TPT November 2011

B ENDING & T UBE M ANIPULATION

In a discussion of the use and non-use of mandrels, an excellent online primer on tube bending lays out the pros and cons of both methods. The text is accompanied by simple, hand-drawn sketches of a tube “bent the easy way” and another tube “bent the hard way.” The illustrations seem indistinguishable – and that may be the point. Manipulation of a length of tubing entails vulnerability: to breakage, wrinkling, scratching, marking, humping, collapse, excessive springback, and link failure, among others. The methods by which these threats are circumvented may vary, but never the results. The sole standard applicable to the finished workpiece is always “bent the best way.” Photo: J Neu GmbH p.84