Bending Evergreen

[Lester Perry]

I am trying to bend Evergreen 3/32" tube with much difficulty and little success. The guy where I bought it suggested heat from a candle. That almost works but not so hot. I guess I am saying HELP!!please

[TinGoat]

Warm it on a hotplate, or skillet...

Use the wife's blow dryer set on high heat...

Put it on a cookie sheet and warm it in the oven...

Whisper tender nothings in it's ear...

Just some ideas....

[Lester Perry]

Warm it on a hotplate, or skillet...

Use the wife's blow dryer set on high heat...

Put it on a cookie sheet and warm it in the oven...

Whisper tender nothings in it's ear...

Just some ideas....

How hot should the hot plate be?
Tried wife's blow dryer, not hot enough
Cookie sheet in oven sounds interesting, but same question how hot should the oven be?
"Whisper tender nothings in it's ear..." I am 53 year old stroke victim, with Levitra in the cabinet. Need I say more?

[tomustang]

You can try 400F, you should be able to start softening it, if it's styrene.

The best thing for you is to heat it while you are trying to bend it.

[jim currie]

heat gun works best for me , if your making a radical bend i pack tube with the finest sand i can lay my hands on , keeps it round that way.
jim

[Russ Bellinis]

I think it would be easier to start with some K&S brass tube. Thread a piece of electric wire through first before you try bending to keep the tube from collapsing. I think you could bend the Evergreen styrene tube, but I suspect the temperature difference between cold enough that is just snaps to having it melt into a puddle of plastic with the correct temp for bending somewhere in between is awfully touchy.

[Lester Perry]

Alright Russ, If I use the brass tubing how do I bend it?

[nachoman]

can you give a better description of how long and what kind of bend you are trying to make? Is it 90 degrees, 180, and what radius? Is the whole length of the tube to be bent or just one short segment? I have had lock dunking the plastic in boiling water and then bending. I have also had luck using a paint stripping heat gun. It should only take about 5 seconds to heat it up enough with the heat gun.

[TinGoat]

"Whisper tender nothings in it's ear..." I am 53 year old stroke victim, with Levitra in the cabinet. Need I say more?

Well, the idea is to get it hot. I wouldn't expect it to get you hot.

I love this hobby, but not that much!

The soak in boiling water should work for most plastic tubing.

Packing the inside of the tube to prevent kinking is also a good idea.

For Brass, I think the K&S Tubing Bender Kit would be a good choice.

Hobbylinc has a selection of other bending tools as well...

[Russ Bellinis]

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.

[upnick]

Hi Les,

I ahve used K&S tube benders <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/k+s/k+s321.htm">http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/k+s/k+s321.htm</a><!-- m --> for plastic tube after leaving the tube in hot water for a few minutes ..... works well if you bend a full length of tubing for more leverage.

[foulrift]

I have always used Evergreen solid rod. I draw out the radius I need and then using a heat gun I start to heat the rod. I make horizontal passes over the rod.As soon as it starts to get soft,I bend it against the radius.You can even make a jig of the radius.Be careful that the plastic doesn't get too hot,it will get distorted.
Bob

[Lester Perry]

I think I will try the hot water idea for now. I will get a heat gun if I am not satisfied with that. Also I will get the solid rod or brass next time.

[tv_man]

Bent some thin rod with a lighter flame yesterday. Hot water will probably do the trick. If those don't work, you need to call http://www.geekscribe.com/wp-content/upl...Bender.jpg

Teehee..

[Lester Perry]

I give up time for plan B. Before you ask I don't know.