waynebergman Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 I am wanting to heat up some 1/8th wall thickness 1" square steel tubing so it will be a bit easier to bend. A few methods I have and option to use are a wood fired pizza oven in my yard although this will limit the length of tubing to 36" and I am not sure if temps will be hot eneough. Temps in oven are 750 degrees farinheiht on the floor and 900 at the roof. I also have a tiger torch hocked up to a propane tank that I good line up some firebricks so I can enclose the tubing and then blast it with the tiger torch. Not sure what kind of temps I will reach with the tiger torch. I have a tube bender I just bought from harbor freight that is really made for thiner wall tubing so I am wondering if I put some heat to my tubing first and then rolled in my roller it may let me work with thicker walled tubing. I also could cut out a mold out of wood I guess for the shape I want and tnen heat and clamp and bend but I would like to also try out this new tool. This is a link to see a shot of the oven I am thinking of trying for the heat up if anyone is interested http://picasaweb.google.com/waynebergman/WayneSPizzaOvenWorld#5191153693045148706 So thanks in advance for any help on this ...........wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted April 11, 2010 Share Posted April 11, 2010 Being it's apparently a one time deal Wayne, you could just use charcoal in a trench in the ground. Nine-hundred degrees is really not quite enough to get the tubing to bend easily. Bending square tubing can be a bit tricky too as the tubing will want to collapse. It will help if you can bend it on a fairly long radius rather than a sharp bend. Are you going for a curved shape or some sort of corners? Just off the info that you give I think the bender might be your best option... I'd give it a try just cold and see what happens. Just bend it a little at a time and it might handle the extra wall thickness OK. Heat could help the tubing bend but might not work well in the bender. I've bent some at the anvil that worked reasonably well but might not have looked all that great for a professional project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted April 11, 2010 Share Posted April 11, 2010 I think you`ll find that even if you heat the tubing you will still get some distortion or collapse on the inside of the bend unless it`s a very slight bend or a very large radius. Bending tubing without distortion requires special dies and usually a mandrel or something else inside the tubing to keep the tubing from collapsing. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynebergman Posted April 11, 2010 Author Share Posted April 11, 2010 thanks so far folks.....just curious if I was to use the tiger torch with fire brick around the tubing would this get things hot enough? Another option I have is my oxy ace rosebud torch. I no longer have the aceatalene tank but I could go with propane and ox......how would this compare to just propane only with the fire brick enclosure built around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 11, 2010 Share Posted April 11, 2010 Oxy-propane requires "grade T" or propane rated hose AND regulators suitable for more than just acetylene. Propane damages acetylene only hoses and regulators. If you equipment is suitable, go for it. Verify first, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near propane running through an acetylene only kit. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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