Weld a cap one one end of the pipe. Fill the pipe with dry sand, pack it and make sure it is full. Weld a cap on the opposite end. Now use your bender and make the desired bends, the pipe will not collapse or kink.

Looks like your trying to bend tube with pipe dies. It will flatten on the outside and  or crumple on the inside. EMT dies should get you close. Cant really see the wall thickness but Iv got away using a bender/tugger with good results. Your not showing a great shot of whats happening but it appears that the tube is loose in the die. Sand might help the inside of the bend but it still may flatten the outside.

interesting thread. i was thinking about a bender.

Rhys,

 I know John Chandler here in London had a mandrel bender in his shop.  I'll get hold of him to see if he moved it to his home shop or sold it

 

 not as drunk as you thinkle peep I am

 I ended up throwing out the entire bender (dies and all) except for the hydraulic ram that came with it.

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Shame the bender in the first picture run about 10 large new with the dies . Work great with the right material.

 

      I would love one of the JD2's but dang they are pricey and I don't know how many times I would use it to justify the cost (JD2 - $295.00 + die- $270.00 = $565.00) "not as drunk as you thinkle peep I am" they are high quality units that would last a lifetime.    I was trying to squeak buy at half the cost but we all know how that works out.  I should just pull the pin and buy the JD2.

      Your unit looks great Hemi43 (don't read into that the wrong way), just a different application of mechanical force.  I would love to have one of those familiar looking "Danby's" like yours pictured, there handy in the shop.

      Decisions, decisions!!!!!  I can't wait much longer.  Thanks for the advice, much appreciated, Rhys. 

Wasn't that tank bodied bonneville car "Candy's??

Well, I broke down and bought the JD2 Model 32 with a 1-1/4" die set.   Delivery is September 11, 2013.  We'll see how skilled a tube bender I am with it.  I will post pictures when I start bending.   Thanks for all the input, Rhys.

I also have experience with a tube bender like the one shown in the opening post. It would be more accurate to say it was a "tubing kinker",,, it will work just fine for slight bends but it will flatten the tube if you try to do something like a 90 degree bend.
I later got one similar to the JDsquared model and it works great.

      Well my JD squared came in early so I cruised over the Bluewater bridge to Port Huron and picked it up.  Looks great.  It went together in about fifteen minutes.   Just pins and linkages to fit, I fitted it together on the tailgate of the Truck in the Birchwood Mall parking lot as the wife and kids shopped.  I was very impressed with the quality, fit and finish.   In fact, a gentleman and his wife came over to talk as I was finishing up.  He instantly recognized it as a tube bender and realized it was a JD squared.  He was from London shopping in the U.S. like me.  I think that he had decided he was buying one as well after I had finished up the  assembly.

 

 

    I bought the manual version over the hydraulic as I could not justify the extra costs.  This posed a problem though as I would have to anchor this model down to the floor with a stand to pull on it.  I had my sights set on bending up my DOM this weekend but it was not to be.  I did come up with an idea though.  The shopper that I met from London said something that gave me an idea.   He mentioned he had a hard time finding his vehicle as it was behind my big 4X4.  Why not mount it to the truck?  I could fab up a bracket to attach to the receiver.  I could make it collapse-able with a vise mount and store it in the garage while not in use.  I searched on the internet and found this:

 

 

 

 

This is as far as I got.  Cut the tubing, fitted the pin and made some patterns.   I need a small amount of plate to finish off and of course nothing in sight and a Sunday and all.  I will pick some up after work Monday and continue on.  Always a dollar short and a day late, Rhys.

 

 

     I had to give it a try before I hit the road.  I am very impressed to say the least.  Check out the 180 degree bend, flawless.  The model 32 is great with the anti spring back pin, a nice feature.  I was thinking of setting up with hydraulics but the hand ratchet bends effortlessly with this smaller diameter tube (if I go with big diameter tube I think an hydraulic conversion would be needed).  The receiver vise works great and I can fold everything up and store it all out of the way.  A couple of pic's, Rhys.

 

 

 

 

 

Fordy Acres Car Farm wrote:

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 Wow! That bend looks great! Is that the original DOM tubing that you were having kink issues with?(if not, could you try it and show us the results?)

 

 

    Yes, that was a section of my 1-1/4" , 0.120" wall DOM that had the original kink (a section of tube just beyond the original bend).  Back from work at Niagara Falls, Sir Adam Beck generating station so I should be ready to bend tubing for the car if the heat doesn't knock me out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!