The minimum winding diameter of the stainless steel tube is 6mm. Effective ways to bend copper pipes at home

In the manufacture of building structures or the installation of water supply and heating systems, sometimes it becomes necessary to bend pipes. Moreover, it is possible to obtain the required bending radius for blanks with a profile or round section. There are many ways to bend tubular elements. The choice of this or that method depends on the wall thickness, pipe section, material, bending radius, availability of special tools. In our article, we will tell you how to properly bend a stainless steel pipe so as not to damage it. At the same time, we will list the main industrial bending methods, as well as methods that can be used at home.

All methods of bending workpieces can be divided into manual and mechanical, as well as hot and cold. Sometimes the bending process is accompanied by undesirable consequences for the tubular product, which have a significant impact on the subsequent operation of the element. The degree of manifestation of these consequences depends on the material from which the pipe is made, its diameter, bending radius, as well as the method by which the bending procedure was performed.

Attention: stainless pipe can only be bent by cold methods, that is, without heating with a torch.

The negative consequences of bending include the following points:

• Reducing the wall thickness of the workpiece located along the outer radius of the bend.
• The formation of creases and folds on the wall, which is located along the inner radius of the bend.
• Changing the configuration of the section (reducing the size of the lumen and its shape - ovalization).
• Change in the bending radius due to the spring effect of the material.

The most common drawback of bending is a change in the configuration of the section and wall thickness. Due to the stresses of the metal, the outer wall becomes thinner at the bend, while the inner wall, on the contrary, thickens. This results in a noticeable weakening of the tubular element. This phenomenon is dangerous by rupture of the outer wall of the pipe, since it is it that is subjected to greater pressure of the transported medium.

Ovalization also significantly weakens the workpiece. This phenomenon is especially dangerous when bending a pipeline designed to transport a substance under conditions of a pulsating load. If such elements are used as building structures, then ovalization will affect appearance element. That is why in the process of bending, they strive to minimize such phenomena as much as possible.

If folds form on the inner wall due to the thickening of the material, then they will entail not only a decrease in the cross section, but will also create resistance to the moving flow. This in turn increases the likelihood of corrosion. Besides load bearing capacity structural tubular element will decrease.

Oval protection

The main methods of cold bending of a galvanized pipe provide for measures that allow you to bend the workpiece, preserving the shape of its cross section as much as possible. This is usually done in one of two ways:

• Use of measures to preserve the shape of the section from the inside (use of an internal limiter).
• Using an external stop to prevent expansion of the side walls.

Important: a mandrel can act as an internal limiter - a sizing plug or fillers such as fine sifted sand or frozen water. Low-melting metals, rubber and resins are also used as fillers.

Rigid materials as a filler retain their shape better, so they are more often used. But due to the use of elastic fillers, there is less stretching of the outer surface of the bend.

Industrial cold bending methods

Main industrial methods cold bending:

• winding method. This technique allows you to bend a pipe with a cross section in the range of 1.0-4.26 cm in different planes. To maintain the shape of the section, composite or rod mandrels are used - calibrating plugs.
• With a twist. This method is suitable for bending tubular elements with a diameter of not more than 15 cm. In this case, the wall thickness should be impressive. The essence of the method: a rolling roller moves around a static bending roller of a given size. He presses the pipe and bends it.
• Roller. This method allows you to bend the workpiece in a spiral or ring. On the rollers, the element is moved by rollers and acquires the curvature specified by the position of the rollers.
• Drawing . The method is suitable for bending thin-walled seamless products. For bending, a template is made from a tubular element of a larger diameter. Then the template is threaded into the die and fixed with a clamp. Due to the rotation of the template, the workpiece is pulled through the die and bent.
• By stretching. This technique minimizes the risk of metal deformations. To do this, the workpiece is fixed at the edges, stretched and bent at the same time through the use of a bending template.
• On supports. Usually two supports are used on which the workpiece is placed. As the support bends, it rotates around its axis. The template is connected to the jack rod so that the force is applied in the center of the workpiece. The method is suitable for bending tubular products with a diameter of no more than 35.1 cm. The equipment allows bending directly on the construction site.
• With hydrostatic pressure inside. To do this, liquid is injected into the tubular element. Plugs are installed at the ends. Due to the resulting stresses, the metal reaches an almost plastic state. Then a template is brought to the place of bending and the workpiece is bent.
• push through. The method is suitable for bending elements with a diameter of three inches. The workpiece is pushed through a fixed and movable die. Due to the displacement of the matrices relative to each other, it is possible to adjust the curvature of the bend. Using this technique, one workpiece can be bent several times in different planes.

As for the use of mandrels, the simplest plug for pipes with a cross section of no more than 3.2 cm can be a steel cable. One end of this cable is fixed in the handle. The other end is connected to the wire to perform pulling into the lumen. In this case, the diameter of the calibrating plug should be slightly smaller than the cross section of the tubular product - by about 0.1-0.5 mm.

During the use of calibration plugs, undesirable scratches and notches may occur on the inner surface of the workpiece. This usually happens when bending stainless steel products. To protect against such undesirable consequences, you need to choose the right cork material, as well as use lubricant and thoroughly clean the surface.

Important: for lubrication, you can take a soapy anti-corrosion emulsion or machine oil. It is better to lubricate the entire element by immersing it in a bath with a substance. To lubricate the bend, which is far from the ends of the workpiece, use a mandrel with holes through which lubricant can be supplied.

Manual bending methods

To bend the workpiece at home, you can use a manual pipe bender. Most often, a crossbow-type tool is used, which bends the element, squeezing it out at the bending point.

Attention: when bending at home, you should also try to avoid the undesirable consequences of this procedure.

In order to prevent a change in the configuration of the section of the tubular element, means are used to counteract deformations from the inside. Usually, for these purposes, clean sand sifted through a fine sieve is used. The procedure is performed in the following sequence:

1. On one side of the workpiece, a plug is driven in, for example, a wooden chopstick.
2. Prepared sand is poured into the remaining hole.
3. This hole is also tightly closed with a plug.
4. After that, the pipe bends around a blank of a suitable size.
5. After that, the plugs are removed, the sand is poured out.

Instead of sand, frozen water can be used as a limiter if the procedure is performed in winter. In this case, water is poured into the blank cavity closed on one side. Then the second hole is also muffled. Bending around the blank is performed after the water freezes. After removing the plugs, the ice will melt on its own, and water can be poured out of the pipe.

Important: only galvanized pipes with a diameter of no more than 4 cm with a wall thickness of no more than 3 mm are suitable for bending at home. Otherwise, it is better to use only professional methods.

You can also bend the galvanized pipe yourself using a spring. To do this, do the following:

1. A spring is specially made from a wire with a diameter of 1-4 mm. However, it must be freely placed inside the tubular element.
2. We tie a wire to one end of the spring and fix it on the edge of the workpiece, so that later we can easily remove the spring. The spring product itself is placed in the place of the pipe where it is planned to bend.
3. We bend the workpiece around a steel blank or with a manual pipe bender.
4. The spring can now be removed.

This technique is ideal for bending profile pipes. Just keep in mind that the spring must have a bendable element configuration.

Another method is performed using a bundle of wire. Each wire is individually inserted into the workpiece so that the entire bundle tightly fills the tubular element. After bending, the wire is removed from the pipe cavity in the same way, separately.

A moonshine still is one of the most popular devices today that allows you to get pure moonshine, more precisely, an alcohol-containing product. The basis of production is the mash, which is poured into the distillation cube and heated until it starts to boil. At a temperature of 90-95 0 C, the mash breaks up into 3 main fragmentations - alcohol, water and fusel oils. The main element of such an apparatus is a coil. It is he who is designed to condense alcohol vapors and obtain a pure product.

It is not difficult to make such a unit, even considering its spiral shape. In this article we will tell you how to make a coil for moonshine still with your own hands and what you need for this.

The main task of the moonshine is to separate low-boiling components (alcohol boils at a temperature of 78 0 C) from heavy-boiling ones - water (100 0 C) and fusel oils (from 120 0 C). Boiling of the mash is carried out in the distillation cube, from where the fragments enter through the tube into the coil, immersed in cold water(fridge). Here, due to a sharp temperature drop, the steam, moving in a spiral, condenses and flows already in the form of ethyl alcohol into a container.

In order to completely remove fusel oils from moonshine, it is recommended to pass it through the apparatus twice.

Despite such a complex description and specific shape, the coil can be made with your own hands, and it will work as efficiently as a professional counterpart.

What should be the coil

There are several parameters that a truly working coil must meet, and the main one of them is the material.

1. Production material

It is on this that the further taste of the drink prepared according to all the rules will depend. Most importantly, the material from which the pipe will be made should not enter into chemical reaction with alcohol and isolate any harmful substances. The main types are aluminum, copper or stainless steel. Specialists use glass tubes, which allows you to personally control the process. But you definitely can’t make such a tube with your own hands, it’s easier to buy it in a chemical store.

Also important is the thermal conductivity factor, which determines the rate of condensation. The most thermally conductive material is copper, followed by aluminum and only after stainless steel.

Interestingly, some moonshiners speak out against copper pipes, considering them toxic. We would like to remind you that in France, for example, all strong alcohol, including world-famous cognacs, is distilled in an alambic copper distiller, and the taste only benefits from this.

The photo below shows a coil for a home moonshine still:

1. Coil Size

The speed of distillation and the amount of product obtained depend on this parameter. An immutable rule applies here - the more points of contact with cold water, the faster the steam cools and condenses. However, due to the hydraulic connection increasing from turn to turn, the distillation rate is sharply reduced. The optimal length of the coil is 1.5 meters with a tube diameter of 10-12 mm.

1. Location

In order for the condensate to drain by gravity and not stagnate anywhere, it is recommended to use a vertical installation system. Horizontal or inclined, although not prohibited, but reduce the amount of moonshine obtained when equal number mash.

1. Cooling system

The simplest and most effective method of cooling is water poured into a container where the coil is immersed. Also, ice is used as a cooling element and cold air, but their installation is quite difficult.

In addition, the container, if possible, should be open so that you can change warm water to cold. In a closed container, the condensation process goes much worse and very often the moonshine at the outlet is already quite warm.

There is also a flow cooler where water circulates constantly. In addition to the fact that it cools the coil best of all, accordingly, moonshine is processed faster, it is also smaller in size. Thanks to this, the entire moonshine still turns out to be much more compact.

It is necessary to create a counterflow in the refrigerator, for which the output warm water is carried out from above, and cold water enters from below. In this case, the water tends to meet moonshine and cools evenly throughout the coil.

The process of making a coil for a moonshine with your own hands

The coil will be made of copper tube. Recall that you can also use aluminum, brass and even stainless steel tube. The length of such a tube is 1500-2000 mm, diameter 10-12 mm, wall thickness 1-1.1 mm.

Next, find the tank where the coil will be installed - a metal or glass container, the size of which depends on the size of the coil. In general, already installed, it should occupy at least a quarter of the volume. If there is no suitable container at hand, you can even use a piece plastic pipe, sealed at one end. The diameter of such a pipe must be at least 80 mm.

Drawing of the coil and housing for self-manufacturing

How to collect

1. Stuff the tube very tightly with sand, salt or soda to prevent even the slightest deformation during bending. You should not freeze the water and try to curl the pipe in this way, because when bending the knee, it will heat up and melt the ice, which will cause the pipe to deform.
2. Close both ends of the tube with wooden or plastic plugs so that sand does not spill out.
3. Find an object with a diameter of 30-35 mm round with an equal cross section over the entire height and wind the tube around it carefully. Can be bent with pliers, but be careful not to deform outer material. The pitch between the turns should be 12-15 mm.

1. Open both ends, pour out sand or salt and rinse thoroughly under running water.
2. From the outside of the case, insert pipes for inlet / outlet of water.
3. Place the coil vertically inside the container, fix the outlet channel to the outside, from where it will come out, fix it with sealant or cold welding, on both sides make plugs.

This is what a fully assembled metal refrigerator looks like

Average heating power alembic is 3 kilowatts. With such indicators, the efficiency of the coil will be 4 liters of moonshine per hour. This volume is obtained from 30 liters of mash.

The video will tell you how to make a coil for moonshine with your own hands

It should be looked at in great detail. The material must be accessible for processing, practical in use and necessarily inert - not reacting with alcohol and its compounds. Also of great importance is the thermal conductivity of the material, which directly affects the rate of cooling of hot vapors. There are several types of materials to choose from, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

Copper tube

The most popular material for the manufacture of the moonshine still coil is copper. It has a high thermal conductivity and is a very soft metal that bends easily. Coiling a copper tube into a coil does not require preheating, unless the bending radius is less than five nominal diameters of the tube itself. On the other hand, such coils are not chemically neutral, although copper itself does not react with alcohol. Upon contact with oxygen, a thin coating of copper oxide forms on the surface of the copper tube, which inevitably gets into the distillation product, albeit in very small doses.

Stainless steel

Corrosion-resistant steel produces a cleaner end product, but is more difficult to machine. If a softer metal coil can be bent, as they say, with bare hands, then a gas burner, a pipe bender or a special radial template will be required to process a stainless tube. In addition, stainless steel coils are the heaviest.

Glass serpentine

Glass is the least commonly used material for the moonshine coil, although it ensures the absolute purity of alcohol after distillation. It is necessary to bend glass only in a special glass-blowing workshop, otherwise places of local stress will necessarily appear in the bent tube, which will lead to spontaneous destruction of the coil even without mechanical or thermal effects. In addition, glass has a significant drawback when connecting the coil to other elements of the apparatus: it cannot be threaded or a tight tightening collar can be installed on it.

Nylon or polyethylene pipe

A good alternative when choosing a material for a moonshine cooler can be a tube used for installing underfloor heating systems. The main advantage of such a material is its cheapness and ease of processing, although it must be carried out with extreme caution. Nylon and polyethylene tubes are considered chemically neutral and do not come into contact with most known solvents. The main disadvantage of these tubes is their high elasticity, due to which the coil does not hold its shape well, so it is fixed to the frame, most often a wire one.

There are special technical devices that allow you to bend copper pipe

The need to bend a copper tube arises at the time of construction and installation work related to the arrangement of a warm floor, sewerage or water supply. The choice in favor of this material is due to its wear resistance and versatility. Even with long-term operation, copper is practically not subject to corrosion. At the design stage of the system, all pipe bends are taken into account. This will allow you to complete the installation with jewelry accuracy. The less "congestion" is formed on the path of the fluid, the higher the efficiency of the system.

Builders are advised not to neglect the safety rules. All work is carried out in a well ventilated area or outdoors. The easiest way to bend a copper tube is to use a spring to bend it. The latter must be made of high quality steel. Its vein is characterized by maximum thickness and frequent turns.

When bending a copper pipe, you should not forget about safety precautions

Before starting work, you need to make sure that the spring used passes freely through the bendable tube. It is better when the spring and tube are about the same size.

The further procedure is as follows:

• Before starting manipulations, it is necessary to make sure that the spring can be easily removed from the pipe;
• Preheating of the workpiece is carried out using a gas burner or a blowtorch;
• The thermal effect continues until the tube becomes easy to bend.
• After that, they give it the desired shape with their own hands.
• The work is completed by placing the product in a cold environment for cooling.

At the last stage, beginners make a common mistake. Do not remove the spring from the hot pipe, otherwise it will deform. You have to wait until it cools down.

Universal way with sand

It happens that there are no pipes at hand and construction equipment. In this case, at home, you can use the sand. Before starting work, you need to pay attention to the physical properties of the sand and the pipe itself. It is enough to make even a slight mistake so that the copper tube acquires irregular shape. The first thing you need to find is a supporting surface that will withstand the load. The second place in the list of necessary things is given to 2 pieces of durable wood.

Once everything is assembled, you can start work:

• For work, only sifted river sand without foreign inclusions is used;
• Fractions should be as small as possible;
• Tube bending sand must be dry;
• One end of the tube is closed with a stopper made from a piece of wood;
• Sand is poured into the cavity;
• During this procedure, the tubes need to be shaken slightly so that the sand is evenly distributed;
• As soon as all the internal space has been filled, the second end is plugged with a cork;
• The tube is slightly heated and then bent;
• The reference surface is called upon to simplify the task.

Before bending a copper pipe, you should first watch the training video

As soon as the pipe gives in, the heating is immediately stopped. Once everything is completed, the pipes are laid in cold water. After that, both plugs are removed. The sand spills out.

When to Use a Pipe Bender

It happens that the spring and sand cannot cope with the task. In this case, heavy artillery is used. A device that saves time is called a pipe bender. The mobile unit changes the shape of the pipe, based on the parameters set by the person.

The whole process comes down to fixing one end of the tube and manipulating the other. The main thing is that the fold point is correctly fixed.

Before you get started, you need to choose the right tool. Allocate lever and hydraulic pipe benders.

Their characteristics are as follows:

1. Manual, or lever - its design includes 2 levers, a bending shoe and a template. Marks are applied on the surface of the lever, on the basis of which the required angle is set. The tube is fixed in the bracket so that zero marks aligned. The limiting angle for bending is 180 degrees.
2. Hydraulic - refer to professional equipment. They will cope with the work several times faster than their manual counterparts.

Pipe bender is quite expensive

The use of a pipe bender is justified when it comes to a significant amount of work. The mobile device optimizes the time spent on the condition right choice. The manual type is suitable for domestic use, and the hydraulic type is suitable for industrial use.

Spiral bending at home

For beginners, it can be difficult to bend a brass or copper tube into a spiral. To solve the problem, you need a rubber mallet and 2 supports. Sand or, less desirable, ice is poured inside. The tube is placed with 2 ends on the support points. After that, the fold point is gradually heated. As soon as the material began to give in, a mallet is taken into the hands. With its help, you need to bend the pipe. Each action must be as balanced as possible, otherwise the material will simply crack.

After bending, the pipe becomes more compact and practical

The following tips can help reduce the chance of errors:

• If the tube is too hard, it should be fired a little to make it more flexible;
• As soon as it has cooled down, the filler is poured into it, after which it is easier to bend it at the required angle;
• The use of a cylindrical support will give the product an even shape.

Laying sewerage or water supply requires heightened attention to the quality of the pipes used. You can give them the necessary shape yourself or with the help of hydraulic equipment. Regardless of the choice, you need to be extremely careful. The surface of the pipe must not be exposed excessive heat. Do not hit it hard, otherwise the pipe will simply crack at the bend point.

The popularity of copper pipes in the installation of heating and water supply systems is understandable - they are durable, flexible, and resistant to corrosion. But the layout of apartments often forces you to change the shape of the existing blank. At home, this is not so easy to do, but there are several ways. How to bend a copper tube at the right angle? You will learn about this from this material.

The physical properties of the material largely determine the features of working with copper. Due to plasticity, the workpiece at the bend can decrease in diameter or even break. But you can deform the copper pipe manually. Methods for improving bending strength will be described later.

The second feature of copper pipes is the need to heat them for deformation. Of course, thin-walled workpieces are easy to deal with without a soldering iron or gas burner, but it is better to warm up thickened elements (where there will be a bend) to make your work easier.

The third feature of bending copper pipes at home is the mandatory use of compensating elements. This is necessary to minimize the appearance of "corrugation" (waviness) on the inner wall of the tube. Examples would be sand, a steel spring, sometimes ice. Now we will analyze the well-known methods of how to bend a copper tube at home.

Bending methods

Methods for shaping a copper pipe into a curved shape are conventionally divided into two categories:

• industrial;
• household.

Industrial flexible tubing refers to the use of special equipment - pipe benders. The most common are hydraulic and mechanical (manual). The former allow minimizing the physical effort of a person, have interchangeable nozzles for selecting a suitable bend diameter, and are used for overall copper tubes. The latter are compact, work due to the muscular strength of a person, and also have replaceable nozzles in the form of a semicircle.

When repairing or installing copper pipelines, a pipe bender is not always at hand. Therefore, users manage with improvised means.

Household methods for bending copper tubes

These methods are applicable in confined space, that is, an ordinary apartment. Overall equipment is not needed, bending the copper billet will turn out not much slower. Among the methods of bending copper tubes are:

1. Spring. Lets bend metal pipe at any angle. A spring is used, the length of which is equal to the length of the pipe. When bending forms large diameter it is placed inside the workpiece so that it rests against the walls; smaller diameter - worn outside. If it is required to deform a small section of the product, the spring is pushed to the place of the intended bend.

How is copper pipe bending done with a spring? The sequence of actions is as follows:

• place the spring outside/inside the tube;
• heat the bend (or the entire pipe) with a blowtorch or gas burner;
• when the surface changes color to a darker one, proceed to bending;
• after deformation, leave the workpiece to cool completely in natural conditions;
• remove the spring.

To get the product of the desired shape, you can use metal round objects as templates (for example, car rims, other pipes, etc.).

1. Sand. Here again, a heating element and clean, sifted, completely dry sand are required. The sequence is:

• one of the ends of the copper pipe is clogged with a wooden plug (using a wooden or rubber hammer!);
• the pipe cavity is filled with sand, while the workpiece is periodically tapped with a wooden plug on the surface (table, floor);
• having filled the product completely, put on the same plug from the other end;
• act with a blowtorch or gas burner on the intended place of the pipe bend, rotating the workpiece for uniform heating;
• press one end of the pipe to the support, and gently bend the other in the right direction;
• allow the deformed part to cool (in natural conditions or pour over with water).

The method is good in that if the pipe is unevenly bent, it is permissible to straighten it - tap the place where the deformation went badly with a hammer. After the tube has cooled, the plugs are removed from it, sand is poured out, washed and used for its intended purpose.

If bending is performed in winter, it is allowed to fill the internal cavity with ice. However, this is undesirable - when bent, it can crack, and the fragments will damage inner surface tubes. Although, if there are no special requirements for the latter, it is worth taking the method into service.

Complicated bending of copper pipes

It happens that you need to bend the workpiece of a non-standard profile. For example, not round, but square. The spring method is not applicable here. It remains to use sand, a mallet, plugs and two supports. A pipe is placed on the latter, then it is heated, then the bend is tapped with a hammer until the proper shape is given.

What to do if you need to bend the tube into a spiral? It's simple - you just need to find a cylindrical template with a diameter equal to the required one. The copper billet warms up slightly, then bends. This will create an even spiral.

There are several ways to get bent copper pipe. Each is good in its own way, but there are points that are always important to consider, regardless of the chosen method of deformation.

1. The main requirement for the user when working is accuracy and attentiveness. Sudden movements will lead to excessive deformation of the pipe walls and their complete rupture.
2. Parts made of annealed copper are easiest to bend, so it takes a minimum of time to heat them up.
3. If the bend is not made where necessary, you can reheat the workpiece and bend the product back. However, no one guarantees that the shape of the tube will be the same.
4. When the surface is overheated, the metal may simply begin to melt. It is unacceptable. The user must closely follow the process from start to finish.

Manual bending of large-sized copper pipes is impossible at home - you can't do without industrial pipe benders with a hydraulic drive. Small pieces for mounting heating system or water supply bend easily, and with minimal effort. Even a person with no experience can figure out how to bend a copper tube at home if he is careful. Do you know other ways to work? Share with readers your experience in discussing the material.