A Small Diameter Tube Bender – Floor Type Compact Metal Benders With that in mind, let’s look at a few of the different types of pipe bending machine manufacturers and the different machine options that are available. When it comes to the different pipe bending manufacturers, there are all sorts of machines you can buy.įrom import stuff from China, to North American or European made machines there are all sort of options out there.īut the first step on the journey is to decide on the type of pipe bending machine you’re looking for and as different manufacturers produce different types and different models when it comes to pipe bending machines.Īnd in the majority of cases, you will be able to bend both pipe and tube on your bending machine so long as you’re able to buy compatible dies to fit the size of material your’e trying to bend. The Best of the Pipe Bending Machine Manufacturers This can take a bit of practice so be sure you are using scrap material and not your working parts if you’re just trying this out. The other alternative is that you can try to anneal it by hand by heating it up with a torch and then bending it. Then once you got your parts back, you would bend them as needed.įrom there you would either leave it in it’s annealed state, or you could send it to a company that will heat treat it back to a 6061-T6 state if it’s required. If you went this route, you would just tell them that you would want it annealed to a 6063-T5 state. You can either send it to a shop that does annealing and they will essentially cook your aluminum at a certain temperature until it’s annealed to a specific grade. If you don’t have that option, there are a couple ways around it. So if you’ve got the option, you should just order and use 6063-T5. 6063-T5 is actually more readily available in pipe sizes than tubing sizes. Sure, you can get away with it sometimes as the tempering will vary slightly and you might be able to get away with it being aluminum tubing without it cracking, but I’ve found that to get consistent results you need to use a bendable grade.Īnd that’s what 6063-T5 is – a bendable grade of aluminum tubing. The important thing to know is that it is brittle and will most often crack if you’re trying to bend it with a tight radius. The first thing that you need to be aware of if you’re bending aluminum tubing is that it is commonly available in two different grades – 6061-T-T5.Īnd this is important to know BEFORE you start on your project.Ħ061-T6 aluminum is more of a structural tubing and is often spec’d as a default when it comes to different jobs and designs that you might see. Bending Aluminum Tubing – What You Need to Know BEFORE You Begin
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