how do i bend steel tubing at home?

[joewlms3]

have some tubing i need to bend for my frame build 1 1/8"
somebody tell me hot to get like a 30-45deg bend pretty small raius without kinking
plz help

[DOC BOLM]

Build a jig from a old car wheel or brake drum,lock it in a vice,heat your tubing cherry red .you can weld one end to the jig.Start bending.Easy as pie.HD P.S.Fill your tube with sand it wont flatten out.

[joewlms3]

dont own a torch but that would sure be a nice addition to my tool kit
would you be talkin about a little propane job? or a oxy/acetylene rig?

any other thoughts

[DOC BOLM]

On thin wall tube use mapp gas on the small propane rig.HD

[joewlms3]

excellent! i can probably afford one of those

[skjjoe]

fill it with sand first to keep the kinks out.

[2door]

And pack the sand very, very tight. Have you thought of trying an electrical conduit bender. They're cheap and available at most hardware, home improvement and electrical supply outlets. 1 1/8" O.D. is close enough to 1" conduit.
Tom

[dillon_b12]

Make sure the sand is super dry before you pack the tubes and don't seal the tube completely. You need to leave a slight leak so that when you heat the tube, the air inside can escape as pressure inside the tube rises from the heat. Wet sand will steam and cause the same problem if you don't allow the tube to breathe.

[TerrontheSnake]

Aha, I was wondering why mine always kinked... I don't have a lot of Exp with tubing yet. LoL I love this place, I was just looking through random threads and learned something new!

[Junster]

You can also look at Harbor Freight. Their tubing bender is $179