How to bend a copper pipe

During the plumbing work it is often necessary to bend the pipes. Depending on the material of manufacture will differ and how to do it. In particular, it is worth noting that it is quite difficult to bend the pipe evenly and without creases of the pipe, especially when it comes to pipes made of copper. This material has good performance and is often used during plumbing work, so you should know how to bend a copper pipe.

Job Execution Options

Immediately it should be said that there are several options for work. Each of them has certain nuances, and therefore it is necessary to consider each of them separately.

Spring

The use of a spring can be mentioned as one of the main methods of bending copper pipe.

• First you need to pick up a steel spring that corresponds in diameter to the pipe that is supposed to bend. It is necessary to add that only a spring having a thick core and frequent turns will be suitable for these purposes, otherwise the efficiency of its application will be low.
• This spring must be placed inside the pipe. Well, if the length of the spring will correspond to the length of the bent pipe. However, this is rare. Basically you have to bend the pipe section, which is quite remote from the end. Therefore, in order to remove the spring after bending, a piece of steel wire of appropriate length can be attached to it.
• After placing the spring inside the pipe, the desired part of the pipe must be heated. For heating, you can use a gas torch or a simple blowtorch. At the same time care must be taken. As soon as the color of the pipe begins to change, you can begin to try to bend it. When the temperature reaches the required level, the pipe will easily be bent.

• Next, the pipe is bent to the desired angle and left in this position until cooling. As a kind of pattern for bending, you can use, for example, an old car disk with a tire removed and a camera. If you need to bend the pipe stronger than the radius of the disk allows, then you can take a steel pipe of the appropriate diameter as a blank.
• When the pipe cools down and becomes final, you need to pull the spring out. This work can be considered complete.

Sand

Another way to bend a copper pipe without a pipe bender involves the use of sand.

• First you need to prepare a sufficient amount of clean, sifted sand.
• This sand is necessary to fill the pipe. To do this, a wooden cork is driven in from one of the pipe ends, sand is poured into the pipe, after which the second end is plugged with a cork.
• Next, the area that needs to be bent, is heated to the desired temperature and bent. After which the pipe is left to cool.
• Then wooden plugs are removed from the pipe ends and sand is poured out. 

The described method is simple and accessible, while the result is quite acceptable.

Manual pipe bender

It is necessary to add that the described methods, how to bend pipes, are suitable in the absence of devices intended for this purpose. Here are meant benders. These devices are of various designs. One of the most affordable for use is a mechanical manual pipe bender. To bend the pipe to the desired angle with it, special interchangeable nozzles are used. They, as a rule, have the form of a semicircle, the outer radius of which corresponds to the radius of the supposed bend.

Hydraulic pipe bender

Pipe bending can also be performed using a hydraulic pipe bender. The principle of its operation is not much different from the principle of the manual pipe bender, and the only difference is that the mechanism is driven by hydraulics. By the way, it is possible to find both pipe benders, which only enhance the muscular strength of a person with the help of hydraulics, as well as fully mechanized devices that are powered by electricity. They also have interchangeable tips that determine the bend radius.

For a better understanding of the process, you can watch the video. The pipe is bent in a spiral or it is a small bend - it does not matter. If caution is observed and all stages of work are performed in accordance with the rules, the result will meet the expectations.

Options for how to bend a copper pipe at home, there are many. Choose a specific method you need individually. If there is no constraint in the means, then the best option would be to purchase a pipe bender. Manual models are relatively inexpensive, but they are able to solve the necessary tasks.

Video

This video shows the process of mounting and bending copper pipes.