The simplest pipe benders for a round pipe do it yourself. DIY pipe benders for round pipes - simple solutions for complex tasks Round pipe stops

PIPE BENDER KATOCH - QUALITY OK!

Arc-shaped and domed roof structures came into fashion with the advent of flexible roof materials. This is well-known polycarbonate, soft roofing, 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 awnings. What could be simpler, you bend the profile pipes in an arc on the KACHOK pipe bender and attach cellular or monolithic polycarbonate to them.

I want to tell in more detail about the popular “KACHOK” pipe bending machine for profile and round pipes, which is suitable for many works and performs almost all the necessary operations. Developed it 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 cannot say this from the photograph; it looks attractive and even beautiful. The whole body of the pipe bender is made so that by installing it on the table and fastening it to the table with four bolts (not included) through the holes of the base, you can immediately start work.

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

On the pipe bender, the rollers for rolling the profile pipe are located on the drive axles. Shafts are mounted on bearings. Asterisks and chain transmission are installed on the shafts. If you rotate the handle, then the rotation is transmitted on all axes, so to speak, "four-wheel drive." It is easier to twist and slippage of the pipe is practically excluded. In addition, a small notch is applied to the roller shafts, which provides additional adhesion of the rolled pipe to the rollers.

This pipe bender can easily be converted to electromechanical.

Another set of pipe benders includes rollers for a round pipe. Rollers for pipes with a diameter of 20, 25, 30 mm. A round pipe is rolled easily and the walls remain smooth without dents or 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 easy. The strip on the rib is rolled onto an external roller that comes complete with a pipe bender. As much as possible you can work with a strip of 30x4 mm.

Our tests have revealed the good performance of the pipe bender and the high quality of individual elements. Simple and reliable design. PUSSY - QUALITY OK!

The maintenance of the pipe bender is not complicated. Periodically lubricate the pinch roller screw and sprockets. Any lubricant is suitable, it is possible "LITOL".

Owners of private houses, as well as many home masters, need to bend pipes at certain angles for the manufacture of various elements of arched structures and pipelines. To do this, they use industrial, and often home-made pipe benders for a round pipe. Professional factory devices for bending pipes are expensive, so often such devices are manufactured on their own, which saves money.

The device and principle of operation of the pipe bender

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

Design features

In order to minimize bending defects, 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:

Such hand-held devices for bending tubular workpieces can have a mechanical or hydraulic drive, and these two options are perfectly suitable for a home workshop.

The principle of operation of almost all pipe bending devices is the same. The workpiece is fixed in a special device and under a certain effort 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 crossbow or hydraulic type devices, a point force acts on a bendable pipe section.

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

What is the mandrel for?

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

  1. Compression of the wall of the inner radius, in which the metal, being deformed, forms a wavy surface (corrugation).
  2. Sprain In this case, the metal wall of the outer bend radius is stretched, due to which it becomes thinner. Naturally, this can practically weaken the pipe strength in the area of \u200b\u200bthe bend produced by up to 50%.

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

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

Types and manufacturing of bending devices

There are not so many ways to bend the pipe, but there are quite a large number of devices to perform these actions. However, they can be of various types. In order to make the pipe bender for a round pipe yourself, the drawings can be made independently or freely downloaded from the Internet.

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

Crossbow Type

These models of pipe bending devices 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 from.

The design of the crossbow pipe bender in the manufacture has some difficulties, but its strength and technical capabilities are quite large. The device itself can be made with several functions, for example, use it as a bending machine and hydraulic press.

Depending on the design of a rigid metal frame, the machine can work 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, ensuring free fixation of the workpiece, which is laid on them.

The punch for the bender (shoe, template) can be made of old rollers, pulleys or bent and cut along the pipes.

The crossbow machine works in this way:

  1. The workpiece from the pipe is laid on and fixed on the rollers with clamps.
  2. A shoe is attached to the jack (template with a certain bending angle).
  3. The jack presses on the center of the workpiece with a shoe and smoothly bends it at a given 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 a small hydraulic jack, two rollers, make a punch and a durable T-shaped nozzle from metal for the jack.

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

Rolling system

Such tube bending models are also called rolling models. With this system it is possible to bend round or shaped pipes, as well as steel reinforcement under a large radius. An ideal tool for preparing arches for canopies or greenhouses.

The main elements of this kind of device are three metal rollers selected for the diameter of the bent pipe billet. The workpiece is laid on two extreme rollers and a third, located in the center, is rolled through the pipe. Under its force, the part gradually bends, acquiring a certain bending radius.

The system can be driven by a hand crank or an electric motor through a special gear for a pipe bender. The quality of the product obtained, which has undergone processing on this device, is quite high, and the pipe itself, in contact with metal rollers, practically does not receive damage.

The advantage of the milling pipe bender is its small size, due to which the tool takes up little space in any home workshop and can easily be 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 operation.

The simplest device

To perform urgent work, when a manual pipe bender is required for a round pipe, in order to quickly bend an elbow, for example, for home water supply, a simple bending device can be made using improvised tools. To do this, prepare the lever from cutting a metal round pipe with a diameter of about 32–42 mm or a thick, preferably smooth reinforcement. The length of the lever should be between 1-1.5 m, depending on the bent workpiece.

A ring of thick-walled pipe trimming about 30-40 mm wide is welded to one end of the lever. The inner diameter of the ring should be greater than the outer diameter of the billet 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 should be greater than the outer size of the billet prepared for bending.

the bending process is performed as follows:P

  1. The workpiece is laid on a solid flat surface, it can be asphalt, concrete floor, reinforced concrete panel or a thick board.
  2. The tubular billet 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 a pipe on it. This allows you to bend ring-shaped and spiral parts from the workpieces, which is absolutely impossible to do on conventional pipe bending machines.

During operation, the roller itself is stationary, but the template, to which the end of the workpiece is rigidly fixed, is rotated around its axis, winding the pipe over itself, which is why this type of machine is 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 blank curved from the spiral. The template can be made of wood, textolite or metal.

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

Wood conductor

This design can be considered a break-in device, and the difference is that there is no pinch 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 plate of chipboard.

A template is made from a thick board, in which one side has a rounding at a certain radius. It is rigidly fixed on the edge of the workbench so that around it you can freely wrap the workpiece prepared for bending.

The end of the workpiece can be fixed with a primitive wooden emphasis from a bar or by trimming the same board from which the template was made. The bending of the pipe is carried out with the help of muscle 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 bent part does not jump off the template (punch), it is advisable to make a semicircular recess along the perimeter of its rounded part by treating the end face with a round rasp.

Fixing the pipe on the template can be done in another way, by filling on top of it a rounded piece of plywood, 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, and the wooden punch can simply collapse.

Before starting to bend the pipe, it is recommended to pour dry sand into it and plug both ends with wooden corks.

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 the outer wall of the bend.

Of all the existing pipe bending machines, the most widely used is the self-made pipe bending machine, whose work is carried out on the basis of the rolling fixture. This model of pipe bending has practically no drawbacks, it has a small weight and dimensions, it can be easily transported and takes up little space during storage.

To make a home-made or even a professional pipe bender with your own hands to be able to bend pipes at a given angle and, importantly, with a given bending radius, is not so difficult.

Contrary to the popular belief that this device is most often used when performing plumbing works, in such cases they usually use various fittings and bends - pre-bent pipe sections made in industrial conditions. However, for the use of taps, there are limitations that are determined by their standard characteristics:

  • rotation angles (can be 45, 60, 90 and 180 degrees);
  • bending radii (bends are produced with bending radii of 1.0 Du and 1.5 Du);
  • use of welding.

Not in all situations, such parameters can satisfy those who need to give the design of pipes the required shape. It is in such cases that a mechanical pipe bender (or a manual pipe bender) helps out.

Without a machine for bending steel pipes, it is not enough for those owners of cottages and private houses who are going to independently manufacture various arched structures, greenhouses, fences of a non-standard shape and much more.

In this article, we will thoroughly analyze how to make a pipe bender with your own hands. After all, a homemade pipe bender can be used not only at home, but also in semi-professional activity, since its design is not sky-high complexity, and serial devices for bending pipes are quite expensive. Therefore, making a manual pipe bender with your own hands, you will save a lot of money.

Classification of pipe bending devices

Devices for bending steel pipes are classified:

  • by degree of mobility (stationary and portable);
  • by type of drive (manual, electric, hydraulic, electro-hydraulic);
  • by the method of exposure (running (roller), winding, impact by the rod (crossbow), rolling).

The essence of the methods of influence of the pipe bender on the pipe is as follows.

Running in

With this method, one end of the pipe is clamped, and a fixed template is used to give it the required bend. To roll the product around the template, pinch rollers are used.

Winding

In such a device, the pipe is pressed against a movable template (roller), on which it is wound, stretching between the rotating roller and a special stop installed at the beginning of the bend point.

Crossbow pipe benders

In such a pipe bender, the pipe rests on two fixed rollers, and bending performs a template that is mounted on a movable rod. The template presses on the middle of the fixed section of the pipe, thereby giving it the desired bending angle.

Diagram of a crossbow pipe bender: 2 - a jack, 3 - a shoe (punch)

Rolling, or rolling

The required bending radius is obtained using a three-roll device, the basis of the design of which is two supporting and one central roller. The central roller, which determines the radius of its bend, exerts pressure on the pipe. is more universal, in all other machines the bending radius depends on the template used.

The manufacture of a pipe bender, working on the principle of winding, is not simple, therefore, such a device is made mainly in an industrial way. The crossbow method has another significant drawback: the pressure from the rod with a template fixed on it, called a shoe, is concentrated in its upper part. This method of exposure to the pipe leads to its considerable stretching along the outer bend radius, which may be accompanied by a decrease in the wall thickness and even its rupture. It is especially not recommended to use the crossbow method for bending thin-walled products.

An example of a homemade pipe bender rolling (milling) type

The machine, working on the principle of rolling (rolling), practically does not have all of the above disadvantages, this technology is used in the manufacture of bends in the factory.

A DIY pipe bending machine can have a different design. Choose its type should be based on what radius you need. There is a list of recommendations in accordance with which the choice of a specific model of a device for bending steel pipes is carried out. Important parameters to consider are the pipe wall thickness and its total diameter. Before you start working with a pipe bender, it will not hurt to familiarize yourself with the data in the table that displays the maximum possible radii for bending steel pipes.

To obtain a bending radius smaller than specified in such recommendations, it is necessary to use or hot rolling, which is mainly used in production conditions. A device with a mandrel is more difficult to create at home, so they are much less often done on their own, giving preference to rolling.

In order to independently perform hot rolling of the pipe, you can resort to using a pipe bender made by yourself, but provided that it is completely made of metal, and its bed is highly reliable. To perform such a technological operation, an additional blowtorch or gas burner is required.

Making the simplest template bender

A simple rolling machine for bending pipes can even be made of wood. Naturally, this will be a manual pipe bender, the construction of which may not even include a pressure roller, if it is used for thin-walled products. The template for such a device is made of a wooden board, the thickness of which must be such as to exceed the diameter of the pipe itself.

For the convenience of work, it makes sense to be puzzled by the profiling of the template from the side of its end, in order to prevent the pipe from jumping off during bending. For these purposes, two boards can be folded, which are previously sawed along one face, thus creating a kind of gutter. A drawing made beforehand will help to avoid mistakes.

When using such a bender, the template is attached to a reliable base, and an emphasis is fixed on the left side of it (for right-handed people). The pipe, which must be bent along the required radius, is inserted between the template and the stop and carefully bends it, making sure that it does not come off the template.

With the help of such a bender made from improvised materials, it is possible to perform bending along a large bend radius. You can avoid making a wooden template and simplify the fixture by replacing it with metal hooks fixed on the base, located around a circle with the required bending radius. Such a device is convenient in that the dimensions of the bend can be changed at any time by placing the stop hooks around a circle with a different radius.

Armed with a manual winch, you can significantly expand the range of work due to a noticeable increase in traction for bending pipes.

Pipe benders with pinch roller

More complex in design is a manual pipe bender that uses a pinch roller. For the manufacture of such a device, you can use both wood and metal.

For pipes made of soft materials (for example, copper), wood rollers are the best option, since they do not cause metal deformation. Such videos are not difficult to make at home, if you use photos or drawings of such devices, in large numbers posted on the Internet. As the manufacturing material, you can use thick boards or several layers of plywood.

A homemade pipe bender of a similar design, which is based on rollers - movable (clamping) and fixed - allows you to bend pipes of circular cross section, which differ even in significant diameter.

In order to understand that such a device is simple in design and use, just look at its photo or drawing. Depending on what loads are expected for a pipe bender of this type, the base for it is made of metal or durable plywood. The U-shaped holder on which the central and pressure rollers will be placed is made of metal.

Relative to the axis of the central roller, securely fixed to the base, such a holder should be able to rotate. On the reverse side of the central roller, a handle is attached to the holder, which is a lever, so the force created directly depends on its length. Such a lever pipe bender allows you to perform operations with different bending radii of pipes.

Many people wonder whether it is possible to make a winder-type pipe bender with their own hands. Naturally, at first it is advisable to study the drawing or photo of such a device, on which there is no emphasis on the base. The basis of the design of this type of pipe bender is made up of two pulleys, a frame with a lever and a pressure roller, and a reliable base. Bending with the help of such a device is carried out due to the fact that the pipe placed in the groove of the stationary pulley and clamped by the clamp is wrapped around the template with a lever and a movable roller.

Pipe bender for soft pipes with two different bending radii

For small and soft products (aluminum or copper), a homemade pipe bender is suitable for bending with two different radii. Photos of such a device are easy to find on the Internet. This bender uses one pinch roller, and the template is made simultaneously with two radii on the same plate. Naturally, for each bending option, the handle of the pipe bender must be reinstalled, for which two holes are provided on its base.

Winding pipe benders

Examples of such devices are hydraulic pipe benders used to bend round pipes. The design of such a device has a powerful pulley, to which the pipe is attached at the bend point. This pulley is fixed on a reliable bed, and at its base there is a rod that is driven by a jack. A significant force is created on the stem with the help of a jack, which is transmitted to the lever that rotates the pulley and winds the pipe around it. The lever can rotate freely around the axis of the pulley and connects to it using holes located around its circumference.

A working example of such a pipe bender can be seen in the video below:

A similar mechanical pipe bender can also be made with your own hands using a rack type jack. When using this device, more physical effort is required.

An example of work on the video:

Examples of devices of this type include homemade pipe benders whose rollers are made of wood. When working with such devices for bending pipes of circular cross-section, it is necessary to apply significant physical forces, which are reduced due to the movable rotating roller.

An example in the video below:

Crossbow pipe benders

Such pipe benders got their name because of their resemblance to a crossbow. The basis of the design of such a device is a frame made by welding from corners and a channel. Inside such a frame, on which two movable rollers are mounted, a jack is located, using a special shoe creating a force directed to the pipe. Pipe benders with movable rollers and a clamping shoe are used mainly for bending round pipes, since they can simply deform products of any other type.

Harsh crossbow pipe bender with no frills

The most popular options for homemade pipe benders

The most technologically advanced and versatile are pipe benders working on the principle of rolling. It is these devices, often equipped with an electric drive, that are used by professionals who are constantly faced with the need to bend pipes of various materials, including stainless steel.

The basis of the design of such a device consists of three rotating rollers, one of which is a pressure roller. Due to the gradually increasing pressure of the pressure roller and the rolling repeated for each new position of the roller, the pipe is bent in the most gentle way, its walls undergo tensile manipulations very evenly.

Computer model of a pipe bender Drawing of a clamping screw Drawings of shafts
Ring drawing Pipe bender accessories Assembly process
Motor drive

Each owner of a large garden plot or small cottage, at least once in his life (at least), may need a pipe bender - a device for bending a profile pipe.

For example, it can be a blank for a greenhouse frame or a canopy, a gazebo, or any other metal structures.

At the bases for the sale of metal, and at another production factory-made devices are usually used, but this pleasure is far from cheap. To save your budget for more pleasant expenses, it is more profitable to do the manufacturing of the device manually, on your own.

For this design, as they say, “a lot of mind is not necessary”, and there will be no shortage of details either, it is really possible to create blueprint drawings yourself.

Bender Options

You can bend the pipe in the "home" way, fill the pipe with sand, heat it with a red blowtorch or gas burner, and then bend the pipe. This method is not recognized as a priority among masters, it is laborious and does not provide sufficient accuracy, creases and deformations may also appear.

In order to get a perfectly bent pipe, in compliance with the norms and specified parameters, not to cause damage to the source material, the craftsmen use specialized pipe benders in their work.

Lever type pipe benders have gained great popularity. This elementary invention works on the basis of the “lever” principle - the force is concentrated in a certain place, and the bend merges with the shape of the template you created, which can most often be removed and replaced with another.

Most often, a set of such structures provides for a couple of additional templates for pipes of different diameters. There are similar assemblies in design, manual pipe benders, drone or crossbow, they allow bending short sections of round steel pipes, subjecting them only to cold working.

Crossbow devices are very compact, and are appreciated in the field of installation and utilities.

What is the work of a pipe bender

The principle of operation is quite simple, it consists in heating the pipe, the pipe is heated to red and becomes very plastic, malleable to changes. Each type of pipe bender has its own range of capabilities.

The main functions are the quality of the bend and the ability to bend pipes of different sizes and diameters.

With the help of additional rolling devices, bending of a larger diameter is achieved. The device operates with the help of shafts, there are three of them in the set.

Guides and push. The pipe passes through the movable elements, the degree of bending is set by the pressure of the pressure roller. If the radius of curvature of the finished product is small, the procedure should be repeated.

Pipe bending pattern

In most cases, the simplest option, suitable for absolutely all masters, even beginners, is a template made of wood. Boards are selected by the thickness of the bent pipes, be sure to leave a supply of boards in a couple of centimeters.

So that during operation the profile does not move out of the template, a slope is left at the ends. The template is rigidly fixed on the floor or other stable surface, next to the installation of the stop for the pipe.

The profile is inserted into the gap between the template and the stop, gently and gently press on its other end, pressing the pipe to the template. A winch or lever will make the job easier.

A huge plus of this process, cost savings and ease of execution.

Note!

Any device has disadvantages, and this method is no exception. The bend is not accurate, of poor quality, and the template will be disposable (only apply to one pipe diameter).

Pipe bender snail

In stamping the same blanks with a large circulation, small radius of curvature, the pipe bender-snail will become indispensable.

Its dignity in small size and ease of management. The disadvantage will be the limitation of the radius of the curve, but not of large sizes.

Rolling benders

The niche of versatility and practicality was occupied by hand-made devices - rolling pipe benders (bending machines), on such machines you can make any bending angle.

The configuration is not particularly different from other models, they also have a base and shafts. The movable roller presses the pipe, and stretches its rotation of the drive shafts.

Note!

Pressing can be increased with a winch, levers or electric drive. However, for the production of a house, such a design is quite complicated in execution.

To reproduce such an assembly will require a lot of turning and welding. If you still decide to make such a model, it will last you a long time and will appreciate the functionality.

How to make a pipe bender with your own hands, the question in the modern world is quite relevant. To facilitate the task, you can find a photo of the pipe bender on the Internet to roughly understand how it should look.

There are also many drawings of a pipe bender that are easy to use. After reviewing all the information and evaluating your strength and the availability of the necessary components, calmly get to work.

DIY pipe bender

Note!

When assembling a heating or water supply system from metal pipes, it is often necessary to bend them 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, and 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.

Tool scope

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

For bends, there are some restrictions:

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

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


In home gardens and summer cottages there can be many situations when there is a need to bend pipes. This is the creation of greenhouses and greenhouses 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. The basis of all these structures is a frame of round pipes or profiles, which must be given one form or another. This is where manual pipe benders for a round pipe come in handy.

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

Types of devices

In order to classify products into various categories, several features are used:

  1. Drive type - manual, automatic, hydraulics.
  2. Installation method - portable or stationary.
  3. Operating principle.


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

  • Winding. The emphasis is located at the beginning of the bend. With special clamps, the pipe is pressed against the movable template roller. This roller starts to rotate, passing the pipe between itself and the stop. So the bend is made.
  • Running in. With this method, the pipe is fixed near the stationary template. The pinch roller begins to rotate around it and gradually bends the pipe to the size of the template.
  • Stock 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. He 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 are placed along one line and one central template for bending. The bending radius will depend on the ratio in which these elements are located. As a rule, the pressure on the pipe is the central roller.

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

As a rule, pipe bending by the winding method is carried out only on industrial equipment, since a pipe bender made by a DIY for a round pipe is not suitable for these purposes. Products subject to the crossbow method of processing have a weak point - where the upper part of the template acts on steel. This area is subjected to strong pressure and becomes brittle, weakens and becomes thinner. In some cases, the pipe may even burst - if its walls are thin enough.

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

In order to properly manufacture the 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, nevertheless the bending radius can 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.

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

DIY pipe bending tools

Since it is possible to make a homemade device for bending pipes from improvised and used components, the cost of such a tool will be quite low (for more details: ""). Moreover, for the manufacture of the simplest pipe benders for a round pipe, do-it-yourself drawings are not required. For example, consider a fairly simple design of this device.


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

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

Manual pipe bender

Such a tool is used for bending by the break-in method. 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 should be greater than the diameter of the pipe. Profiling cut 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. From one side, an emphasis is screwed to the platform, after which they try on a pipe. If the lever length 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 matches the shape of the template.

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

Steel chamfering pipe bender

The most popular among homemade tools is a break-in pipe bender. The patterns in it are made from pulleys from engines. Although, some prefer to use washers with different diameters or to grind a 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 carve parts for benders for a round pipe.

Such a break-in type hand tool is made by many zealous owners who constantly master and improve something in their home. The advantage of such a bender is that it can work with pipes for plumbing of any standard diameter. And so that the applied force becomes larger, you can make the lever longer.

Homemade pipe bending machine

According to the principle of operation, such a tool is similar to a break-in one. However, with its help it is possible to give the pipes a ring shape, which is impossible to implement on any other device. If you look at the drawing of the device in detail, you can notice that the cheeks of the template pulley can be removed to remove the workpiece in the form of a circle from it.


It is worth noting that the pipe bender of this design can be made of 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 performing not just some kind of home repair work, but about professional activity, then it is worth considering the manufacture of 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 be on the hydraulic jack.

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

As a support, use a tube of the corresponding diameter, into which it will be necessary to weld a bolt with a cross section of 18 mm. A semicircular hole will be located in the center of the support, which also needs to be reflected in the drawing. In this recess should rest against the workpiece, which will be bent on a hydraulic manual pipe bender.


To create a punch, 4 mm thick sheet metal is required, from which it will be necessary to cut semi-circular billets. The radius of these parts should 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 in the form of blanks, and after that all the parts are welded. For additional durability of a punch in a hydraulic pipe bender, jumpers providing stiffeners are welded inside it.

A tube is welded in the central part of the platform. Its purpose is an emphasis for the hydraulic drive, which serves as 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 this or that type of manual pipe bender. Moreover, there are a lot of options and drawings of finished products that can be taken into service in order to make independently the necessary tools in the household.