Copper pipes considered the best option among existing offers. They are perfect for plumbing, withstand high temperature and mechanical loads, perfectly perform their functions when laying in a warm floor. True, the cost of copper tubes exceeds the price of steel or polymer analogues. Therefore, if necessary bend the copper tubeTrying to do it manually is not worth the risk. Convenient modern pipe benders are designed for these purposes.
For bending copper pipes, the same types of pipe benders are used as for other products
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What are benders?
Devices for bending pipes differ in their design and intended use. They are mechanical and portable manual. The last option is quite suitable for bending tubes of small diameters. A manual pipe bender for copper pipes can handle thin-walled products with a diameter not exceeding 50 mm (for remote control - two-inch pipes). To give the desired shape to the bend, one has to exert physical effort, which is the main drawback of the design. However, consumers are attracted by its affordable price and light weight.
It is interesting! Oversized pipes, mainly used on an industrial scale, require bending using hydraulic apparatus. The operation of such equipment is ensured by a hydraulic pump.
Separately, it is possible to distinguish electro-hydraulic or electric machines having CNC (numerical control). One of the functions of program control will be the bending of copper tubes, including small diameters. To acquire such a machine for the sole purpose of bending pipes, of course, is not worth it.
According to the mechanism of bending, the benders can be divided into three groups:
- Crossbow manual pipe bender. The equipment has the form of a crossbow weapon, and the bending itself takes place on the principle of pulling a bowstring. The desired angle to the section of the copper pipe is attached using the template included with the crossbow device. Templates (forms) are completed only in a single copy, designed for a pipe of a certain diameter. To bend a pipe of a diameter different from the template will not work. This type of equipment will not be able to bend an angle exceeding 90 degrees. Manual pipe bender is suitable only for small pipes with a diameter of 10 mm to 22 mm.
- Segment pipe benders. The pipe is drawn using a special segment. Visually, the device resembles a small machine for bending pipes with a diameter not exceeding 42 mm. The maximum bending angle for a segment machine is 180 degrees. The segment has the form of a half-disk, rotates with the handle. The copper product bends around the segmented body at the desired angle.
- Dornovye machines. The principle of bending is to create uneven compression in the place of deformation of the stress state. As a result of this process, the ductility of copper (or any other metal) increases, the natural roughness of the walls decreases and a smooth circulation of the working medium in the pipe cavity is ensured.
The machine can be manual, semi-automatic, and sometimes fully automatic. Optimum operation of the manual mandrel machine is possible with proper system setup.Semi-automatic devices are able to program the angle of deformation, some models independently provide stable lubrication of the mandrel for its movement inside the tube.
The crossbow pipe bender is a manual fixture
The pipe bending mandrel machine can be made by yourself. The most important working elements for it will be a roller matrix (it is desirable to provide for the possibility of adjusting the diameters), a front clamp corresponding to the diameter of the matrix, guides, mandrels for mandrels and collet clamps for mandrels. The basis of the design will be a standard support frame that takes all the loads of the process. The drive for operation is most often used lever, but for more serious purposes, hydraulic drives are used. Drawings of mandrel equipment can be found on the Internet.
Spring benders for bending copper pipes
The design of the spring devices is extremely simple. The active element in them is a very strong steel spring with coils tightly adjacent to each other. The stiffness of the spring will not allow the copper pipe to jump off, deform or break inside the equipment. When the pipe bends at a certain angle, the steel spring is inverted, moving to another free place.
Important! The diameter of the spring is not the same on all sides: it expands at one end and takes the shape of a funnel. This is to make it easier to place the pipe in the device and get out of it.
The main condition for smooth bending is the conformity of the dimensions of the spring and the pipe.
The main advantages that a spring manual pipe bender has:
- The tool is lightweight and versatile. They can work in conditions of limited space. If you want to change the path of a part of the pipeline, there is no need to dismantle a part of the system in order to transport it to the machine. A spring bender will be able to mold a part located on a workbench.
- A spring-loaded manual pipe bender can give any shape to a copper pipe without restrictions, while keeping the product from bending into an acute angle.
- The device very carefully forms the elements of the pipeline.
Disadvantages of spring benders:
- This device is convenient to work only with small pipeline lengths.
- Lack of marks with degrees, bending is done "by eye".
Using a spring of a suitable diameter, the copper pipe can be bent quickly and without damage.
Manual lever pipe bender for copper pipes
The next type of tool, a lever pipe bender for copper pipes, has two levers in its design. On one of them is a shoe, and the second is equipped with a bending template. Both levers have bending marks, thanks to which you can adjust the angle of deformation.
To place the pipe in the lever tool, it is necessary to spread the handles to the sides. After making sure that the pipe lies exactly in the grooves of the template, you should fix it with a bracket. The lever with the shoe is stacked so that the zero marks on it and on the template coincide. By smooth movement, the lever rotates to the desired bending angle.
Advantages of lever pipe bender for copper pipe:
- Light weight, compact and affordable price.
- Allows you to bend a copper product without much physical effort.
- The maximum bending angle is 180 degrees, which is quite enough for domestic needs.
The disadvantages of the lever pipe bender:
- Manual pipe bender is useless when working with bulky products.
- The tool cannot be used for bending pipes of other diameters.
Do I need a hydraulic or electric pipe bender to work with copper pipes?
Mechanized types of pipe benders are used in industrial conditions, and in everyday life a manual model is enough
A distinctive feature of pipe benders working on hydraulics or from electricity is the absence of the need to exert significant force to give the pipeline the desired geometry. This equipment belongs to the category of professional tools, it has increased accuracy and many variations of tuning. In hydraulic pipe benders, a jack used as a pusher is designed for a payload of more than 6 tons. An electric pipe bender for copper pipes is a lever device with an electric drive.
Mechanized pipe benders are indispensable in the production environment and for work crews specializing in the installation of underfloor heating, cooling equipment (copper pipes in such systems also need shape adjustment), water and gas structures.
Hydraulic and electrical devices are very rarely used at home. Their weight is too large, so the pipes have to be transported directly to the machines. It makes it inappropriate to purchase and price equipment for one-time plumbing. But the hydraulic apparatus can also be made with your own hands from available materials and components: a hydraulic jack for cars, an iron channel, a shoe, steel plates (to fix the structure on the base) and rollers. The choice of rollers is the most responsible, since for a qualitative result, their full fit to the pipe is necessary.
Each pipe bender for copper pipes is designed to fulfill certain responsibilities. Choose tools, focusing only on your own needs.
