3/4\" Ridgid Tubing Bender

Weezbo

it is like brazing sorta:)

The Hot Rod posted some swoopies and the rest is curvo history:)

I use WD-40.

alittle elbow grease and a clean rag.

Albert Huntermark

7/8\" od Ridgid Tubing Bender

I have a question for my fellow "Wallies" out there. Do any of you use Ridgid brand Tubing Benders, specifically the ratchet type designed for use with hard drawn copper tubing type "L" and thicker. I have used the 5/8" od one for several years and like it alot. Today, I used a 7/8"od bender for the first time ever for some chilled water piping, it requires a little more muscle than the 5/8" one! Anyway, on the inside of some of my 90 degree bends there was a slight rippling effect. I was using hard drawn "L" copper tubing. I have seen this happen on steel conduit before. However, I never had this happen with the 5/8" one. Is this normal for copper this size?

Empire_2

Just a thought

On my soft copper tubing bender that goes to 7/8" I was seeing the ripple affect on the 7/8" copper about 8 out of every 10 times. Didnt think much of it till someone told me to lightly lube up the inside moon on the bender. "I'm like, what will that do?. So much pressure is created on the underside of the bender that if the pipe does not give a-little that is the result. I now add just a-little penetrating oil to the inside moon and never had the problem again.

Just some thoughts......

Mike T.

Bill Nye_2

Hard drawn?

I thought you were not supposed to bend hard drawn, only annealed tubing. Like soft "L" or "K".

This ain't right either , but try heating [annealing] the tube before you bend it, let it cool first.

larry_9

Tube bending

I have done tube bending for years, If you remamber the old timers and the way they use to bend steel pipe you relize that the little ripple affect doesn't really matter. They use to do wrinkle bends all the time on steel pipe and it still gave them the least amount of resitance of flow. K copper is eazier to bend I think but mike is right about using some lubercant on the bender. If you read the instructions of the ridge bender it tell you to use grease I find it usful on gear benders all the way up to 1-1/8" after that I use a hydralic bender. I quite using a lot of fitting because I bend so much hard copper and never have a problem. ACR L type does need a lubercant when bending over 5/8" and I find when I use a little grease on the bender it works most of the day for me.

Larry

Albert Huntermark

Thanks

Thanks Bill, Mike & Larry. I'll try the lube this morning and let you know what happens.

hr

I use WD-40

with my REMS Curvo and can even bend hard drawn type M without kinking.

It cleans up easily and actually takes the black shipping dirt off the tube for a clean, like new look.

hot rod

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John_56

bending hard copper

I recently bought the Curvo for up to 1-1/8" and love it. I have been using it on my hydronic jobs and it has caused some concern at my shop. The plumbers say you can bend hard copper. I could not find anything in the instruction for the Curvo that addressed the tubing wall thickness. Am I wrong in using M, I get beautiful bends with it and the jobs look great. Any thoughts on the code or wall thickness?
Thanks,
John

hr

I use type L

except for relief valves, etc. Check with the CDA, they have some info on bending copper. I believe there are some standards in place possibly an ASME or ANSI. I know they cover solder, flare, roll groove and other copper forming details. www.copper.org

From the CDA Copper Tube Handbook

"Copper tube properly bent will not collapse on the outside of the bend and will not wrinkle on the inside of the bends. Tests demonstrate that the bursting strength of a bent copper tube can actually be greater than it was before bending."

We are starting to see more and more bending in prefab hydronic panels, inside boiler jacketing and actually most Mod-con boilers have bent tube heat exchangers, stainless steel instead of copper only to handle condensate issues.

Bend on my friend.

hot rod

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Unknown

Moister Bendermann

I’ve also been told by the plumbers that “you can’t bend hard drawn copper.” I've often wondered, where did they hear that?

I’ve never used the Ridgid benders, but we recently started bending copper with a Rems Curvo. Same idea. It has been saving us a whole bunch on fittings and it’s the perfect accompaniment for their pressing tool. I’m finding that occasionally the inside of the bends do tend to wrinkle up on me. I’m not quite sure why this happens, but it does it on both types M and L copper. It seems to be hit-or-miss, and always when using the larger (1” and 1-1/4”) formers. I’ve been using Tri-Flow spray lube and also experimented with graphite spray as well.

I can’t remember seeing any info on tube bending from the CDA. The wall thickness doesn’t change does it?


Wallace Radiant Design

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Ron Schroeder

Gary Look Here

http://www.copper.org/applications/plumbing/install_cu_piping_sys.html

JackFre

Back in the early 70's

while on a road trip, I worked for a while in Todd's Shipyard in Seattle. I used to love to watch these "old" guys" on the bending beds. The beds were about 40'square and made in about 6" squares. These guys would take all sizes of steel sch 40 pipe, I saw up to 8", and with a rose-bud, wet towels and come-alongs bend all manner of offsets (rolling and otherwise)into the pipe. Doing it once was magic to me. Doing several that would nest together and match is still out of this world.

Albert Huntermark

Hot Rod Your bender?

Hot Rod, Do you have a model & a number of the bender that you were using in the photo? I may look into getting one! The WD-40 worked pretty well. The ripple effect virtually disappeared on tubing that was labeled, that being brands such as Mueller, Lee etc. However, I had a couple of sticks of "L" that didn't have a manufacturer name. They rippled and even tore! The wall thickness was obviously inconsistent! At the risk of bragging, the bends that I made did look sweet! I got a lot of compliments!

hr

Cheap tube is out there!

I've had type L actually snap when I try to bend it. Told my supplier to stick with name brands or I would shop elsewhere!

When I built this bed frame I thought I was being smart by marking the bend points with a light mark from my tube cutter.

You guessed it, it snapped at every score mark! Use a magic marker.

Rems Curvo try www.shookmfg.com or www.rnrtools.com.

This tool has paid it's way several times over, and is a ball to create with.

hot rod

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Empire_2

A-little help from anyone...

I still haven't mastered the termination of the bend in relationship to where ever I am going with it. Is there a trick, fomula etc?...Nothing more frustrating after my bend and it ends up short or long from where I need it to be ;-(. I hope someone can give guidence.

Thanks Mike T.

Tony Conner_2

This...

... is from "IPT's Pipe Trades Handbook". This is probably the best book on pipefitting I've come across. And it's small enough to fit into your jacket pocket or glove compartment.

www.iptbooks.com

hr

It takes some practice

I still miss from time to time on complicated multi bend and offsets. I've bent up to six bends and offsets in a 20 foot stick of copper on a couple jobs. Takes a bit of floor space to handle a full length like that.

I also bought the REMS hand expander, so I can couple on and adjust if I miss the bend. Cheaper than starting over

The "take up" numbers should have been supplied with the owners manual??

If you are ever on a job with an electricial that is bending EMT, ask them for some tips. They are experts at making the bends match the boxes and fixtures.

hot rod

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Empire_2

Thanks ;-)

I know I am not alone. I am ok, but like Matt said,..Sometimes ya just missfigure.....

Mike T.

Unknown

What should we tell the plumbers?

Get bent?

Their Lic#'s and attiutude say's they're NEVER wrong. Thank God I haven't let mine lapse. Hey,,, I'm just doing the heating:-)

Wallace Radiant Design

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Unknown

1.414

Mike,

I'm finding it hard myself. Tube bending is a whole lot harder than it looks. Some formulas help but, it ain't easy babe.

Wallace Radiant Design

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hr

If you Google \"tube bending\"

there are a bunch of small inexpensive bending software programs available. Some sites show demos of the program.

It's a lot like soldering a perfect joint, practice is the only way to get there.

hot rod

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