07-28-2009, 10:40 AM
Lester Perry Wrote:Alright Russ, If I use the brass tubing how do I bend it?
I am a retired refrigeration mechanic, so I had to bend a lot of copper tubing over the years. In transport refrigeration, the bends required were usually a tighter radius than commercial benders would do. What I did was to keep wire on my truck from #10 ga to 00 battery cable. I would slide the tube over the wire and then bend it by hand. The wire inside the tube kept the tube from collapsing. The same system should work for brass tubing, you just need to use smaller wire. What you want is a flexible wire (stranded, not solid copper) that is just enough smaller than the inside diameter of the tube to fit in easily, probably filling about 7/8's of the tube. The wire should be a couple of inches longer than the tube you want to bend. You put the wire in so that it hangs out both ends of the tube and then bend the tube to the radius you want. The wire acts like a mandrel to keep the tube from kinking and collapsing. After it is bent, you pull the wire out.