Do-it-yourself pipe bender - simple drawings, diagrams, projects and the best homemade pipe benders (100 photos). Homemade pipe bender for shaped pipes Drawing of a bending machine for shaped pipes

A pipe bender for a profile pipe is a tool necessary for certain situations, and there is a steady demand for it in the market. The pipe bender can be used in a variety of areas where there is a need to give the pipe a specific shape. Of course, such a tool can be purchased, but if you want to save money, you can make it yourself.

To assemble a pipe bender, you need knowledge about its structure, principle of operation and characteristic features. Also, this work will require the availability of appropriate tools and instructions. How to make a pipe bender for a professional pipe with your own hands will be discussed in this article.

The main characteristics of the pipe bender

Structurally, a profile pipe bender is a specific machine for rolling a profile pipe, which allows bending pipes with various profile cross-sections.

Good profile pipe benders allow you to solve several problems, including:

The ability to bend the pipe at the required angle, the value of which can reach 180 degrees;
The ability to work with pipes in a fairly wide range of diameters - from 5 to 1220 mm;
Possibility of processing pipes made of different materials (if necessary, you can bend both metal and plastic products).

In principle, there is no need for a pipe bender for processing polymer pipes - such material can be bent in other ways. But when processing metal products, you cannot do without professional equipment.

Of course, you can always buy a ready-made instrument or rent it, but these solutions cannot be called the best. Specialized equipment is usually expensive to rent, and even more expensive to purchase. In addition, you need to understand that buying a pipe bender for a one-time job will not be the most profitable option. To avoid unnecessary costs, many make pipe bending machines with their own hands.

Application of pipe benders

However, the main field of application of such equipment is the laying of various pipelines and the installation of buildings, in which shaped pipes are often used as fittings. Regardless of the shape and type of raw materials used for the production of pipes, they can still be bent only with the help of special machines - otherwise, it will not be possible to achieve a positive result.

The scope of application greatly influences the bending parameters of pipes. The fact is that the material can have different sizes and raw materials, and the requirements for bending are different. In order to process the pipes properly, you need to use equipment of the appropriate capacity and ability. In addition, an important aspect is the drive of the device, which can be manual, electric or hydraulic.

Types of pipe benders for profile pipes

The main factor by which pipe benders are classified is the device drive, depending on which there are three categories of devices:

Hydraulic.
Electrical.
Manual.

There are many differences between these devices - different equipment, operating principle and equipment cost. It is worth considering them in more detail to understand these differences.

Devices with an electric drive are among the most expensive, but the high cost is quite justified (more: ""). The technical characteristics of such devices, including high power, precise adjustment of the pipe bend angle and convenient operation, are at the highest level. As a rule, professional installers use such a tool.

Hydraulic pipe benders, although they are somewhat inferior in cost to electrical devices, also cannot be classified as budgetary. Such devices are usually used in situations where the power of the hand tube bender is insufficient.

Hydraulic attachments have many advantages:

High pace of work... Due to its high and stable power, the hydraulic pipe bender is able to process pipes much faster than hand-operated devices.
High processing precision... Unlike manual devices, hydraulic devices allow the pipe to be bent with an accuracy of 1 degree.
Ease of operation and maintenance... The considered type of devices is very easy to use and does not require any special maintenance. Even if the device fails, you can repair it yourself. In addition, the work does not have to put a lot of effort, which is simply necessary when processing with manual pipe benders.
Lightweight and compact... If necessary, any hydraulic pipe bender can be moved from place to place without much difficulty.
Versatility... Unlike manual devices, which have a number of unpleasant limitations, hydraulic pipe benders allow you to work even with medium-sized steel products.

In addition to the types of pipe benders already described above, there are also manual devices that are distinguished by the lowest cost and simplicity of design. The hand-operated profile pipe bender is quite mobile and easy to operate. It is also worth noting that if they want to make a pipe bender with their own hands, most users stop at this option.

However, for a small cost you have to pay with other qualities. First, manual devices are poorly suited for large volumes of work due to the difficulties with long-term use of the device. Secondly, the principle of operation of such devices is simple, but it is difficult to work with them - you have to apply too much effort to bend the pipe well. Thirdly, manual pipe benders are only suitable for processing plastic and aluminum pipes. If desired, steel products can also be processed, but only if their diameter is small.

In addition to the classification by the type of drive, pipe benders are divided according to the method of bending the pipe, depending on which there are three types of devices:

Crossbow, in which the pipe is bent due to a special shape;
Spring manual, which bend the pipe due to the force given by the springs;
Segmental, having a structure of dense material with installed mandrels, around which the pipe is bent.

DIY manual pipe bender

Many owners are concerned about how to make a manual pipe bender for a profile pipe with their own hands. This question is quite relevant - the purchase of ready-made instruments is expensive, and the quality of some of them leaves much to be desired. It is not surprising that various pipe bender schemes turn out to be popular and in demand.

To create a simple manual tube bender, you only need three components:

Concrete slab;
Several metal pins;
Perforator.

Assembling all the parts into one whole is not particularly difficult. First, you need to divide the slab into squares with a side of 4 cm or 5 cm. When these squares are marked, deep holes are drilled in their corners using a punch, into which pins are then installed. It is best to have drawings of homemade pipe benders for a profile pipe with you in order to constantly check with them.

The principle of operation of this primitive design is quite simple: the pipe fits into the space between the pins and bends due to physical efforts. Such a manual bending machine for a profile pipe is not very convenient in operation and does not allow achieving high accuracy of the bending angle, but for a small amount of work in a domestic environment, its capabilities will be enough.

Alternative layouts for manual tube benders

The simple pipe bender described above is not suitable for all situations. If you need higher performance, you will have to look for a more complex design. A fairly effective option for a homemade pipe bender is a structure, the main working element of which is a jack. To assemble manual pipe benders for a profile pipe with your own hands, you need a hydraulic jack that can withstand a load of up to 5 tons, a solid base and pins.

There is another interesting option - a pipe bender with a chain drive, which is started with a handle. The drawing of a pipe bender of this type includes a metal base in the form of a letter P, a clamp, three rollers, a winch and a chain. The parts are joined by welding.

The assembly algorithm for such a tool is as follows:

First of all, a U-shaped part is attached to the base;
On both sides of the part, two rollers are attached, and the third is installed so that they all form an isosceles triangle;
A chain with a connected winch is put on the rollers.

Homemade hydraulic pipe bender

Hydraulic benders have many advantages over hand tools, but they all come from the complexity of the design. Since hydraulic equipment is complex, it will be much more hassle to assemble it yourself. To assemble such a pipe bender, you will need a solid base, a U-shaped metal part, a shaft, a pulley, a chain and a hydraulic rod.

Making a hydraulic homemade pipe bender looks like this:

The first step is to install the shaft on the base;
A pulley is attached to one end of the shaft, and a chain is attached to the second, after which you can install the next shaft and connect it with a chain to the first;
At the bottom of the structure, you need to cut an opening for the movement of the stem;
Next, a third roller is installed, which is the main element that bends the pipes;
The shaft of the third roller is installed in the grooves of the base.

Homemade tube bending rolling machine

The set of materials required for work looks like this:

Concrete base;
Wheels;
Winch;
Engine;
Metal jumper;
Jack;
Reducer.

It is best to assemble a pipe bender for a profile with your own hands in several stages in order to simplify the work:

The first step is to prepare the foundation. It will require metal elements and a welding machine. Four supports are attached to the base, after which holes can be drilled in the structure, allowing you to adjust the bending radius of the profile pipe.
Next, a jack is installed using bolts and plastic, after which you can attach a winch with rollers, both motors and a jumper.
The last step is the installation of the "fungus", which is essentially a regular pipe bent at a right angle. The "fungus" is attached to the upper part of the machine body.

A pipe bending machine for a profile pipe assembled according to this scheme has a complex design, but the difficulties of assembly in the future will more than pay off due to efficient and simple operation.

Conclusion

There are a variety of tube benders for profile pipes. If we are talking about purchasing such a device, then everything depends on the choice of the necessary technical characteristics, and with self-assembly, a lot of efforts will also be required to create the most efficient and reliable design.

Bending of profile pipes is a fairly common procedure, for which a special device is used - a pipe bender. You can make a pipe bender for a profile pipe with your own hands, or you can purchase it at the construction market or in a store.

Serial devices differ in their principle of operation, they can have different types of drives, however, to work on any of these devices, certain experience is required. Limits the use of devices manufactured in a production environment, and the fact that they are expensive. A good way out in all such situations will be the independent manufacture of a device designed for bending shaped pipes, for which you can use available tools.

Required structural elements

To make a pipe bender with your own hands, you can use drawings of various designs. Their choice is mainly determined by what materials you have. Most often they opt for front-type pipe benders, the design of which includes:

three rollers (shafts), which must be metal;
drive chain;
axis of rotation;
a mechanism that will set in motion all the elements of the device;
metal profiles from which the frame of the device will be made.

In order to understand how to bend a profile pipe on a homemade device, it is important to understand the technology used for such a process. As a rule, pipe benders use the principle of rolling or rolling, which minimizes the risk of breakage and damage to the pipe.

To make a bend on a profile pipe using such a device, it must be inserted between and turn the handle. The use of such a simple bending device makes it possible to obtain bends on a profile pipe that fully correspond to the specified parameters.

To make a simple machine for performing bending of shaped pipes, you will need the following structural elements:

ordinary jack;
metal profiles and a shelf required for the manufacture of the frame;
high strength springs;
shafts in the amount of 3 pieces;
drive chain;
a number of other structural elements.

When using such a device, the operation of which can be seen in one of the videos below, the pipe is laid on two side rollers, and a third is lowered onto it from above, creating the required force. To give the pipe the necessary bend, turn the handle that sets the chain and, accordingly, the equipment shafts in motion.

Pipe bender manufacturing process

To make a device to receive, you must complete the following procedures.

Prepare a reliable frame, the elements of which are connected by welding and bolted connections.
According to a previously prepared drawing, set the axis of rotation and the shafts themselves, two of which are located above the third. The bending radius of the profile pipe depends on the distance at which the axes of such shafts are located.
To operate such a bending mechanism, a chain drive is used. To complete such a transmission, it is equipped with three gears, and the chain itself can be picked up from an old car, motorcycle or other equipment.
To operate such equipment, a handle is needed, which is connected to one of the shafts. It is due to such a handle that the required torque is created.

Pipe bender manufacturing instructions

It is not difficult to make a pipe bender for a profile pipe on your own if you adhere to the following technological sequence.

Gears, bearings and rings are placed on the pressure shaft, which are connected to it using a key. First, a drawing of such a shaft, a cage for bearings and rollers is developed, then these parts are turned, which is best entrusted to a qualified turner. In total, for this device, it is necessary to make three shafts, one of which is suspended by springs, and the other two are located on the sides.
Then, holes must be drilled in the rings, which are necessary for making grooves and threading.
Now you need to make a shelf, for which a channel is used, in which holes are also drilled and threads are required when installing the pressure shaft.
After completing the preparatory measures, the entire structure of the equipment must be assembled, for which welding and bolted connections are used. First of all, the installation of the frame is performed, which also serves as the legs of the pipe bender.
The next step is to suspend the shelf with the pressure shaft attached to it, for which springs are used. After that, it is necessary to install side support shafts on a homemade pipe bender, on one of which a handle is attached.
The final touch is to install the jack on the pipe bender.

Some subtleties of installation work:

the pressure shaft, fixed with dowels, is additionally screwed to the shelf;
the installation of the pressure shaft is carried out according to the following scheme: the shaft is installed on a shelf to which the nuts for the springs are pre-welded, after the installation work is completed, the shelf is turned over and suspended on the springs;
the chains are tensioned using a magnetic angle, which is used as a holder;
when tightening the sprockets, dowels are used, which are pre-made from a grower;
the drive handle for the bending machine is made with a rotatable tube;
a jack for such a homemade device is installed on a suspended platform, for which bolted connections and welding are used.

Hydraulic pipe bender manufacturing

On the Internet, you can find many photos and videos on how to independently make a device for bending shaped pipes with a hydraulic drive. The manufacturing process of such a pipe bender, equipped with a hydraulic cylinder, a pressure device and pipe stops, is a rather laborious undertaking.

In the drawing and in the design of such a pipe bender, the following elements can be distinguished:

hydraulic jack with a lifting capacity of at least 5 tons;
shoe;
rollers in the amount of 2-3 pieces;
powerful metal channel;
thick metal plates and other details.

To perform the required bending of the profile pipe using a hydraulic device, it is necessary to insert it into the shoe and fix both its ends. After that, you need to use a jack, which, with its rising rod, presses on the roller, which acts on the pipe and bends it. After the required bend angle is obtained, the process can be stopped and the pipe can be removed from the pipe bender by turning the jack handle several times in the opposite direction.

Pipe bending methods using a homemade machine

The question of how to bend a profile pipe using a homemade pipe bender is unlikely to confuse you if you read a few more recommendations. On hydraulic machines, it is possible to successfully bend profile pipes from different materials, as well as thick-walled products. This operation can be performed both by cold and hot methods, which presuppose the preheating of the pipe section.

Thus, a manual hydraulic bending machine can be used to act on a pipe in two ways:

cold;
hot.

Cold bending is the simplest bending method used for pipes made of plastic materials. The subtlety of this process is filling the pipe before the flexible with sand, salt, oil or cold water. This allows you to get a better bend without significant deformation of the pipe.

If you are interested in the question of how to correctly bend a profile pipe with thick walls or made of materials of increased rigidity, then the answer to it will be the use of the hot bending method.

To the question of how to bend a profile pipe as accurately as possible and without unnecessary labor costs, several useful tips from qualified specialists will be answered.

Removable rollers of different shapes will allow you to work comfortably not only with shaped pipes, but also with round ones.

In manual pipe benders for bending profile pipes, you can not use sprockets, but assemble a structure based on one drive roller. Instead of a clamping screw, a jack is often used in such pipe benders.
If you are bending according to a template, then so that the pipe does not slide off it, you can use metal hooks as stops.
If it is necessary to bend a profile pipe under a large radius, it is best to use a pipe bender with three rollers.
To get a more versatile bending machine, you can make its thrust rollers moveable. This will allow you to change the bend radius of the pipe.

In the video below, the master shares his experience in building a pipe bender from scrap materials.

In order to strictly adhere to the dimensions of the required pipe bend, it is best to perform this operation using a template that is made of wood. Even the simplest manual pipe bender using such a template will allow you to bend a profile pipe with exact observance of the specified parameters. By the way, such templates are mainly made for the implementation of the simplest manual bending methods.

A real owner always has a lot of different tools that he uses for his house and plot. And he, of course, will be able to make a pipe bender for a profile pipe with his own hands according to the dimensions and drawings that we will provide below. Such designs may be different, and we will not be able to cover all of them, but the provided material will be enough for you.

Homemade pipe bender

Buy in the store or make it yourself

Profile pipe bender "Hercules"

The one that you can buy in the store may have a different type of drive and a different principle of operation, but this is not always a good thing. Firstly, certain experience is required to work on it, and secondly, such devices have a high cost. For these reasons, making a homemade pipe bender from scrap materials is not only profitable, but also practical, since when assembling the tool, you will know the slightest nuances of its work.

What is a pipe bender for?

The main elements of the machine

Today, profile pipes of different cross-sections are the most demanded metal products. They make frames and battens, fences and railings, with their help they expand balconies and even build various architectural structures in the form of extensions or separate rooms. But sharp turns are not always used in construction - sometimes a smooth transition is also needed, and in these cases you cannot do without a pipe bender. As a rule, such a machine allows you to bend the profile up to an angle of 180⁰, that is, the device allows you to make a circle.

Main structural elements

Principle of operation

For the manufacture of a particular machine design, you should look at several diagrams in order to determine the set of parts. The fact is that, if necessary, all the components of the nodes can be purchased for money, but you can also use the materials that are in your household and not pay anything for it. In most cases, home craftsmen stop at frontal structures and for this you must have in stock:

three metal rollers (rollers);
chain for the drive;
axis of rotation;
mechanism for the drive;
metal profiles (channels) for the frame.

Sometimes, in the absence of metal rollers, they are replaced with wooden or polyurethane ones, but ... Such a rolling mechanism will not withstand prolonged load, that is, the machine will serve its purpose, but not for long. Is there any point in wasting your labor for a short-term benefit if, with an effort or even paying a certain amount, you can find steel rollers?

Diagram of a simple pipe bender with dimensions in mm

As you understand, the process of deformation of the profile occurs using rolling, that is, the pipe is rolled along rollers (rollers), which eliminates fracture and cracking. For rolling (bending) the profile, it is inserted into the rolling line (between the rollers) and pressed from above with a screw device or jack to the desired bending radius. Then, when you turn the feed knob, the pipe moves and the bend goes along its entire length. It turns out that this is a manual drive, which is set in motion by muscular force, but at home such a mechanism is very convenient.

The profile is clamped with a jack

To assemble a simple do-it-yourself pipe bender in question, you will need:

jack (preferably rack and pinion);
metal profiles with a shelf for horizontal and vertical frames;
alloy steel springs (they are distinguished by high strength);
three steel shafts with bearings;
chain for a drive (can be from a bicycle or moped);
gears (leading and driven);
thick fittings for axles and drive handle.

Video: the process of working on bending a pipe

As you can see, making a do-it-yourself profile bending machine is easier according to the available drawings, and photo and video materials only help with this. The bend shown in the picture is driven by a handle that rotates a shaft with a drive gear. With the help of a chain, rotation is transmitted to the shaft with a driven gear, and the third shaft presses the profile from above to the required bending angle. Everything is very simple.

Mechanism manufacturing process

Bending device drawings

If you are interested in how to make a profile bending, then you will have to perform a number of actions that will ensure this reliability of the mechanism, and these are:

manufacturing of a powerful frame assembled by welding and bolted ties;
according to the terms of the drawing (technical assignment), make and install the axes of rotation for the rollers. There are three of them - two rolling and one clamping;
to rotate the rolling rollers, you need to provide a chain drive, that is, weld (evenly) the drive and driven gears;
weld the handle for rotation onto the drive gear.

Manufacturing nuances

Finished pipe bender

If you have all the necessary parts in stock, then it is not difficult to make a mechanism for profile bending. First of all, you need to take into account that all the rollers must rotate on bearings - the accuracy of rotation will ensure correct rolling, without failures and kinks. The drive and driven gears must be correctly centered - a failure from the center by at least 0.5 mm will lead to incorrect deformation (the bending will turn out to be uneven).

The pressure shaft must also be centered - the accuracy of the bending angle depends on this. Best of all, when the dimensions of all three shafts are the same - the rolling is the most accurate. The rolling precision also depends on the clamping stiffness, so the shaft must be well fixed.

Hydraulic pipe bender

Hydraulic drive mechanism

To make a hydraulic one for a profile pipe with your own hands according to ready-made dimensions and drawings, you will have to spend much more labor and resources. Nevertheless, it can be done and we will now consider the procedure. For assembly you will need:

hydraulic jack with a lifting capacity of 5 tons;
shoe;
three shafts;
channel for the frame;
metal plates (thick).

Video: Hydraulic Drive Mechanism

To bend the profile correctly, insert it into the shoe and fix both ends. After that, the jack is activated - it presses on the pressure shaft and sets the desired bending angle. After rolling, the jack is loosened by several turns and the pipe is removed from the device.

Drawing with dimensions in mm

The jack is bolted to a metal plate. But in such a mechanism, the most important thing is the shafts, which must grip the profile tightly - the bending accuracy depends on this. The shafts are fixed at the same height and gears are welded to them. The shoe is mounted below the shafts and the shoe-to-shaft ratio determines the bending angle. Fixation takes place with bolts.

Bending methods

Cold bending of a profile

If you have read all the descriptions, watched photos and videos, then the arching process itself is unlikely to confuse you. If you decide to make a hydraulic device, then you can bend pipes of any thickness on it - the most important thing is to withstand the shafts (rollers). But I would like to mention one nuance - bending can be not only cold, but also hot. Heating usually occurs with the help of gas welding, which is very convenient, especially since only part of the pipe can be heated, that is, the section that needs to be bent.

We can say that the cold bending method is the simplest and if you are working with a thin-walled pipe, then you do not need to heat it at all. But here, too, there can be problems - this is a seam. Profiles are not always made with high quality and a bad seam simply diverges when bending. This can be avoided by heating, but not always. A poor-quality pipe will remain as such and no heating will help this. However, if you use a profile for the frame, then a small crack along the seam will not become critical in any way.

Note. Be that as it may, but hot bending is still the highest quality. The hot metal turns out to be the most clearly curved, without any interruptions.

Pipe bender with accessories

For a profile pipe, it is not at all necessary to acquire any special qualifications - ordinary attentiveness and a few recommendations from specialists are enough. In hand-held devices, the system consists of a drive and a driven gear, welded onto shafts and a clamp (a jack can be used instead of a shaft). Sometimes the profile can slide off the rolling mill and in such situations, hooks are used to fix it. For the most precise bending, the shafts must be movable.

Note. It is best to make a cardboard or wooden template to maintain the bend radius. Even with a simple manual tube bender, the template will always be accurate.

Video: manual pipe bender

Conclusion

You have read an article with drawings, photos and videos on how to make a do-it-yourself profile bending machine. As you can see, this is not very difficult, but you need to first collect all the parts so that the work does not stop due to trifles.

Reading 14 min. Published 19.11.2018

Bending a pipe - a hollow cylinder with a certain wall thickness - is associated with a number of inconveniences. It is known from the physics course that a tube made of any material is almost as strong as a solid rod. But it wins much more in terms of material consumption and weight.

Therefore, the pipe is used very often in construction and in the manufacture of various structures. And no less often it is required to bend this pipe so that it can fulfill the function assigned to it. For this, a device such as a pipe bender was invented. What is it, what is its design and is it possible to make a pipe bender with your own hands?

What is it and what is it for?

With breaking frame

No less popular in do-it-yourself manufacturing is the pipe bender scheme with a fracture frame. Structurally, it differs in that all the rollers in it are stationary, that is, they only rotate, but move up and down.

The pressure on the pipe occurs by raising the part of the frame where one of the outer rollers is mounted. The assembly process is similar to the previous one, but has its own nuances:

Make the frame for the breaking pipe bender not in one piece, but in two parts. The two pieces can be connected with a stud with two nuts.
It is very convenient to lift the end roller using a screw lifting device or a jack.
To rotate the asterisks, some craftsmen adapt an AC electric motor or even a gasoline one removed from a walk-behind tractor or a fuel generator.

But most often, such units still use the user's muscular strength. In this case, they require virtually no resources. This is their value: such a device is very easy to put in the trunk of a car and bring it to a construction site where there is still no electricity.

Below is a drawing and dimensions of a homemade pipe bender:

Another example:

Simple pipe bender

In a home workshop, several types of pipe benders can be made. Much depends on the needs of the device user. In a situation where a person needs to constantly bend a small-diameter copper tube at a right angle, making a stationary pipe bender with a fracture frame based on a jack seems like a waste of time and effort.

Below are the simplest and easiest to manufacture types of pipe benders for various needs.

For round pipe

The key feature of this pipe bender is the rollers, which either squeeze the pipe, rolling over it, or squeeze it from different sides. Depending on the cross-section of the rollers, the device will be sharpened for a round or profile pipe.

In the first case, the inner surface of the roller between the two ridges will be concave, in the second - even.

From the jack

The hydraulic jack is convenient to use for clamping the pipe. Its use is justified with round and shaped pipes made of steel, large diameters or with thick walls. Considering that more than three tons can be lifted with a hydraulic jack, it turns out that the diameter and thickness of the pipe that you can bend is rather limited by the design of the system itself and by whether you can turn the lever while pulling the workpiece.

With a sufficient length of the lever of the handle of rotation of the rollers, this type of pipe bender requires the least physical strength when working with serious materials.

Crossbow type

The crossbow-type pipe bender does not have a profile broaching mechanism.

It is used when the product bends to a short length.

The pipe bender got its name for a metal triangular frame located parallel to the ground.

At the tops of this frame, there are two supports oriented to a round or shaped tube (this depends on the shape of the groove on the stops). In the third vertex there is a stock with a punch, that is, an arc bent outward. To press the punch against the pipe, which is deformed between two stops, a hydraulic cylinder is usually used. In everyday life, it is easiest to replace it with a hydraulic jack.

Thus, for the manufacture of a crossbow pipe bender equipped with a hydraulic jack, it is necessary to weld a triangular frame, at the tops of which stops and a pressure rod will be located.

Making a compact pipe bender-snail

The snail pipe bender got its name from the part that serves as a power stencil when bending the pipe.

In the process of bending, the pipe is pressed against the volute by a special roller that circumscribes a circle.

In general, the design of such a pipe bender resembles a seamer for glass jars.

The snail of a self-made unit can represent a circle of steel 3-4 mm thick, on which a spirally twisted thick steel tape is welded with an edge. In the manufacture of such a snail, one cannot do without a propane cutter, with which the workpieces are heated in order to bend, and then tempered.

In factory units, the volute is divided into segments connected by pins or bolts. Each of the parts of the snail can bend back, which gives a steeper and more beautiful bend.

With the help of a snail pipe bender, you can bend not only a pipe, but also rods, fittings, primarily for decoration and for curls.

An example can be seen in the drawing:

Conclusion

A pipe bender is a useful tool that can be useful when laying metal pipelines in heating and air conditioning systems, making metal frames of all kinds and much more.

The high cost of factory devices encourages people with the skills of manual labor to make pipe benders on their own. Hand-made devices are in no way inferior to factory ones and can have a wide variety of configurations.

In the household, the profile pipe bending machine is not used often enough to buy expensive factory-made equipment.

If such a need arises, a simple pipe bender can be made privately, having previously determined what type of this structure is suitable for completing the task.

This article describes in detail the types of pipe bending machines, describes the principles of their operation and methods of construction.

There are many modifications to the equipment for changing the configuration of profile pipes. This is due to the minimum bending radius. If we neglect this important parameter, the strength characteristics of the material will change for the worse in the place of bending. You also need to know some technological subtleties and take them into account during work.

When choosing a design, the workpiece material, diameter, wall thickness are taken into account.

Classification of bending machines by drive type

Depending on the type of drive, machines designed for bending any pipes are manual, electromechanical and hydraulic.

Manual. These are extremely simple mechanisms, available for self-production even to a person who is not familiar with the intricacies of working with metal.

Hand-made, hand-made, profile pipe bending machine is an indispensable assistant in the manufacture of frames, decorative elements, self-assembly of the ventilation system

Electromechanical. Such a machine has a drive in the form of an electric motor - stepper or conventional, connected through a lower gearbox. The latter solution ensures high-quality bending through correct stress distribution.

The structure of the mechanism is not easy; to make it, you need special knowledge and at least a little professionalism.

The electric roll forming machine is mostly 3-shaft structure. The shaped tube is passed between the rollers. An element located in the center can change its vertical coordinates. When the central shaft rotates, the profiled pipe changes its geometry

Hydraulic. The drive in this model is manual. Unlike a simple manual design, here a hydraulic cylinder is included in the circuit, which significantly reduces the muscular forces applied during bending.

The rollers make it possible to bend the profile pipe in any desired direction. Manual profile bending machine with hydraulics with its low weight can bend pipe assortment up to 10 cm wide.

The hydraulic cylinder of the roll forming machine exerts pressure on the pipe surface through mechanical action. This forces the cylinder rod to move. As a result of the resulting load, the product is deformed. The pressure in the piston can be increased in two ways - manually and using an electric pump.

Types of pipe benders by installation method

There is also a division of the profile benders, depending on the installation method. Distinguish between stationary, portable and wearable equipment. Stationary machines can be in the form of a simple concrete slab with rods, or solid equipment.

The compact portable pipe benders have a support stand, while the wearable model does not have a support, it is selected every time you use the equipment.

Classification of machine tools according to the bending method

The design of the profile bending and its performance will depend on the bending method. There are 3 main bending methods. The first is extrusion, when the geometry of the shaped pipe is changed using a deforming roller acting as a punch. There is no matrix in this case.

To perform the operation, 2 strong supports are required on opposite sides of the bend, which act as a matrix. Swivel shoes or rollers are used as such supports.

Since the force builds up gradually and constantly has a perpendicular direction with respect to the pipe, the method makes it possible to obtain a good end result. We will apply the method only for small-scale works.

The second is pressing. To obtain a bend, the principle of a locksmith's vice is used - a piece of pipe is placed between the matrix and the punch.

The profiles of the latter, in order to obtain a high-quality bending, must exactly repeat the geometry of the part. And also in the calculation it is necessary to take into account the permanent deformation of the metal. At home, this method is applicable when great accuracy is not required.

The machine for changing the shape of a shaped tube by rolling consists of three cylindrical rollers, a chain, a drive and a base. The diameter of the rollers must correspond to the parameters of the deformable profile pipe

The third is rolling - a universal method used for bending both thin-walled and thick-walled pipes. The bend is obtained by pulling the workpiece between the rollers - one rotating and two supporting ones.

In addition to those mentioned above, pipe bending can also be carried out by the following methods:

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Bending of the pipe is carried out by means of three rotating rollers. In this case, the bending radius determines their location in relation to each other

When the pipe is bent with a crossbow pipe bender, it rests against two rollers, and the template that is located on the rod of the device bends it between the supports

The principle of operation of this pipe bender is to bend the pipe in a cold state by rolling it with a roller around a bending block.

With the help of a clamp, the pipe is tightly fixed to the roller of the device. Passing between the roller and the template, the pipe acquires the required shape

Rolling method of pipe bending

Crossbow pipe bending method

Pipe bending by rolling method

Pipe bending by winding method

Regardless of the design chosen, when making a pipe bending machine on your own, it is necessary to take into account the recommendations of specialists. When choosing the material for the bed, one must proceed from the fact that the thickness of the metal must be at least 1/6 of the width of the profiled pipe.

So, if you have to bend a pipe that has a rectangle in cross-section with parameters 50 x 25 mm, then in order to avoid deformation of the bed during bending, you need to take a channel or corner with a thickness of at least 10 mm. The base plate and punch with a die should be 2 times thick in thickness.

The optimum diameter of the rollers is at least three times the cross-sectional dimensions. The shelf of the channel and the angle taken for the manufacture of the bed should be 2 and 3 times the width of the pipe, respectively. If you have to work on bending rectangular shaped pipes 50 x 25 mm, you need a channel 100 x 10 or a corner 150 x 10.

We make a hydraulic pipe bender

Let us consider a diagram of a machine tool with a hydraulic drive, where bending occurs due to the punching of a profile pipe in the center with a punch fixed on a rising rod. As a result of close contact of the workpiece, resting on two stationary rollers, with a movable punch, the latter takes on its shape.

Such a machine is called a crossbow because of the similarity of the outlines of the punch with the shape of the crossbow. Its main parts are base (1), hydraulic jack (2), punch (3) and fasteners in the form of bolts. The arrangement of the machine units is performed according to the sketch.

To mark the working surface, lay a vertical axis and at the distance indicated in the drawing from the edge and axis, mark the location of the lower holes. Then the points of the location of the upper holes are marked, retreating the desired distance from the edge. Connect the center of these holes with a straight line and lay equal segments on it.

The axes of the intermediate holes will be at the intersection of the marks made with the inclined axis. Holes on the working surface are needed to adjust the bending radius of the profile blank. Since the working surface consists of two mirrored parts, the second is marked in the same way.

The height of the machine is determined by the parameters of the jack and the distance indicated in the drawing by the symbol "a". To bend a profile pipe 15 mm wide, this gap in the inoperative state of the jack should be approximately equal to 20 mm.

In this design, the force transmitted by the punch is concentrated at the top of the punch. As a result of this effect, the outer radius of the pipe is subjected to tension, which can cause thinning of the wall, and in some cases, rupture. Therefore, it is not recommended to use this machine for deformation of thin-walled workpieces.

DIY rolling pipe bender

On such equipment, the billet takes on a given shape by rolling. In a home workshop, it is easier to make a 3-roller design with a manual drive. Consider two options for such machines.

Turntable version of the machine

The principle of such a machine for bending pipes with a cross-section other than round is as follows:

The main bed is connected through a hinge to the turntable, which sets the bending angle.
The platform is set in motion by a jack resting against it with a working rod.
The profile is broached by rotating the handle located on the intermediate shaft.

For the manufacture of the base of the machine and the racks, you will need a channel with a wall height of 150 to 200 mm in an amount of about 3 m.As a cage for bearings, a base of rollers, a steel pipe with an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the bearings, which is divided into 6 short segments, is suitable.

The turntable is not the only option for regulating the bending parameters of the profile pipe; this can be done using the extreme rollers. To do this, holes are made in the support plates and the channel so that the elements are movable. You can raise the extreme platform with any jack that is available on the farm.

The base and two platforms are made from the channel. Having retreated from one of the sides about 0.5 m, a vertical post is welded from the same channel. To do this, two segments are paired to make the stand strong.

Strictly observing horizontality, a stationary platform is mounted, and the rear pillar is welded to it. Further, they take a section of a shaped pipe and build up limiters with a height not less than the thickness of the shaped pipe, the deformation of which is supposed to be performed on the machine being manufactured.

The guide platform is connected to the main frame by means of door hinges. Bearings are mounted on the increased limiters and the edges of both platforms by welding and the structure is reinforced with corners. The shafts are inserted into the bearings, and a handle is attached to the middle one.

A jack is installed under the edge of the guide platform and fixed to the base using a bolted connection.

The assembly of the pipe bender with a turntable is carried out in the following sequence:

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To make a pipe bender, you will need the following materials: pipe, channel - 2.5m, bearings, jack, hinges, rollers

It is necessary to cut the channel into two parts - one of them will be the main platform, and the other will be the guide. They are connected with metal hinges.

At the next stage, you need to cut 6 pieces of pipe 2 cm wide and bend them to fix the bearings

Having cut off the rollers of the required length, they must be connected to the bearings and the structure must be welded to the working platform

The central roller must be welded 8-9 cm above the platform. This is necessary so that a profile pipe can pass under it.

Using welding, we connect the working platform to the base and check the reliability of all connections

At the last stage, we paint the product, wait until the paint dries and check our homemade product at work

Step 1 - preparing tools and materials

Step 2 - assembling the working platform

Step 3 - cut the pipe for the bearings

Step 4 - connect the rollers and bearings

Step 5 - weld on the center roller

Step 6 - building the base for the ice rink

Step 7 - we connect all parts of the product

Step 8 - checking the functionality of the machine

Three Roller Rolling Machine

On this machine, the pipe is laid on rollers located on the sides. The upper movable roller is lowered onto the product from above and in this way is fixed. Further, the handle is rotated and the movement is transmitted to the shafts through the chain. The pipe stretches and changes its geometry.

Gradually increasing the pressure by tightening the clamping bolt, and pulling the workpiece, they achieve the bending of the pipe at the required angle.

The three-roller roll forming machine is equipped with three rollers. By connecting a 1.5 kW electric motor to such a machine, you can bend pipes with a cross section of up to 8 cm at a time.

To make a machine that works according to such a scheme, it is necessary to prepare a shelf and profile metal rolling for the frame, shafts, 4 strong springs, a chain, bearings, fasteners, and other parts. To mount the bearings, you will need 3 shafts with parameters corresponding to sprockets and bearings.

Two shafts are designed for lateral placement, and the third (pressure) - for hanging on springs. These items will most likely have to be ordered from the workshop, and the rest can be done with your own hands.

The pressure shaft includes bearings, gears and rings. The rings are threaded for clamping bolts and grooves are made. In the shelves from the channel, the seats for the pressure shaft are made. At the final stage, the structure is assembled, starting with the installation of the frame.

After that, the pressure shaft on springs, connected to the shelf by means of a keyed connection, is suspended. Support shafts are installed on the sides and a chain is pulled between them, using a magnetic corner as a holder.

Attaching a handle with a rotating tube to one of them, then work on installing the jack is performed. Attach it to the platform with bolts and welding.

When installing the suspension shaft, a certain sequence is observed: first, install it on a shelf, weld nuts under the springs to it, turn the platform over and connect it to the springs. It should be noted that with an increase in the distance between the rollers, the forces applied for bending decrease.

To assemble a rolling-type pipe bender you will need:

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First, you need to purchase or order from a turning workshop the shafts of the required size. To ensure the mobility of these elements, gears and bearings are fixed on them.

Armed with a grinder and a welding machine, the frame of the future pipe bender is made from shaped metal rolling

At this stage, the pressure shaft must be screwed to the product frame and the nuts must be welded to fasten the springs.

At the very top of the structure, using a welding machine, a piece of profile is welded to fasten the springs

The device is driven by a chain. It is pulled between the shafts and fixed in such a way that it does not sag.

To facilitate the use of the machine, a handle is attached to it to rotate the shaft - this will save the user's hands from the formation of calluses

At the last stage, it is recommended to paint the pipe bending machine, and after drying, you can start testing the device.