bending stuffing tube

[okieman98]

how does everyone bend there brass tubing. are there any vids out there. showing it done. are do i need to buy a tubing bender.

thanks

[Heath M]

Tube bender is the easiest way. You can aneal the tube to soften it which makes bending easier as well. Personally I insert the Teflon liner and flex cable then bend it on a tube bender.

[JimClark]

You can also get a longer piece of tube than you need and fill it with salt or sugar seal the ends then bend away.

[TheShaddix]

Or use a tube bending kit, you can get one on kintec. It comes with all the sizes you need. But definitely, as suggested above, heat up the tube and drop it in cold water right away before bending it. That will help avoid kinks. It will also discolor the tube which you can then sand & polish to mirror finish or just paint black.

[dasboata]

2 thumbs & no softening works for me :smile: just go slow !

[tlandauer]

how does everyone bend there brass tubing. are there any vids out there. showing it done. are do i need to buy a tubing bender.

thanks
What size tube do you need to bend?


Most of my builds I only need 1/4" tube , it works for .150 cable with liner and .187 cable w/o liners.
So far I found the easiest way for me is to use a discarded .187 cable and SLIDE a section of teflon liners THAT'S MEANT for .150 cable. Yes, you need to use soap to slide, but it will go on.
With this, you push into the 1/4 tube and start bending. Most stuffing tube the radius is not extreme, so this works and always use a longer tube and so both hands and grab it securely. 131904 131905131906

I have yet to aneal a tube, the bending tool kit works but you need to be careful, if not done carefully, it will flatten the tube around the bend ever so slightly.
You can pack sugar into the tube and bend.

[okieman98]

What size tube do you need to bend?


Most of my builds I only need 1/4" tube , it works for .150 cable with liner and .187 cable w/o liners.
So far I found the easiest way for me is to use a discarded .187 cable and SLIDE a section of teflon liners THAT'S MEANT for .150 cable. Yes, you need to use soap to slide, but it will go on.
With this, you push into the 1/4 tube and start bending. Most stuffing tube the radius is not extreme, so this works and always use a longer tube and so both hands and grab it securely. 131904 131905131906

I have yet to aneal a tube, the bending tool kit works but you need to be careful, if not done carefully, it will flatten the tube around the bend ever so slightly.
You can pack sugar into the tube and bend.


it is a 6mm tube, .150 flex shaft from kintec with teflon liner

[okieman98]

ok thanks everyone i will go slow and give it a try. and thanks for the photos it helps alot when u can see what folks are talking about

[ls1fst98]

anneal it and it makes it super easy to bend, just nice long radius until you get used to it and can work on tighter curves for things like water cooling pickups.

[785boats]

I'm with dasboata.
I've never heated tubes or used the sand, sugar or salt thing. I just install the liner & shaft into the tube & use the thumbs & fingers. I wrap some masking tape around the shaft to make it a tighter fit in the liner, or the tube if you're not using a liner. Just work your way along the bend a few times bending a little at a time.
K & S tubing is fine but that cheap thin walled chinese tube kinks very easily if you are not careful.

[tlandauer]

Never heated them either, but, for those whio have heated the tube, how soft does it become? Is there a longevity issue?
I never heated mine because I thought it will make them weaker. I have been happy with my results but am curious as to how they fair.
Thanks in advance.

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[Heath M]

I use to anneal them when i first started out and never had any issues.

[ls1fst98]

I've only annealed 3 or 4 total. Haven't noticed a difference in longevity. It's a big difference in Bendability. My latest build I didn't anneal them but also didn't need to bend very much at all.

[tlandauer]

Thanks guys for the info. Much appreciated.

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