The need for a bent profile arises quite often, especially if you have private household. Building greenhouses, arches for wickets and gates, arrangement gazebos or carport - all this may require you to have arched metal structures. Anyone who has faced such a need knows that the services for forming a metal profile are not cheap, and in addition to everything, you will have to fork out for the delivery of non-standard cargo. How much easier it would be to bend the pipes in the arc you need yourself! Small profile bending machines cost from 10,000 rubles. Not so expensive, but not for nothing. But there is an option to make such a machine with your own hands, and from used materials. The author of the YouTube channel shared his experience in this direction Master sh. You can easily assemble the same machine yourself if you study this material.
Read in the article
1 What is required to make a pipe bender
2 How to assemble rollers for a pipe bender
3 Sequential assembly of the pipe bender
What is required to make a pipe bender
Working with metal profiles requires exceptional rigidity from the machine.
PHOTO: YouTube.comAs a base, you need a piece of channel about 70 cm long
PHOTO: YouTube.comTo make rollers with bearings, you need to select a pipe that is suitable in diameter and cut it into pieces of 5 cmPHOTO: YouTube.comIn total, you will need 6 such blanks - rings into which the bearings will be pressed and weldedPHOTO: YouTube.comAs the rods of the pipe bender rollers, it is optimal to use rods from automobile shock absorbers. You have to tinker with removing them, but it's worth it: the metal on them is very durable, and it will perfectly cope with high loadsPHOTO: YouTube.comIn addition, you need to stock up on 4 metal corners with a length equal to the width of the channel, and the same number of small corners with a width of about 4 cm
In addition to the materials listed, you will need a threaded metal stud, nuts, a box wrench, 4 pieces of a metal profile 20-25 cm long.
From tools come in handy Bulgarian, welding machine and grinder.
How to assemble rollers for a pipe bender
A self-made machine will have 3 pairs of rollers: a central one and two side rollers. To insert the bearing into the prepared metal rings, you will have to cut and slightly unbend the pipe, and then hammer the part tightly into it
PHOTO: YouTube.comAfter the bearing is securely in place, the slot in the ring must be welded and the surface cleanedPHOTO: YouTube.comFor the central pair of rollers, two corners of 15-20 cm each (channel width) must be welded together so that an u-shaped frame is obtainedPHOTO: YouTube.comFor the rollers that will be located at the edges of the machine, the base is welded from one long corner and two short ones, as shown in the photoPHOTO: YouTube.comThen everything is simple: metal rings with bearings are welded along the edges of the frame so that three pairs are obtained in which the shock absorber rods will be inserted into the bearingsPHOTO: YouTube.comTo fix the stem inside the bearing, a wide ring or washer is welded on one side of it, and a nut on the otherPHOTO: YouTube.comIn the frame of the side rollers, you need to make 2 holes each, into which the bolts will be inserted to fix the rollers on the channelPHOTO: YouTube.comExactly at the same distance, you need to make holes in the channel for the fastening boltsPHOTO: YouTube.comTo work with a profile of different sizes, you need to make several rows of such holes in the channel, and then you can move the extreme rollers to the desired position
Sequential assembly of the pipe bender
With the installation of side rollers, in principle, everything is clear, but a lot still needs to be done with the central part.
PHOTO: YouTube.comThe U-shaped frame for the central part is placed between the pieces of the profile 25-30 cm long. These guides are welded to the channelPHOTO: YouTube.comFrom above, the guides must be covered with a metal plate to sizePHOTO: YouTube.comThrough the top plate, you need to make a slot for the screw pin and weld a nut to it, and a nut is also welded to the U-shaped base of the central roller. The pin goes through the upper platform and is fixed at the base of the roller in the nutPHOTO: YouTube.comTo turn the central roller in operation, a handle is screwed onto the rod. The author made it from a spanner key. On the one hand, he left a key, and on the other, he made a handle from a bolt and a piece of pipe.PHOTO: YouTube.comNow, when the central part is assembled, you can fix the side rollers on the channel with bolts, tightening from the bottom with nutsPHOTO: YouTube.comIt will be much more convenient to operate the pressure pin if you adapt a comfortable handle to its topPHOTO: YouTube.comAssembled, the structure will look something like this, take the time to paint it, if not for the sake of aesthetics, then at least to protect it from corrosionPHOTO: YouTube.comBy the way, to save effort and speed up work, you can even rotate the central roller when working with a profile with a drillPHOTO: YouTube.comUsing such a simple and reliable machine, you can easily bend a metal profile even into a ring.PHOTO: YouTube.comThe machine will cope with large parts, and with an aluminum profile - without any difficulty at all
If you have the skills to work with welding, it will take you a day to complete the assembly of the machine, and such a structure will last for more than a dozen years.
This is not the only option for a homemade pipe bender. Here, for example, is a fundamentally different design, no less effective, judging by user reviews:
What model of a homemade pipe bender did you like? Maybe you are already using such a machine? Share your impressions in the comments!
