Bending tubing is a fairly simple principle, but there are a lot of little things going on that have to be taken into consideration. Whether you are compression bending tubing, like at a muffler shop, using a Hossfeld rotary draw style bender like my JD2 Model 32 to bend roll cage tubing, or are using a big mandrel bender like Mike to bend rectangular steel tubing, many of the principles are the same. Spring back, bend order, twist, and several other factors have to be considered to make sure you get the end result you want, but ultimately bending tubing is just using mechanical force to force the tubing into the shape you want.
That’s an ultra simple explanation, but it’s true. The key is doing things in the right order when bending tubing for your project. That involves planning, measuring, and bending, in the right order and the right orientation which Mike is going to explain in this step by step video as he bends rectangular tubing for frame rails, using a mandrel bender.
When using the mandrel bender, it require some different considerations than a rotary draw style bender that is used for most rollcage and round tube chassis fabrication. So watch the video below and learn some stuff with us!
