Top 7 best pipe benders for profile pipes

Stationary pipe bender: step-by-step instructions

If you plan to make your own greenhouse from steel pipes, then you will need to acquire not just an ordinary pipe bender, but a reliable product.
After all, with this approach you will need to bend more than a dozen profile pipes. To make the greenhouse design neat and beautiful, you need to use a stationary pipe bender. Before you start making a greenhouse, you need to make sure that you have the appropriate tool for bending profile products. The following elements will be needed to construct a stationary pipe bender:

rod at 25;
6 bearings;
channel.

You will also need a welding machine, which will be used to connect all the components. Step-by-step instructions for making a stationary pipe bender are as follows:

Bearings are welded to the base (channel), which are connected to each other by a shaft in the form of a steel pipe of the appropriate diameter.
To prevent the shaft from being located too close to the base, the bearings should be welded onto 5 cm pieces of rectangular pipe.
In order to deliberately produce a unit with which the bending radius could be adjusted, the base must be made of two channels connected to each other by curtains, as can be seen in the photo above.
Two shafts with bearings are located at the same height, and the third (central) is welded using a rectangular tube 15-20 cm higher.
An additional tube needs to be welded to the upper shaft, to which the handle will be attached. This shaft will be driven by muscular force.
The handle is welded to the upper shaft, after which the resulting product can be checked for functionality.

When installing a profile tube of any size, you should adjust the radius of the final bend. This can be done using a jack located under the base on which one of the shafts is fixed. Having adjusted the required bending radius, the handle rotates. The result is high-quality curved tubes. The advantage of a pipe bender is the ability to bend materials of any size and diameter.

Among the disadvantages, we can only note the possibility of operation in one place

It is important to understand that such a device can be used for any need. To manufacture such a device, an investment of no more than 500 rubles will be required.

You only need to buy 6 bearings, and all the other elements can be found in every craftsman’s household.

Disadvantages of profile pipes and solutions

With all the advantages of profile pipes, they also have a disadvantage. Manufacturers try to use materials of small thickness. Therefore, when designing long products, it is necessary to lay larger workpieces. The lightness of appearance is lost.

But homemade structures are quite often made from a rather thin initial blank. To strengthen the profile pipe from deflection, additional ribs are added to it. The result is increased rigidity.

The issue can be resolved by tapping with a hammer on one of the sides, crushing the edge. You can approach the issue more rationally: make a device that will slightly change the shape of the pipe profile.

The following was noticed:

if you roll a square from above and below, you can additionally create reinforcement ribs;
bending strength increases by 20...30%, which allows the use of smaller format pipes of one or even two standard sizes.

As a result, the master saves material and creates a lighter and more interesting design.

Pipe benders - design and types

If to manufacture a structure it is necessary to bend a profile pipe along a radius, then a pipe bender can easily cope with this, with which you can make a bend up to an angle of 180 degrees. This device is capable of changing the configuration of pipes made of stainless steel, metal-plastic, and aluminum. In this case, the bending is carried out according to the required dimensions and shape.

Pipe bender design

The design of such a tool depends on its type. However, the required elements are:

hydraulic cylinder - the main part of the machine that performs the power function;
open or closed frame;
two pipe stops;
lower and upper bars;
injection device, handle and bypass valve located on the rear of the structure body;
retractable rod, which provides the bending force of the pipe bender;
a spring with the help of which the retractable rod returns back;
a trunnion or stop of a structure, the ends of which are inserted into holes in the slats.

On top of the main part of the machine there can be a level check and an oil fill plug. Installation strips, which are a welded structure, are screwed onto the threaded part of the tool. The bottom bar is secured with a locking nut, and the top bar is pressed with two screws and a lock.

To install supports, special holes are provided on the transverse plates of the device. The bottom of the pipe bender has threaded holes for mounting bolts that are height adjustable.

The bent pipe on such a structure is located on a stream, which is located in the middle of its stop. The bending segments must be made of precision cast steel.

Today, thin-walled profile pipes with thin walls are increasingly used for the manufacture of various structures. Therefore, the design drawing of a pipe bender for such workpieces is somewhat different. To prevent deformation of its cross-section when bending the pipe, profile rollers should be selected with the same cross-section as the product.

Types of pipe benders

Commercially available professional pipe benders can be manual, electric or hydraulic driven.

Electromechanical tools are considered the most convenient

The manual drive design is used for bending small diameter pipes.

Hydraulically driven pipe benders are capable of bending workpieces that can be up to three inches in diameter. Therefore, such a tool is designed to perform large-scale work.

In addition, pipe benders may differ in the way they influence the product, with the help of which it will be bent. These methods include:

Crossbow method, in which the pipe rests on two stationary rollers and bends between stops under the influence of a template located on the rod.
Winding - with this method of bending, the workpiece first attaches itself to the roller of the structure. Then a stop is placed at the bending point. The roller begins to rotate and wind the pipe between itself and the stop. In this case, the template and the product are movable.
Rolling is the simplest way to bend a pipe. On such a device the template is motionless. The pipe is simply clamped and the pressure roller moves and bends the pipe around the template.
The rolling or rolling method involves the use of three rotating rollers. One of them is central, and two are supporting. The central roller presses on the workpiece, so it must be installed relative to the supporting elements in accordance with the required radius of the product.

pressure from the rod is transferred to the workpiece at the top point of the template

The rolling method has virtually no disadvantages. It is by rolling that steel bends are manufactured in the factory. Using the same method, it is much easier and more efficient to bend profile pipes.

Briefly about the main thing

A modern bending machine for profiled pipes is a compact, portable or stationary equipment that allows you to bend rolled metal pipes with square, rectangular and other cross-sections. It is used by large and small manufacturing enterprises that produce metal structures from corrugated pipes. Manufacturers produce equipment with manual, hydraulic and electric drive. Profile benders are also classified according to the method of influencing the metal workpiece. Pipe benders can carry out rolling, winding or rolling of profiled metal products.

Classification of pipe bending devices

Devices for bending steel pipes are classified:

by degree of mobility (stationary and portable);
by type of drive (manual, electric, hydraulic, electrohydraulic);
according to the method of influence (running in (roller), winding, impact with a rod (crossbow), rolling).

The essence of how a pipe bender influences a pipe is as follows.

Run-in

With this method, one end of the pipe is clamped, and a stationary template is used to give it the required bend. Pressure rollers are used to roll the product around the template.

Drawings of a rolling pipe bender

Winding

In such a device, the pipe is pressed against a movable template (roller), on which it is wound, stretching between a rotating roller and a special stop installed at the beginning of the bending point.

Diagram of a pipe bender operating on the winding principle

Crossbow pipe benders

In such a pipe bender, the pipe rests on two stationary rollers, and bending is performed by a template, which is attached to a movable rod. The template presses on the middle of the fixed section of the pipe, thereby giving it the required bending angle.

Diagram of a crossbow pipe bender: 2 - jack, 3 - shoe (punch)

Rolling or rolling

The required bending radius is obtained using a three-roll device, the basis of which is two support rollers and one central roller. The central roller exerts pressure on the pipe, the position of which determines the radius of its bend. is more universal; in all other machines the bending radius depends on the template used.

Compact size manual rolling pipe bender

The manufacture of a pipe bender operating on the winding principle is not simple, so such a device is made mainly in an industrial way. The crossbow method has another significant drawback: the pressure from the rod with a template attached to it, called a shoe, is concentrated in its upper part. This method of acting on the pipe leads to its significant stretching along the outer radius of the bend, which may be accompanied by a decrease in wall thickness and even its rupture. It is especially not recommended to use the crossbow method for bending thin-walled products.

An example of a homemade rolling (rolling) type pipe bender

A machine operating on the principle of rolling (rolling) practically does not have all of the above-mentioned disadvantages; this technology is used in the production of bends in the factory.

A DIY pipe bending machine can have a different design. You should choose its type based on what radius you need. There is a list of recommendations, in accordance with which the choice of a specific model of device for bending steel pipes is made. Important parameters that need to be taken into account are the thickness of the pipe walls and its overall diameter. Before starting to work with a pipe bender, it would not hurt to familiarize yourself with the data in the table showing the maximum possible radii for bending steel pipes.

Dependence of the bending radius on the diameter and wall thickness of the pipe

To obtain a bend radius smaller than that specified in such recommendations, it is necessary to use hot rolling, which is used mainly in production conditions. A device with a mandrel is more difficult to create at home, so they are much less likely to be made independently, giving preference to rolling ones.

In order to independently hot-roll a pipe, you can resort to using a home-made pipe bender, but provided that it is made entirely of metal and its frame is highly reliable. To perform such a technological operation, you will additionally need a blowtorch or gas burner.

Definition and Application of Pipe Bender

Profile pipe – rolled metal in the form of a hollow pipe product with any cross-section. The only exception is round steel. The most popular pipes are those with rectangular and square cross-sections. Such rolled metal can withstand significant loads due to the presence of hard corners.

Construction is one of the areas where profile pipes are widely used. It is used during the construction of small architectural forms and large objects. In this case, not only products with rectilinear geometry are used. During the work, specialists have to bend straight pipes with a profile section at different angles at a construction site or in a factory, or even twist it into a spiral. Professionals do not use handicraft devices for such operations. They use a special mechanism - a profile pipe bender. It is also called a profile bender. It simplifies the process and allows, with minimal time, to achieve the desired shape of initially straight rolled metal.

Roll forming device Source prostanki.com

Bending a tubular product with a cross-section of a rectangular, square or other shape other than a circle is an alternative to cutting solid metal products into separate fragments, from which a single structure of the desired configuration is subsequently made by welding. The use of a profile bender allows you to immediately create curved blanks from corrugated pipes without violating their original integrity.

Manufacturers produce a wide range of roll forming equipment for pipes made of various materials, with almost any cross-section, diameter and wall thickness. It is used to create:

small greenhouses and entire complexes;
elements for stairs;
free-standing sheds and those attached to the house;
gazebos;
frame buildings with arched elements;
fences and barriers with curved parts;
street furniture;
designs for house benches, sports and children's playgrounds.

Arched element of a greenhouse made from corrugated pipe Source ad-cd.net
To bend the required profile, specialists use appropriate attachments in each specific case. They are usually included with pipe bending equipment. Devices can also be equipped with them.

How to build a hydraulic pipe bender

The design of a hydraulic pipe bender with your own hands is presented in the video below.

Building a tool of this type will not be difficult if you have two 0.5 meter channels at your disposal. The base of such a device included the following elements:

hydraulic cylinder;
stops;
supercharger.

In addition, you should also highlight:

A jack that can withstand loads of up to 5 tons.
There are 2-3 rollers.
Channel - 3-4 mm.
Thick plates.

The principle of using such a tool is that you need to install a profiled pipe into the shoe. Use a jack to set the required bending radius. When the jack is inflated, the rod rises, pressing on the roller. After establishing the bending angle, the pipe can be removed. This type of bending device is relevant when it is necessary to bend a pipe in one place, for example, when installing a heating system.

What is the unit for?

To bend a profile pipe, you do not need to turn to a metal shop for help or buy a special tool. This can be done using two metal posts buried in the ground. However, this method has a significant drawback - the need for physical effort. The result is an inaccurately curved pipe, which is not suitable for constructing a greenhouse, arch or other products.

A pipe bender is designed to be able to produce neatly curved pipe shapes. These units are subsequently used for the construction of arches, greenhouses, ceilings, gazebos, fences, etc. If you set out to build a greenhouse at home, then you need to design a homemade pipe bender. If there are available products and tools for this, then implementing the design of the device with your own hands will not be difficult.

To make a roller pipe bender with your own hands for a profile pipe, you need to take care of the drawings. They are used to calculate the required amount of material, as well as the costs of producing a home-made unit.

The planned design of the product is applied to the drawing, which depends on the materials available.

Most craftsmen choose to manufacture front-type pipe bending machines. Such products consist of the following components:

Rollers presented in the form of a round steel pipe (the number of required rollers is 3 pieces).
Chain driving shafts.
Axes of rotation.
The mechanism that drives the device.
Profiles that are used to make a base or frame.

It is worth noting that there are a huge number of manufacturing options for the products in question, but they all operate on the principle of rolling or rolling. It is this principle of pipe bending that makes it possible to reduce the risk of pipe bending and cracking.

A simple pipe bender has the form of a unit into which a profile pipe is inserted, after which the handle is turned, when rotated the pipe begins to move and a bend is formed

When constructing a home-made unit at home, it is important to consider that the bending parameters will depend on the design itself. The closer the pressure rollers are to each other, the smaller the angle. This is interesting: How to make a chicken coop for laying hens: let’s look into it in detail

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The procedure for bending a profile pipe on homemade machines

It is unlikely that you will be able to obtain the required bending radius in one go - too much force is required for this. It is impossible to create it manually. Receive the required bend in several passes:

First, the rollers are aligned so as to obtain a slight bend, the pipe is rolled in one direction, then removed from the rolls, unfolded and inserted on the other side. It is necessary to unfold in order to obtain an evenly curved pipe.
With the same position of the rollers, it is pulled several times until the curvature is no longer added.
If the required bending radius is not achieved, change the position of the roller and repeat the steps again.

Rolling pipe bender with electric drive
The change in bending radius is achieved gradually, otherwise you won’t be able to make an arc from a profile pipe on a homemade pipe bender. What to do if you need to repeat the same bend? Make a graduation - note to what height the roller moved, how many times it was rolled in each position. When repeated, the differences, if any, will be insignificant.

The difficulty of bending lies in the fact that there is no scale and it is difficult to obtain the intended bending radius without experience. Sooner or later you will get it, but you can spoil a lot of material in the process.

Do-it-yourself manual pipe bender for profile pipes

To bend a profile pipe with small cross-sectional dimensions without a pipe bender, craftsmen use templates of the desired curvature made of metal or wood. The workpiece is pressed manually to the edges of the segment, rigidly fixing one end.

Wood template

The thin-walled element can be deformed when heated. Heat the area with a blowtorch to a temperature of 350-400°C and, using manual force, give the profile an arched shape.

If using simple methods is not allowed by the product parameters, you can design a manual roller pipe bender for a profile pipe. It is used to make arches and arcs for canopies, greenhouses and other structures of complex shape.

Required materials and tools

To make the device, you will need:

channel No. 8 or No. 10 for a rigid frame;
2 hardened steel rollers with steps for profiles of different heights or restrictive rings;
roller with notches for the movable shaft;
finished bearing units;
2 or 3 gears or sprockets;
steel chain;
clamping screw;
thin pipe for the gate;
lever;
welding machine;
drill;
"Bulgarian";
hammer.

You also need cotter pins, nuts, threaded bushings, and washers. To process the finished structure you will need paint and lubricant.

Blueprints

The drawing is the basis that will help you make a pipe bender without making major mistakes.

This is especially important when working with metal labor-intensively.

Ready-made drawings are available on the Internet. Having sufficient experience, they are easy to understand and adapt to your capabilities.

You can imagine an approximate structure of a pipe bender by studying a factory analogue, and then develop a detailed diagram of your model.

Drawing and general view of a hand tool

Construction assembly stages

Sequence of operations for making a homemade roller pipe bender:

Cut the channel to the dimensions of the posts and base.
Drill holes in the frame parts to mount the rollers.
Weld a support frame with racks from a channel.
Cut and weld a housing from the channel with holes for installing the drive roller. The shaft should rotate easily inside.
Secure the clamping screw to the resulting box using bearings. Drill a hole in the top of the screw for the collar.
Insert the housing with the drive roller between the posts. The structure must move freely vertically. Secure the cover with a screw nut on top.
Screw the bearing units to the frame.
Insert the collar into the hole in the clamping bolt.
On the outside of the shaft axis, place the gears on a key or split cone bushings with nuts. Attach the third “star” to the stand. Put on the chain and press in the sleeve for the handle.
Conduct trial tests and make adjustments if necessary.

The last step is to disassemble, clean the metal from burrs, paint the fixed parts, and reassemble. Units that are subject to friction during operation should be treated with Lithol or other thick lubricant.

Ready homemade machine

To bend the workpiece, it is placed on stationary rollers, the pressure screw is lowered all the way and pulled using a rotating handle alternately in one direction and the other.

After each rental, the screw is tightened with a collar. When the arc acquires sufficient curvature, the screw nut is secured with a lock nut. This will allow you to bend several arches with the same radius.

This homemade pipe bender can even be used for professional purposes. It can handle profiles up to 60x60 mm in size or 3 pipes with a cross-sectional width of 20 mm at the same time.

Details of the handloom manufacturing process can be seen here

https://youtube.com/watch?v=W3SXjpAF1GM

Making a simple template-type pipe bender

A simple rolling pipe bending machine can even be made from wood. Naturally, this will be a manual pipe bender, the design of which may not even include a pressure roller if it is used for thin-walled products. The template for such a device is made from a wooden board, the thickness of which should be such that it exceeds the diameter of the pipe itself.

Wooden template for a simple manual pipe bender

For ease of work, it makes sense to consider profiling the template from its end in order to avoid the pipe jumping off during bending. For these purposes, you can fold two boards, first sawing one edge at a time, thus creating a kind of gutter. A pre-drawn drawing will help avoid mistakes.

When using such a pipe bender, the template is attached to a reliable base, and a stop is attached to the left side of it (for right-handers). The pipe that needs to be bent to the required radius is placed between the template and the stop and carefully bent, making sure that it does not jump off the template.

Collapsible hook template

With the help of such a pipe bender, made from scrap materials, you can bend along a large bend radius. You can avoid making a wooden template and simplify the device by replacing it with metal hooks fixed to the base, located in a circle with the required bend radius. This device is convenient in that the dimensions of the bend can be changed at any time by placing the stop hooks around a circle with a different radius.

Armed with a manual winch, you can significantly expand the range of work performed due to a noticeable increase in traction force for bending pipes.

The winch will help expand the functionality of the simplest manual pipe bender

Top 5 best manual pipe benders for profile pipes

Hand tools for bending profiles can be either mechanical or hydraulic. But both types of models are easy to use, moderate in cost and reliable.

Stalex HTR-40

A universal pipe bender for steel profiles with adjustable rollers allows you to roll workpieces with a diameter of 15-40 mm and a wall thickness of 1.5 mm. The bending radius can be changed quickly and easily during the process. The manual machine is equipped with hydraulics with a lifting capacity of 2 tons, there are return springs that bring the pressure roller back to the upper position without effort on the part of the user.

A compact and powerful pipe bender is suitable for making railings, canopies, canopies and other structures that use profile pipes. Since the machine is operated manually, it can be used anywhere, regardless of the availability of electricity.

You can buy a pipe bender HTR-40 from 16,000 rubles

Proma KO-200

The machine is designed for cold bending of steel rods, profile pipes and metal strips; it works with medium-hard materials. Equipped with a wide base for greater stability, it can also be mounted on a workbench using four holes. It is lightweight and small in size, making it easy to transport. Suitable for processing square and round pipes, the maximum bending angle is 200°.

You can buy a Proma profile pipe bender from 13,000 rubles

Stalex TR-60

A manual pipe bender with an extended working lever allows you to easily give the desired bend to metal workpieces with minimal force. The body is equipped with a ruler to control the deformation radius; the machine works with square and round pipes of 15-38 mm. Made of powder coated steel, suitable for stationary and tabletop installation.

Important! The disadvantage of the model can be considered the lack of rollers for working with profile pipes in the kit. However, they can be purchased separately. The average price of Stalex TR-60 starts from 16,000 rubles

Blacksmith MTB10-40

A manual pipe bender without an electric drive or hydraulics, however, is simple and reliable. The machine is equipped with three rollers - between them you need to clamp the workpiece and turn the handle to accurately bend the pipe. The angle is adjusted using the upper roller; it is pressed harder or weaker.

The effort required from the user is minimal; the budget machine is very functional and easy to use. The only negative is that in the absence of experience, controlling the flexion angle may cause difficulties.

The average cost of MTB10-40 starts from 14,000 rubles

Smart & Solid BendMax-300

The manual profile bender is designed to work with 50/30/2 mm pipes. The machine is made of durable steel with a two-layer zinc coating and is reliably protected from corrosion. Among the advantages are reliability, high-quality assembly and ease of operation. The tool can be used both at home and in small workshops.

You can purchase a bender for profile pipes BendMax-300 from 18,000 rubles

Video description

Watch the video for operating features of a hydraulic pipe bender.

Hydraulic profile benders are also equipped with three grooves, but they allow you to work with pipes of larger cross-sections. Its maximum dimensions can be 60*30 mm. Moreover, most models are capable of bending square pipes with a maximum cross-sectional size of 40*40 mm. A hydraulic machine for bending profiled pipes also allows you to bend rods, strips and round pipes.

The presence of an engine braking device increases the ease of use of pipe bending equipment with hydraulics. It allows you to stop the machine if adjustments need to be made. After this, the process can be continued further using the same workpiece. In addition, machines of this type are variable units. In other words, the devices can be manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic devices for bending corrugated steel pipes.

How to mechanize the process

Since the hydraulic drive has the greatest autonomy, in most cases it is used. As a source of generated pressure at home, you can use a conventional hydraulic jack. It is installed on top of the movable roller of the pipe bender and under the mandrel. By moving the jack handle, the necessary bending pressure is created.

The choice of standard size of a jack for a pipe bender depends on the plasticity limit of the workpiece material:

For steels of type St3, steel 10 – 120...130 MPa;
For steels of type St.5, steel 20 – 130...150 MPa;
For brass – 80…100 MPa;
For aluminum - 60...80 MPa.

When choosing a standard size, the stroke of the rod is also taken into account, which cannot be less than 115....120% of the final height of the curved pipe (inevitable springing is taken into account)

How to make a pipe bender with a pressure roller?

The material for the base of such a pipe bender is selected depending on the expected loads. Therefore, to make it, thick plywood or a sheet of metal is taken.

The holder for the pressure and central roller (template) can be made from a U-shaped metal blank. It should rotate freely around the central roller attached to the base. A lever in the form of a long handle is attached to the holder, and a stop is attached to the base.

For small workpieces, you can make a pressure pipe bender with your own hands for two different bending radii. To do this, the template must be made with rounded corners, each of which must have its own radius. The handle of such a tool should have two holes with which it can be removed and installed in another place.

How to bend a profile pipe without a machine

There are two ways to make an arc from a profile pipe without a profile bender - using welding and a template. Let's start with welding.

Get an arc by welding

The profile pipe is cut with a grinder on one side. They are made every 15-30 cm, depending on the required radius, cross-section and wall thickness. The cuts should not touch one side - the one that will be on the outside.

Result of bending by welding

The spare part prepared in this way is bent, giving the desired bend. For reliability, the edges of the arc can be fixed by welding a rod to them. Then welding is carried out along all the cuts, welding them. And the last stage is grinding the weld spots and treating them with anti-corrosion compounds.

Using a template

Thin-walled profiled pipes can be bent by hand using templates. If you need a special shape, it can be cut out of a piece of thick plywood or chipboard and secured to the table using clamps. On the workbench where we will bend the pipes, make about 8-10 holes. The template is placed near these holes.

The process of obtaining an arc from a profile pipe using a template

The holes are repeated at one end of the pipe; with their help, the pipe is attached to the workbench. Now the free end of the pipe begins to be pulled smoothly, forming a bend that follows the shape. You need to pull smoothly, without jerking.

The template can also be made on the ground. Pipes-pegs are driven into the ground (at least half a meter deep). They form the required arc. For emphasis, two additional stakes are driven in, which are located to the side of the arc. The distance you need to step aside is slightly greater than the width of the pipe.

Pattern on the ground

Having inserted the pipe, it is pulled towards the arc. Great efforts are required, the work is hard. This can only be achieved with a thin-walled, seamless pipe. The suture has too much resistance in the seam area. It is very difficult to overcome it manually.

DIY pipe bender: drawings on how to make a manual pipe bender for a profile pipe