Post by Noel on Mar 5, 2005 19:13:42 GMT -5
I have had excellent results using a length of 4"x2" demolition timber.Here in NZ we have some native timbers that were used in the old days to build houses that are very hard and these are very good.No doubt there are hard timbers in other parts of the world that would be suitable.Drill a hole the same size as the tube you wish to bend (obviously it only works for round tube-as yet in NZ we can't get drills for square holes though some cheap Chinese ones get close!).Push one end into the hole and use the other as along lever to gently bend the tube to the required radius(it helps greatly if you draw 1/2 of the bulkhead full sized on a piece of paper and simply fold the paper in half and trace it to replicate exactly the other 1/2).Feed a little tube through the hole and repeat the process until you have the required bend.The secret is to feed the tube through the hole little by little and by about the same amount each time.With a little patience you can produce an extremely good result with absolutely no flattening of the tube.