Rolling Rectangular Tubing?

[donpearsall]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!
Pete - I want to roll it the easy way. Just put a smooth large radius bend in it. Since it is structural I was hoping to do it without kinking or caving.

Neil - if I can't find a good way to bend the rectangular tubing, I will have to use round tubing.

Don

[jdincau]

Art Morrison is near you in Fife. They bend rectangular tubing for their chassis business. They list 90 degree bends in 2 x 4 tube pieces in their catalog. Perhaps they might bend it for you.

[Rex Schimmer]

If you are using thin wall tubing, 049 or 062, then packing it with sand (weld a cap on one end, fill with clean sand, tamp the sand so it is completely full then weld a cap on the other end) should work as bending in the "easy" direction really should not take much force. You need some sort of bend block (pattern) to bend it around, like the guy in the vid. You may also want to apply some "blue wrench" to the 1 inch sides during bending as this will make them form easier and cause less stress in the long sides which will help prevent them from being miss formed. BTW what is the radius the you are looking for??

Rex

[38Chevy454]

Little late in a reply here, but I also recommend Art Morrison.  I had some 2x4 bent up (easy way) in large U-shape, to make the flatbed on my 49 Ford COE.  I think it is around 8-inch radius on the bends, but they nailed it dead on for the total width, and dead on for the 90 degrees at each bend.  I specifically wanted rounded corners and not mitered, since the rest of the truck body is all rounded.  This was before Art Morrison was offering stock 90 degree bends, but I wanted it one-piece U-bends for the front and back of the bed to be one length.  Biggest hassle was the 2 U-bends had to go truck freight due to size, shipping was a big portion of the cost.  Art Morrison's price for the actual bending was quite reasonable.  The bends are madrel net and all smooth.  No kinks, no crushing inner wall, no excessive die marks on outside, just a real nice smooth bend.

[wobblywalrus]

Sharper bends can be made by cutting a bunch of pie shaped slices out of the inside three walls and leaving the outside wall intact, then bending the tube till the gaps close, then welding the seams.

[floydjer]

Sharper bends can be made by cutting a bunch of pie shaped slices out of the inside three walls and leaving the outside wall intact, then bending the tube till the gaps close, then welding the seams.

That`s how I "bend" rec. tube for frame kick-ups over the axle. just don`t grind the welds flush...Inspectors will have a stroke.