Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
We noticed you are blocking ads. DO THE TON only works with community supporters. Most are active members of the site with small businesses. Please consider disabling your ad blocking tool and checking out the businesses that help keep our site up and free.
Ok I got my 3 foot long pipe capped on both ends with silica. One end has a bolt and a lathe turned pressure plate. The sand is compact.
I heated it until it glowed and tried reefing on it in the vise with the jig I made. I moved maybe 2°.
Stumped. Now either I need to gain 100 pounds or I need a thinned wall tubing for the exhaust. It's prepolished stainless and I think it's 0.065. Too thick to bend? I applied so much heat that the stainless spider dimpled in one spot. Orange hot.
Am I too thick literally or is the tubing too thick?
I haven't heard of anyone trying to sand bend stainless before......maybe there is a reason for it, like it doesn't like to bend. Everyone I have ever seen do it this way was using a small OD, thin walled steel pipe (dom)
I think you may have to either invest in a bender (JD2) or get pre bent SS pipe from places like Columbia Mandrel Bending
OR
you are just a total puss and you have arms like noodles..........hahaha JK dude
with this bender you will not need heat or sand......and if you are in BC you can get this bender at KMS Tools, but the dies are damn expensive.
https://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx
Im looking at getting one myself
You should see what guys are bending with this, typically tubing for cages in trucks and cars and some guys are making motorcycle frame sections with it
One of these will do in a pinch... used to set em up the in the winter out at Walker Muffler plant... bend anything from 1.5 to 6" tube with the greatest of ease... or rip it in two if the C arm clamps and yanks too fast with a tight wiper die.
Also, stainless work hardens . So the more you bend the harder and harder it will be. It might be worth to bring to a muffler shop and have them bend it for you. Or buy 90s and the cut and weld
.065 sounds about right for an exhaust. I don't know how much thinner wall thickness you could go without risking kinking the tube. What are you using to get it hot? that torch he has is pretty intense. are you using another tube for extra leverage? It appears he tends to concentrate the flame on the outside of the bend as well. Im curious how you make out on this, It is something i have wanted to try for a while.
look carefully at the ends of his tubing, they are capped which makes me think he has something in it. And he works the heat slowly over the area to heat it up but then even more so on the area he wants to stretch which is the outside of the bend.
You could use bb's if you wanted... the idea is to fill the void to prevent the inside radius from caving in and also why a mandrel bender works so well... mandrel benders act much the same as a roll form and doesn't stretch the outside radius "as much" when you heat the metal to bend it you are in effect thinning that outside radius quite a bit by lengthening the tube in that area.
Unless you are hell bent on making the header yourself U-bends in stainless are not made of unubtanium
I'm using my cutting torch head set to death mode and heating as evenly as I can then focusing on the radius.
In that video he just leans on the pipe and it does his bidding. I'll look at putting my vise on my welding table and mounting the pipe horizontally like he is. Hmmm
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
