How to make a manual pipe bender for bending a round pipe with your own hands? The simplest pipe benders for a round pipe with your own hands Homemade pipe bender for a round pipe manual

Pipe bender KACHOK - QUALITY OK!

Roof structures of arched and domed shape have become fashionable with the advent of flexible roofing materials. This is the well-known polycarbonate, soft roof, various plastics with filling, flexible slate and corrugated board. There was a need and opportunity to assemble light and portable structures, roofs over trade pavilions, roofs over pools and sheds. What could be simpler, you bend the profile pipes into an arc on the “KACHOK” pipe bender and attach cellular or monolithic polycarbonate to them.

I want to tell you more about the popular pipe bending machine "KACHOK" for profile and round pipes, which is suitable for many jobs and performs almost all the necessary operations. It was developed for small businesses and blacksmith workshops. I note that the pipe bender is compact and heavy. Its weight in the package is 45 kilograms. Dimensions: 450x450x540 mm. You can't tell from the photo, it looks attractive and even beautiful. The entire body of the pipe bender is designed so that by installing it on the table and screwing it to the table with four bolts (not included in the kit) through the holes in the base, you can immediately start working.

What kind of work can be done on the pipe bender "KACHOK"? You can bend profile pipes 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 mm and even 60x30 mm into an arc. Most often, arcs are bent, which are subsequently used for greenhouses, sheds, canopies, fences, arbors, pergolas and other complex non-rectilinear structures.

On the pipe bender rollers for rolling profile pipe are on the drive axles. The shafts are mounted on bearings. Sprockets and a chain drive are installed on the shafts. If you turn the handle, then the rotation is transmitted to all axes, so to speak "all-wheel drive". Turning is easier and pipe slippage is virtually eliminated. In addition, the roller shafts have a fine notch, which provides additional adhesion of the rolled pipe to the rollers.

This pipe bender can easily be converted into an electromechanical one.

The pipe bender kit also includes rollers for a round pipe. Rollers for pipes with a diameter of 20, 25, 30 mm. A round pipe rolls easily and the walls remain smooth without dents and corrugations.

You can work with a strip of maximum 40x10 mm. The strip on these rollers rolls perfectly. When I needed hoops with a diameter of 1 meter from a strip of 30x4 mm, I made them easily. The strip on the edge is rolled on external rollers that come with the pipe bender. As much as possible, you can work with a strip of 30x4 mm.

The tests carried out by us revealed the good performance of the pipe bender and the high quality of workmanship individual elements. Simple and robust design. JOCK - QUALITY OK!

Maintenance of a pipe bender is not difficult. It is necessary to periodically lubricate the pressure roller screw and sprocket. Any lubricant is suitable, you can "LITOL".

Owners of private houses, as well as many home craftsmen, require pipes bent at certain angles for the manufacture of various elements of arched structures and pipelines. To do this, they use industrial, and more often home-made pipe benders for a round pipe. Professional factory pipe benders are expensive, so often such devices are made in-house, which saves money.

The device and principle of operation of the pipe bender

The procedure for bending the pipe is practically not complicated, but requires special attention. In the process of bending, it can receive defects in the form of wall stretching and a decrease in its thickness at the bend, which will lead to a decrease in the strength of the pipe. Also, the place of the bend can change the configuration of the cut and take the shape of an ellipse instead of a circular section, which significantly reduces the internal throughput of the liquid passing through the pipe.

Design features

To minimize bending defects, when choosing or manufacturing a pipe bender for work, you need to understand how it works. The manufacture of a pipe bending device consists of three stages:

Similar handheld devices for bending tubular blanks can be mechanically or hydraulically driven, while these two options are great for the home workshop.

The principle of operation of almost all pipe bending devices is the same. The workpiece is fixed in special device and under a certain force takes the required bending angle.

There are various pipe bending devices, and, of course, each of them uses its own system of force. For example, in devices of a crossbow or hydraulic type, a point force acts on the bendable section of the pipe.

According to another scheme, bending is carried out using several rollers, between which the workpiece is rolled, a certain bending angle is obtained. According to this scheme, pipe benders equipped with special inserts for pipes (mandrel) work.

What is dorn for?

To figure out what the mandrel is used for, you need to know what can happen to the pipe during its bending if you do not use the mandrel. For example, when a workpiece is bent, two opposite forces act on some of its sections at the bend:

Compression of the wall of the inner radius, in which the metal, deforming, forms a wavy surface (corrugation).
Stretching. In this case, the metal wall of the outer radius of the bend is stretched, due to which it becomes thinner. Naturally, this can weaken the strength of the pipe in the section of the bend made by almost 50%.

Especially strongly, if you do not use a mandrel, thin-walled copper, aluminum and other pipes made of soft material can be deformed.

For the mandrel inserted inside the pipe in front of the flexible one, steel springs are usually used, selected for the inner diameter of the pipes to be bent. Sometimes the surface of the springs is coated with polyurethane to provide better stabilization of the pipe walls.

Types and manufacture of bending devices

There are not so many ways to bend the pipe, but there are a fairly large number of devices for performing these actions. However, they may be the most different types. In order to make the right pipe bender for a round pipe with your own hands, the drawings can be compiled independently or freely downloaded from the Internet.

According to the principle of influencing the workpiece of a round pipe, in order to give it a bend at a certain angle, there are various types of pipe benders.

Crossbow type model

These models of pipe benders are driven by hydraulic or screw drives. In the process of processing the workpiece, the model is bent in the form of a crossbow shoulder, from which the name of the bending device came.

The design of the crossbow pipe bender in manufacturing has some difficulties, but its power and technical capabilities are quite large. The fixture itself can be made with several functions, such as being used as a bending machine and a hydraulic press.

Depending on the design of the rigid metal frame, the machine can operate in a horizontal position (a jack or other power device is located horizontally) and in a vertical position.

The design consists of a rigid frame and two rollers mounted on special racks welded to the platform. A jack is located in the center between the racks, and clamps are fixed to the axes of the rollers, which ensure free fixation of the workpiece that is laid on them.

A punch for a pipe bender (shoe, template) can be made from old rollers, pulleys, or bent and cut along pipes.

The work of the crossbow machine is done in this way:

A workpiece from the pipe is laid on the rollers and fixed with clamps.
A shoe is fixed to the jack (a template with a certain bending angle).
The jack presses on the center of the workpiece with a shoe and smoothly bends it to a predetermined angle.

Using the same technique, you can make a small manual pipe bender, with which it is easy to bend strong thick-walled pipes of medium and small diameter. For this purpose, you will need to purchase hydraulic jack Not large sizes, two rollers, make a punch and a strong metal T-shaped nozzle for a jack.

The entire design of the "crossbow" mechanism must be with a large margin of safety. Otherwise, if the workpiece breaks out of the fixing brackets under the pressure of the jack, the operator may be injured.

Roller rolling system

Such pipe bending models are also called rolling. With this system, you can bend round or shaped pipes, as well as steel fittings to a large radius. The ideal device for preparing arches for sheds or greenhouses.

The main elements of this kind of device are three metal rollers, matched to the diameter of the bent pipe blank. The workpiece is placed on two extreme rollers and the third, located in the center, is rolled along the pipe. Under his effort, the part gradually bends, acquiring a certain bending radius.

The system can be driven by a hand crank or by an electric motor through a special tube bender gearbox. The quality of the resulting product, which has been processed on this device, is quite high, and the pipe itself, in contact with metal rollers, is practically not damaged.

The advantage of a rolling pipe bender is in its small sizes, thanks to which the tool takes up little space in any home workshop and can be easily mounted on a workbench or wall. And due to the fact that it is made entirely of metal, the workpiece in the process of bending it can be heated with a blowtorch or gas burner to facilitate work.

The simplest device

For urgent jobs that require a manual round pipe bender to quickly bend an angled elbow, such as for domestic plumbing, a simple bending device can be made using available tools. To do this, prepare a lever from cutting a metal round pipe with a diameter of approximately 32-42 mm or thick, preferably smooth fittings. The length of the lever should be within 1-1.5 m, depending on the workpiece to be bent.

A ring made of thick-walled pipe cutting with a width of approximately 30-40 mm is welded to one of the ends of the lever. The inner diameter of the ring must be greater than the outer diameter of the workpiece prepared for bending.

Instead of a ring, two rods from a thick smooth rod can be welded to the lever. The rods are welded perpendicular to the lever and parallel to each other. The distance between them must be greater than the outer dimension of the workpiece prepared for bending.

The bending process is carried out as follows: P

The workpiece is laid on a hard, flat surface, it can be asphalt, concrete floor, reinforced concrete panel or thick board.
The tubular blank prepared for bending is threaded into the ring of the manufactured fixture or inserted between its pins, after which, acting on the lever with muscular force, it is bent.

winding machine

Pipe bending machines of this type differ from other bending devices in that the pressure roller presses the workpiece directly to the template itself, as if winding the pipe around it. This allows you to bend ring-shaped and spiral parts from blanks, which is completely impossible to do on conventional pipe bending machines.

During operation, the roller itself is in a stationary state, but the template, to which the end of the workpiece is rigidly fixed, rotates around its axis, winding the pipe over itself, which is why machines of this type are called winding.

The drive on such devices is most often electric, since it takes a lot of effort to twist the pipe into a ring. The mandrel for the template must be removable, otherwise it will be quite difficult to remove the workpiece curved with a spiral from it. The template can be made of wood, textolite or metal.

The advantage of the winding machine is its simple design, and the disadvantage is some limitation in the size of the template and the need for a powerful lever.

Wooden conductor

This design can be considered a break-in device, and the difference is that there is no pressure roller. For the manufacture of this device, you will need thick plywood or boards, as a base, you can use a workbench or a massive chipboard slab.

A template is made from a thick board, in which one side is rounded to a certain radius. It is rigidly fixed on the edge of the workbench in such a way that around it it is possible to freely wrap the workpiece prepared for bending.

The end of the workpiece can be fixed with a primitive wooden stop from a bar or trimming the same board from which the template was made. The bending of the pipe is carried out with the help of muscular strength smoothly, without sudden movements, then its damage will be insignificant, and the acquired geometric shape will turn out to be accurate and even.

So that the part to be bent does not jump off the template (punch), it is desirable to make a semicircular recess along the perimeter of its rounded part, processing the end with a round rasp.

Fixing the pipe on the template can be done in another way by stuffing a rounded piece of plywood on top of it, which should protrude beyond its edge within 6-10 mm. True, this option is well suited if the tube has thin walls, since more powerful efforts are needed to bend parts with thick walls, while the wooden punch can simply collapse.

Before bending the pipe, it is recommended to fill it with dry sand and plug both ends with wooden plugs.

This will help to avoid the appearance of waves (corrugations) on the workpiece from the inside of the curved section, and a large stretching of the metal on outer wall bend.

Of all the existing pipe bending machines, the most widely used pipe bender is made by hand, the work of which is carried out according to the principle of a rolling fixture. This model of pipe bender has practically no drawbacks, it has a small weight and dimensions, it can be freely transferred and takes up little space during storage.

Owners country houses or personal plots during the renovation of the pipeline or any construction robots are often faced with the need to bend a round or shaped pipe at a certain angle.

If such a process has to be carried out often, it is better to purchase special equipment. But if such a need rarely arises, then by making simple manipulations you can make pipe benders for a round pipe with your own hands, video tutorials and drawings of this design will be presented in the article below.
In this publication, we will talk about how to make a pipe bender at home from improvised means for bending round and shaped pipes. However, before starting the description of the phased production, in the introductory part, let's look at what this tool is and for what purposes it is used on the farm.
What is a pipe bender and why is it needed
It is a design that makes it possible to bend profile or round pipe materials at the desired angle. They are divided into:
hydraulic;

mechanical;

manual.

The first type copes with large bending, mechanical models are used for medium sizes, and manual ones are considered ideal option for diameters up to 3 cm and profiles up to 4 cm.
According to their design features, functionality and principle of operation, they are divided into:
crossbow;

segment;

spring.

The technology of any pipe bender is the ability to correctly bend the product to the required radius. If special attention is not paid to the quality of the result when bending, then homemade designs will cope with this task by 100%.

We make from a metal pipe and a nut
This type of bending device is considered the most elementary. It is made from a piece of rigid round pipe (metal rod) with a nut attached at the base.
We make a template for the future bend from wire;
We measure the template and transfer them to the pipe;
The pipe is installed on a flat floor with a hard coating;
The pipe is inserted into the pipe bender nut, comparing its direction with the measurements on the pipe;
With a foot, resting against the pipe, which is on the floor, we press it harder, and bend the second edge, slowly pulling the pipe bender handle towards us. Such manipulations allow it to be bent by 10˚.
Moving the pipe along the nut hole, the procedure is repeated several times until the bend eventually takes the desired shape.

Wood pipe bender
For an independent bend of a round pipe, you can make a pipe bender from wood with your own hands. From a technical point of view, such a device is the simplest; no additional parts are required for operation, such as, for example, a hydraulic cylinder.
We start by knocking together several boards of dense wood and cut out a half circle of the appropriate diameter. For cutting, you can use the simplest hand saw, the main thing is to ensure that the slope is observed closer to the base.
The resulting workpiece is attached to a solid base in the form of a tabletop or wall. Also, an additional block of wood is attached to the base to create an additional stop.
When choosing a tree, pay attention to the fact that its thickness must be greater than the diameter of the pipe, otherwise, during the bending of the sample, it may slip and cause injury.

To easily make a wooden pipe bender for a round pipe with your own hands, you can check out the video tutorials below. This will help you understand all the nuances of this process.
How to work with him?
We place the pipe in the recess between the wooden semicircle and the thrust bar and gently begin to put pressure on it from the back side, bending it to the desired shape.
The main thing is that it easily enters the opening. This wooden device bends aluminum and steel products well. At the same time, its production requires minimal costs.
Pipe bender from metal hooks
To make it, you need to carry out the following simple steps:
buy high-quality metal hooks at any hardware store;
we fasten them on a stable base in increments of no more than 5 cm. However, the distance of one hook from another will depend on the size of the product to be bent;
as a result, we get a semicircular pattern;
an additional stop is attached to one side of the device.

The bending process will resemble working with a wooden template, but in this case it is not worth making a new template for a different diameter, just move the distance between the hooks.

Pipe bender from a cylinder and rollers
Video 1. We make a manual hydraulic pipe bender for round pipe rolling with our own hands

Video 2. Scheme - drawing.

Video 3. Do it yourself

It consists of rollers and a cylinder and is already a more complex unit. But it makes it possible to bend at any angle up to 360˚. In fact, it is possible to create a pipe bender for a profile pipe with your own hands, as similar as possible, according to technical specifications, for hydraulic equipment.
The specimen is held in place by rollers, and a free-moving cylinder gently bends it to the desired angle. To make a similar unit with your own hands, you will need:
two steel plates 30 cm long and no more than 10 mm thick;
four corners made of steel with shelves measuring 5x5 cm;
from wooden planks a template is knocked down, the thickness of which should not exceed 3 cm;
the steel plate is attached to the underside of the wooden template;
on the basis, in order to give greater structural strength, it is desirable to attach the corners;
a second steel plate is attached to the top;
in the latter, a hole is made of the same diameter as that of the screw that will be installed there;
the bolt serves as a support for the bent pipe;
corners and rollers are attached to the top plate, which are oriented inside the pipe bender;

This type of construction makes it possible to bend any profile product at any angle.
Video 4. Homemade hydraulic pipe bender. Angle with a jack

Rules for using homemade manual pipe benders
In order for the manufactured device to perform its work qualitatively and correctly, you need to adhere to several simple rules for its operation:
If seam pipes are offered for bending, which are used when installing the pipeline, then the seam must be placed in the direction of the bend;
In the case of bending large diameters, it is recommended to work with a partner;
During the process, use protective equipment and do not forget to follow the safety rules.

Summing up all the above information, one thing can be said that building a pipe bender on your own is a feasible task. And you can bring it to life with a minimum amount of free time and money.

When assembling a heating or water supply system from metal pipes often there is a need to bend them in order to give one form or another. For these purposes, there is a special tool - a pipe bender, which you can either buy, although it costs quite a lot, or make it yourself. In this material, we will talk about how to make a pipe bender for a round pipe yourself, as well as what types of these products are found.

Scope of the tool

It is worth noting that pipe benders for round pipes have a fairly wide scope, and this is far from just plumbing work. By the way, when installing plumbing, the need to modify the contour of the pipe does not always arise. As a rule, swivel fittings and bends are used to create bends in pipelines. Elbows mean pipe sections bent according to standard templates at the factory.

There are some restrictions for withdrawals:

standard set of rotation angle options - 45º, 60º, 90º, 180º;
bending radii can be equal to 1 or 1.5 Du;
connection - only welded.

In some cases, it is impossible to fit an individual heating or water supply system into such a rigid framework, and it is not always acceptable to use the welding method of fastening. Then you will definitely need a homemade pipe bender for a round pipe.

In household and summer cottages, there can be many situations when it becomes necessary to bend pipes. This includes the creation of greenhouses and hotbeds with unusual shapes, and the installation of frames for grapes or weaving flowers, and the construction of a summer shower or a small fence, in a word, there are many options. At the heart of all these structures is a frame made of round pipes or a profile, which must be given one form or another. This is where manual pipe benders for a round pipe come in handy.

Note that professional craftsmen do not hesitate to use such a hand tool, because it perfectly meets all the requirements and parameters of the owner. A hand-crafted tool allows you to do quality work, because it is very convenient to use.

Device types

In order to classify products into different categories, several signs are used:

Drive type - manual, automatic, hydraulic.
The installation method is portable or stationary.
Operating principle.

According to the principle of operation, all pipe benders can be divided into several types:

Winding. The stop is located at the beginning of the bend. With special clamps, the pipe is pressed against the movable template roller. This roller begins to rotate, passing the pipe between itself and the stop. This is how the bend is made.
Running in. With this method, the pipe is fixed near a fixed template. The pressure roller begins to rotate around it and gradually bends the pipe to fit the template.
Rod or crossbow method. A pipe is fixed between two fixed rollers. The pressure on it is made in the center using a template located on the stem. It gradually lowers, bending the pipe in the center between the support posts.
Rolling (rolling). In this case, pipe rolling assumes that two rotating support rollers placed in one line and one central template are used for bending. The ratio of these elements will depend on the bending radius. As a rule, the pressure on the pipe is exerted by the central roller.

It is worth noting that in the first three methods of work there is one common drawback - in them the radius of the pipe bend directly depends on the template.

Pipe bending by winding, as a rule, is performed only on industrial equipment, since a do-it-yourself pipe bender for a round pipe is not suitable for these purposes. For products subject to the crossbow processing method, weakness– where the top of the template impacts the steel. This area is subjected to strong pressure and becomes brittle, weakens and thins. In some cases, the pipe may even burst - if its walls are thin enough.

But the rolling method is used to form the pipe configuration most often. Moreover, it is used in industrial enterprises for the production of bends.

In order to properly manufacture a tool, you need to choose its model, taking into account the relationship between the bending radius and the cross section of the pipes. These data can be found in the special recommendations in the form of a table. And, although the figures given there are optimal, the bend radius can still be reduced.

However, for this purpose, you will need a mandrel, which will significantly complicate the work. If we talk about factory conditions, then in addition to the mandrel, hot rolling is often used in production.

However, hot rolling can also be done at home if you have a stationary metal pipe bender with a fixed bed at your disposal. Then a blowtorch or a gas burner is used to heat the pipes.

DIY pipe bending tools

Because to make makeshift fixture for bending pipes it is possible both from improvised and used components, the cost of such a tool will be quite low (more details: ""). Moreover, for the manufacture of the simplest pipe benders for a round pipe with your own hands, drawings are not required. For example, consider quite simple design of this fixture.

To bend the pipe, one of its ends is fixed between the metal elements and pressure is applied to the opposite end until it acquires the desired shape. After that, the pipe is left in this position for some more time so that it does not unbend. For this, metal pins are also threaded at the ends of the pipe, which are welded to a temporary jumper.

Actually, this is the simplest type of pipe bender, which is not a problem to make. But there are also more technological products. We will write about them below.

Hand Template Bender

This tool is used for bending. It is made of wood, equipped with a manual drive.

First, according to the drawing, a wooden template is made, the shape of which will coincide with the bending radius, and the thickness must be greater than the diameter of the pipe. The profiling cut out on the end of the template will simplify further work with the tool. To get the desired profile, you can take two boards, the cut line on which is beveled inward.

The base to which the template will be attached must be fixed. On one side, an emphasis is screwed to the platform, after which the pipe is tried on. If the length of the lever is insufficient, a piece of reinforcement can be inserted into the pipe. There is no need to rush during bending - it is important that the pipe does not move during operation and clearly corresponds to the shape of the template.

Of course, such a primitive mechanism is not something intricate and technically complex. However, for work at home, it is quite acceptable, especially if you need to bend thick pipes.

Roll-in pipe bender made of steel

The most popular among homemade tools is a break-in pipe bender. The templates in it are made from pulleys from engines. Although, some prefer to use washers with different diameters or turn the part on a lathe. It is not necessary to draw a drawing in this case, but it is desirable, for example, so that the turner can correctly machine parts for pipe benders for a round pipe.

Such a hand tool of the break-in type is made by many diligent owners who are constantly making and improving something in their home. The advantage of such a pipe bender is that it can work with plumbing pipes of any standard diameter. And to make the applied force more, you can make the lever longer.

Homemade winding machine for bending pipes

According to the principle of operation, such a tool is similar to a break-in tool. However, it can be used to give the pipes the shape of a ring, which is impossible to do on any other device. If we consider in detail the drawing of the fixture, we can see that the cheeks of the template pulley can be dismantled in order to remove the workpiece in the shape of a circle from it.

It should be noted that the pipe bender of this design can be made from any available materials, including wood, metal or textolite.

How to make a pipe bender for round pipes with hydraulic drive

If we are talking about doing not just some household repair work, but about professional activities, then you should think about making a more complex hydraulic pipe bender. With its help, when bending pipes, it will be possible to reduce the cost of physical forces, because the load will fall on the hydraulic jack.

At the stage of drawing up the drawing of the device, it is necessary to foresee what material the sidewalls will be made of. Optimally suitable for this is a reinforcement bar with a cross section of 18-20 mm, as well as corners with a side of 25 mm. In addition, for the sidewalls you will need 10 mm thick sheet iron with drilled holes for fixing the supports.

A tube of the appropriate diameter is used as a support, into which a bolt with a cross section of 18 mm will need to be welded. A semicircular hole will be located in the center of the support, which also needs to be reflected in the drawing. The workpiece will have to rest against this recess, which will be bent on a hydraulic manual pipe bender.

To create a punch, you will need sheet metal 4 mm thick, from which you will need to cut semicircular blanks. The radius of these parts must correspond to the planned bend radius of the pipe. At the next stage, a pipe with a cross section of 32 mm is taken and cut into two parts. One of the parts is bent according to the shape of the blank plates, and then all the parts are welded. For additional strength of the punch in a hydraulic pipe bender, jumpers are welded inside it, providing stiffeners.

A tube is welded in the central part of the platform. Its purpose is an emphasis for a hydraulic drive, which is a jack. All this must be worked out and provided for in the drawing, according to which the hydraulic pipe bender will be assembled. In addition, such a scheme will make it possible to prepare a list of materials and components that have the necessary parameters. In this case, a number of elements for the tool will need to be pre-ordered from the turner.

Thus, it is not so difficult to assemble one or another type of manual pipe bender. Moreover, there are a lot of options and drawings of finished products that you can take into service in order to make your own necessary tool in the household.

While working on the site or in the garage, it is often necessary to bend several pipes along one or another circle. Or, alternatively, make flat steel strips semicircular. For this, a device such as a pipe bender is used, but acquiring a factory model for performing a couple of operations is not a cheap pleasure. It is easier to make a simple do-it-yourself pipe bender that can bend the pipe to the required dimensions. With the simplest and most popular options for this design, we will get acquainted today.

What are tube benders used for?

Profile pipes with various cuts are today considered the most popular metal products and are used in the construction of greenhouses, sheds, garages, to create fences, during the laying of a pipeline, and so on. And in the manufacture of most of these products, the pipes must be bent at one angle or another, and without special equipment this cannot be done.

So, a pipe bender is a special device through which, in most cases, pipes are bent, and the bending angle can be different (within 0-180 degrees). The drive of a modern pipe bender is often electromechanical or hydraulic.

Note! Using the device described in the article, you can bend products of any configuration (boiler rooms, gas and water pipes; moreover, pipes can be either steel or copper, aluminum or metal-plastic).

The scope of the pipe bender is quite wide - it can be found on construction sites, when creating heating / plumbing networks, at industrial facilities, etc. A hand-made pipe bender is an indispensable thing in the household that can be used for a variety of jobs. If you, for example, intend to install an air conditioner with your own hands, equip a ventilation or heating system, then it will not be easy to do without this unit.

How is a pipe bender arranged?

The specific design of the device depends, first of all, on its purpose, however, without fail, the pipe bender includes:

frame;
a pair of pipe stops;
hydraulic cylinder;
straps (upper/lower).

Note also that the frame can be either open or closed. As for the hydraulic cylinder, it is main part device that performs a power function.

Also in the do-it-yourself pipe bender circuit there is an injection device, which is located on the back of the case; in the same place is the bypass valve screw, the handle. But on top of the cylinder there is a plug, through which oil is poured inside and its level is checked. The unit bar located at the bottom is screwed onto the thread located in front of the housing, and then pressed with a special fixing nut. Additionally, the bar is fastened with a lock and a pair of screws.

For manual reinforcement, a retractable rod is used, which returns back thanks to a spring located in the cylinder. The pipe bender bars are made as a welded structure. On the transverse plates there are holes through which the stops are installed. In the lower part of the body there are also threaded holes for mounting bolts, adjustable in height.

Note! The emphasis is made in the form of a trunnion, and the stops located at its ends are inserted into the holes on the slats. The bent product will rest on the stream located in the middle of the stop. The bending elements are made of precision cast steel.

Considering a do-it-yourself pipe bender, one cannot fail to note the fact that profile pipes with thin walls are used in last years more and more popular, moreover, they make it possible to create durable and attractive designs, as well as save on construction work. It is from such pipes that greenhouses and various sheds are made today. What is the difference between a profile pipe and an ordinary one? First of all, the cross section, which in this case is not round, but oval, rectangular or square. This is what explains design features pipe bender for this type of pipe - the rollers must be of the same cross section as the products being bent, otherwise the cross section of the latter may be deformed.

Types of pipe benders

With a manual pipe bender, you can bend rings and arcs. Such a device weighs relatively little (about 65 kg), so it can be transported to the place of work with small metal structures (the same greenhouses, gates, sheds). Here are the main characteristics of materials that can be processed with a manual fixture: a round pipe with a cross section of 3 centimeters, a square - 4x4 centimeters, a rod - 1.6 centimeters, a strip - 4x1 centimeters and, finally, a square - 1.6x1.6 centimeters.

Thanks to various types of mandrels, the range of processed products can be expanded, and the pipe bender, in turn, can be turned into a profile bender. Price hand tool is such that it can be purchased or made with your own hands, even for minor industries.

As for electric pipe benders, they are used on an industrial scale when working with products of various sections. Such units are very productive, which is primarily due to additional functions, including the rotation of the rollers in two directions at once, the use of foot pedals, and adjustment using the control panel.

The possibilities of electric pipe benders include bending arcs from square (8x4 centimeters) and round (3 centimeters) pipes. In order to match the configuration of the section and the diameter of the products, the devices are equipped with special interchangeable mandrels for each specific case.

A hydraulic manual pipe bender is considered more modern, the strength of which is such that it allows processing fairly large steel products. It is this option that is desirable to use for water or gas pipelines. In this pipe bender, the drive is equipped with a special hydraulic installation, which distinguishes it from a conventional device (the operator's work is noticeably facilitated).

Hydraulic devices can be of several types at once and can be used for various pipes and fittings. So, a portable pipe bender (TPG) can be used for solid steel pipes, as well as for round products (we are talking about the bulldozer method, when the pipes are not filled with sand or other fillers). There is also a manual unit (RGU), with the help of which water and gas pipes, fittings or, again, rolled steel are bent.

Note! From the point of view of operating conditions, a pipe bender (including with your own hands) can be manual and stationary. Representatives of the first group are more suitable for domestic use, while representatives of the second group are at enterprises that require bending pipes or other products.

The principle of operation of the pipe bender

At first it may seem that there is nothing super complicated in bending pipes, but in reality this is not entirely true. If handled incorrectly, you may encounter all sorts of defects, including crushing (may cause a change in diameter) or stretching of the thickness at the bend (due to this, the strength characteristics of the pipeline may suffer). For this reason, the device must be selected correctly, knowing the principle of its operation - this is how you minimize possible defects.

The very principle of operation is as follows. First, the required size of a semicircle is drawn on folded boards or pieces of chipboard, after which they are cut along the line and fixed with nails on the floor, wall or fence. At the same time, it must be remembered that this shield should be somewhat thicker than the product being bent (by about two to three centimeters). An emphasis is fixed from the edge of the board in the side part. The edge of the pipe is inserted between the latter and the template, and then, in accordance with this template, smooth bending is performed (you need to take hold of the second end of the product for this).

Important information! If we are talking about a short pipe or a small bar, then the second end is extended by cutting a pipe that is suitable in diameter.

We also note that there are quite complex solutions to the problem of bending large diameter pipes, however, they require plumbing skills and the use of professional equipment. To make such a pipe bender yourself is not only difficult, but also expensive - it is much easier to purchase a manual unit that has already been used.

Video - Do-it-yourself pipe bender for profile pipes

A simple do-it-yourself pipe bender for ordinary pipes

To assemble a simple pipe bender with your own hands, you only need what can be found on any suburban area. More specifically, you will need:

wooden shield;
two small bars;
large hooks;
several sturdy boards.

Draw a semicircle on the finished shield, according to which the pipe will bend. If the unit will be used several times, draw a couple of semicircles at once. Next, nail bars or boards vertically from below (they can help with the pipe and fixing its ends). After that, fasten large hooks along the semicircle. This unit is quite convenient, but its minus is that the hooks will have to be outweighed every time in order to get different bending angles.

Making a pipe bender designed to work with shaped pipes with your own hands

For this kind of pipes, the design described above is no longer suitable. For this reason, you will need a special do-it-yourself roller pipe bender. If you look at the drawings and step by step instructions, then you can quite make such a machine with your own hands.

From the materials you will need:

pre-made frame made of steel profile;
rollers;
jack;
three rollers.

After preparing everything you need, you can proceed directly to the manufacturing process.

Step one. fabricate metal carcass. Below you can additionally weld fasteners for fixing on the table top. After that, place a pair of vertical supports: on the side and in the center. On the opposite side (where there is no support), the profile will rise, and therefore it needs to be bolted. This part will be lifted with a jack.

step two. Weld the shafts to the finished frame. Two on the sides, while under the third it is required to prepare supports in advance. The shaft will be attached to the latter.

Step Three. Weld a handle made of steel pipe to the central shaft. With the help of this handle, the product will be bent.

Step Four. Fix two shafts between the shafts on the sides and the central one, as well as a roller, so that the product being bent does not move. The fact is that in this way the pipe will not move much, and therefore the work will be done with maximum accuracy.

Step Five. At the end, place the jack under the movable part of the profile (the one with the roller). The jack, by the way, can be either a simple rack or a bottle jack. If necessary, fix it on the structure.

Note! Take careful measurements before starting work. Draw a diagram, check how well the parts are welded together. In addition, we recommend that you watch the video below.

Video - Making a simple pipe bender on your own

Manufacturing of a compact snail pipe bender

To make a pipe bender with your own hands, you can use ready-made design drawings. Familiarize yourself with several options, proportion their complexity and your capabilities, the availability of the required skills and equipment. So you will be able to choose the most optimal design. So, check out a few more options for pipe benders that you can assemble with your own hands.

To begin with, for the correct bending of profile pipes, it is necessary to clearly understand what the physics of this process is. As a rule, the so-called circular bend is used in manual fixtures, due to which the risks of damage to the product, the appearance of cracks or creases are minimized. To bend the pipe in such a unit, it is necessary to fix the pipe in it, and then press the lever. The product will flex as it rolls over the roller, which in turn presses it against the main wheel.

As for necessary equipment and materials, you will need:

a sheet of metal 6 mm thick;
ruler / tape measure;
Working wheel;
hammer;
pressure roller;
corners made of steel, with dimensions of 5x5x0.25 centimeters;
welding machine (and skills to work with it, of course);
a piece of thick pipe with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters;
Bulgarian;
axes of rotation;
washers, nuts;
a piece of metal rod with a square section (2x2x4 centimeters).

Note! When building a pipe bender with your own hands, be sure to follow the safety requirements! In particular, this applies to welding and metal cutting!

How to calculate the design. Drawing

Before you start making a pipe bender with your own hands, determine under what radius you will need to bend the pipes most often. It is on this that the dimensions of the impeller will depend (they must be the same as the inner radius of the finished elbow).

The drawing presented above was created for profile pipes whose diameter does not exceed one inch. Using this unit, it will be possible to obtain a bending radius of up to 12.5 centimeters (this is 1/2 the diameter of the impeller). But if you require other bending parameters, apply the appropriate calculation method.

So, the main size of the fork is the distance between the axes of the roller and the impeller (here a = 200 millimeters). This gap is chosen in this case, taking into account the fact that the maximum diameter of the profile pipe will be 25 millimeters, but we recommend adding a few more “reserve” millimeters.

Here is the formula for calculating the distance between the axles:

d + r1 + r2 + 2= a, in which:

d is the exact diameter of the product;
r1-2 is the roller/impeller radius.

Note! If the design of the future unit provides for the presence of a kind of brook pulley, then measure, starting only from the lowest point of this element.

To determine the size of the fork, take 10 millimeters as the gap between its base and the roller, and then add another 30 "spare" millimeters. But to determine the internal clearance, add one or two millimeters to the wheel thickness.

Important information! For a more versatile design, make a few holes on the sides of the fork. When you move the axis of the roller, you will change the distance between the surfaces of the rotating elements.

How to make such a pipe bender - a detailed guide

As you can see from the diagram above, the design consists of:

iron thick plate (base);
forks;
impeller;
and finally the roller.

To make a pipe bender with your own hands, follow the sequence of actions below.

Step one. First, make a roller and an impeller. If you have lathe, this is very good, however, in the absence of such equipment, these elements can also be manufactured without any difficulties. For a moderate fee, a specialist will quickly turn your pulleys for you.

Note! Do not skimp on the creation of movable parts! They must have a groove for the maximum diameter pipe, in addition, the roller must have a seat for a rolling bearing.

If necessary, you can make adjustments to the design of the surface of the knee; the roller/wheel chute is shaped. When the roller rolls, it will leave a mark on the outside of the knee, while the wheel will leave it on the inside. To facilitate work and reduce the cost of the total cost of the structure, you can install two ball bearings of the required dimensions instead of a roller.

step two. Using the same machine, it is necessary to make an axis for the roller and the impeller. It is important that the thickness of the elements matches the inner diameter of the bearing you are using. As for the length of the axle, it should be the same as the outer width of the fork. The length of the axis of rotation of the wheel will be slightly longer, since the thickness of the base plate of the unit will also be taken into account. If you refuse to install bearings, you can thereby significantly reduce the cost of the process, and in this case, long bolts with nuts will act as axles. Be that as it may, remember that working on such a device will be much more difficult.

Step Three. After that, take a sheet of metal, cut out the back wall and side surfaces of the fork from it; in addition, you will need a piece of pipe with thick walls, which will serve as a lever.

Step Four. Make holes in the fork for the roller/wheel according to the diagram.

Step Five. Weld the elements of the fork. At the same time, make sure that exactly the right angles of this product are made with especially high quality.

Note! It is better not to fasten the lever butt to the fork, as this kind of fastening will be unreliable due to the large applied forces. The best option- drill a hole in the back wall, where the end of the pipe will subsequently enter. If you weld such a joint using welding machine, you will get an extremely strong joint as a result.

Step Six. We continue to assemble a pipe bender with our own hands. So, now arm yourself with a grinder and cut out the frame with it. After that, drill a hole of the appropriate size in it for the stationary wheel axle.

step seven. If necessary, press the bearing into the roller.

Step eight. Place the roller in the fork, and then secure with nuts or a welding machine.

Step nine. Install the assembled fork on the base, fixing the wheel axle in the same way as when installing the roller.

Step ten. weld a piece square section- this will be a kind of fixative for the workpiece.

At the end, make holes in the corners of the base to install the unit to the workbench. Do not forget to clean up the welding spots so that the design looks more attractive in the end. Also paint the pipe bender with enamel to prevent rusting.

Another design of the bending machine

Here, as you can see, the roller is pressed by means of a threaded gear. In this example, a hydraulic jack and a manual drive will be used, in which there will be elements of a gas distribution mechanism (we are talking about those in automobile engines). And one more thing: do not forget about personal safety! Always use personal protective equipment when working!

Now - directly to the process of making a pipe bender with your own hands

Step one. First, make a pressure shaft and support shafts. If you do not know how to work with a lathe, then you will need the help of a professional. At the same time, it is important that the rollers have shanks necessary for mounting sprockets.

Note! The chain, as well as sprockets, can be any.

step two. Attach bearings to the shafts, fasten the gears to the keys.

Step Three. Weld the frame of the future pipe bender. First of all, make a square frame on which there are support legs, and then install a structure on it, through which the plate with the roller will move.

Step Four. The plate in this case will serve as a channel (H- or U-shaped). To install the pressure shaft, make holes on the edges of the plate, taking into account the dimensions of the bearing supports.

Step Five. Hang a piece of channel with a roller on four springs on top of the frame (pre-weld nuts in the corners that will serve you as mounting loops). Then, finally install the hydraulic jack.

Step Six. Fix the drive shafts on the lower frame.

step seven. Put a chain on the sprockets, push it down to determine the place where the tensioner will be located. Install the latter on the construction bed.

Step eight. Install a handle to rotate the shafts of the structure. We recommend using a handle with a rotating tube to make it easier to work and to avoid blisters on your hands.

Step nine. You can process a finished pipe bender with your own hands with a special rust converter, and then paint it.

In the end, it remains only to check the resulting design for operability. That's all, we hope that you, following our instructions, will definitely get the desired result! And at the end - another thematic video.

Good luck with your work!