On an industrial scale, special equipment is used for these purposes, but in this case the question is different: how to bend a pipe without a pipe bender at home?

Self-bending pipes

In order to help the reader deal with this issue, this article will consider several ways to bend round and rectangular pipes made of various materials. These skills will come in handy with.

Also, a detailed instruction will be presented here, which describes step by step all the stages of performing this operation using a set of conventional household plumbing tools.

Method 1: bending steel pipes

Steel itself is a fairly rigid material, but when heated to a high temperature, it becomes more ductile, which makes it possible to give steel products almost any desired shape. In order to bend an arc or a circle from a steel round pipe with your own hands, in addition to the usual metalwork tool, you will also need a gas burner.

1. Fix the steel pipe in a vise. In order not to crush the walls, it is necessary to first insert a metal bar of a suitable diameter into it in the clamping area.
2. Using a gas burner, heat up the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe future bend until the characteristic color of the metal is bright red.
3. Short, gentle hammer blows give the heated part the required configuration, controlling the bending radius according to a pre-made template.

After cooling, the finished part will retain its shape, and the metal will again acquire its former rigidity and high mechanical strength.

Note!

The described method cannot be used for bending galvanized steel pipes, since zinc will burn out when heated to a high temperature, as a result of which its anti-corrosion properties will disappear.

Method 2: bending non-ferrous pipes

Non-ferrous metals, such as copper or aluminum, have high ductility, however, due to insufficient strength, the opposite walls of the pipe may not withstand multidirectional loads (compression and tension), resulting in their rupture or collapse.

In order to evenly distribute the local internal stresses of the material, a simple technology is used to bend thin-walled pipes made of non-ferrous metals.

1. Before bending an aluminum pipe, you need to choose a suitable steel spring. Its diameter should correspond to the inner diameter of the pipe, and its length should not be shorter than the length of the bent section.
2. Having tied a strong long wire to the spring, insert it inside the pipe, placing it approximately in the center of the intended arc.
3. Carefully clamp the part in a vise, without exerting great effort, so as not to crush the thin walls of soft material.
4. Heat the place of the future bend with a gas burner up to the temperature at which the paper begins to smolder.
5. Bend the heated part to the required radius holding the free end of the pipe with a gloved hand.
6. Remove the spring from the inner lumen of the pipe after the part has cooled, using the left end of the wire.

Note!

Non-ferrous metals have a high thermal conductivity, so when working with a heated part, care must be taken not to get burned.

Method 3: bending metal-plastic pipes

There is a special tool for working with metal-plastic plumbing, but its price is not worth buying a plumbing pipe bender for a home tool collection. Metal-plastic pipes are quite plastic, so they can be given any desired configuration. You can bend a metal-plastic pipe with a large radius with your hands, performing short smooth movements and gradually giving it the necessary shape and bending angle.

To make a small radius arc or a 180° turn, you can use a more complex, but at the same time effective method.

1. Cut thin copper wires in such quantity that they can completely fill the internal lumen of the metal-plastic pipe.
2. Insert them inside so that they completely fill the pipe at the bend and at the same time all their ends remain outside the end of the pipe.
3. Give the future part the necessary shape, applying a sufficiently large effort with your hands, and then remove all the wires one at a time from the inner lumen of the pipe.

Note!

Method 4: bending profiled metal

Many thought about how to bend a profile pipe. Plastic deformation of steel and aluminum shaped pipes is complicated by the presence of side faces, which at the same time are stiffeners, and therefore require additional efforts during operation. In order to maintain the correct profile of the final product, and prevent creases and breaks in the metal, the inner cavity must be filled with a dense moving material.

Bending profile pipes:

1. To cut the pipe, prepare two plugs. They can be made of wood, rubber or plastic, and must fit snugly into its inner lumen.
2. Insert a cap from one end of the pipe, then from the second end completely fill the entire internal volume with sand, after which insert the second plug into the other end.
3. In winter, water can be used instead of sand.. After filling it, and installing the plugs, you need to take the part out onto the balcony until the water completely solidifies in the entire internal volume.
4. After that, you can begin to form an arc using a hammer or rubber mallet, holding the part in a vice, or laying its edges on stable, strong supports.

This method can also be useful to those home craftsmen who do not know how to bend a pipe from stainless steel or galvanized ferrous metal.

Conclusion

After reading this article, it becomes clear that there are quite a few ways that can help a home craftsman make a plumbing part or a figured product from metal pipes at home, even without special equipment.

For more information on a topic of interest, you can watch the video in this article or read similar materials on our website. If you have any suggestions, write them in the comments.