Fuel Line Bending - Doing a 180

[gpiney]

I've decided to fabricate my fuel and brake lines before skinning the Fuse on my -8. I have absolutely no problem getting a nice, 90deg bend. My problem is that I need to make some 180deg bends. I've tossed about 6ft of tube trying to get a decent, tight 180. one where there are no collapsed sections of tube. I've tried both springs (how do you get these suckers off?) and a cheap HF Tubing bender. The bender works reasonably well for the 90deg and less bends.

I need all the Tricks, Tips, and Hints you have. I have plenty of tube to destroy for practice.

Thanks in Advance,

[Chappyd]

I think the trick is to get the right tool

http://www.averytools.com/p-827-impe...fm-bender.aspx

This is similiar to the one I have. I can do about a 175 , take it off and just tweak it in and get a nice 180 no problem .

[shuttle]

Greg,

I was doing some of my fuel lines today. Long ago I bought one of these from Avery Tools and they do a pretty good job of 180 degree bends



http://www.averytools.com/p-828-impe...fm-bender.aspx

Steve Hutt
RV-7
West Sussex
UK

[Tony Spicer]

Originally Posted by gpiney

I need all the Tricks, Tips, and Hints you have. I have plenty of tube to destroy for practice.

Thanks in Advance,

I made this 180:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tonyboyt...01450446098130

with this bender from HF:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3755

Tubing was 3003-0 x .035 wall.

Tony

[dhammer]

Back in the big one, WWII, they employed many unskilled people to build airplanes. To form hydraulic lines they filled the tubes with one of two alloys called Wood's Metal or Field's Metal. They are strange alloys that will liquefy and melt at about 150 to 160 deg F (66 -71 C). After they bent the filled lines by hand to shape, they dropped them in hot water to melt out and recover the metal. The result was well shaped lines with no collapses made by unskilled labor.

Don

[gpiney]

Originally Posted by Tony Spicer

I made this 180:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tonyboyt...01450446098130

with this bender from HF:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3755

Tubing was 3003-0 x .035 wall.

Tony

Yup, same bender. Like I posted, it (with me operating it) does a good job on bends to 90Deg, maybe a little more. As soon as I go beyond 150, the tube seems to 'pull away' from the groove and partially collapse. I gotta be doing something wrong.

[chaskuss]

Originally Posted by gpiney

Yup, same bender. Like I posted, it (with me operating it) does a good job on bends to 90Deg, maybe a little more. As soon as I go beyond 150, the tube seems to 'pull away' from the groove and partially collapse. I gotta be doing something wrong.

Greg,
All the above posted suggestions will work. However, if you buy some 5052 tubing, your current bender will work fine. You will also have upgraded the quality of the material your fuel lines are made from and spent less than the $55 the Avery bender costs. I made all my bends with the same tool you have, out of 5052. You can buy 5052 from the local aircraft supply shop or get it from ACS. Not the only way to do it, just another way.
Charlie Kuss

[Tony Spicer]

What are the specs on the tubing you're using?

Tony

[chaskuss]

Originally Posted by Tony Spicer

What are the specs on the tubing you're using?

Tony

Tony,
Check out the links below. The first one shows how 5052 compares to 3003 (supplied by Vans)

http://www.mechanicsupport.com/tube_strength.html

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...mtube_5052.php

Charlie Kuss

[Tony Spicer]

Charlie,

The 3/8 3003-0 is good to 520 psi. My fuel pump will do 6 psi max. I'm comfortable with that.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pdf/20...l/Cat09068.pdf

The 5052 is more rigid than the 3003 and more likely to kink when not properly supported.

Tony