Bending Aluminum Tubing

[zukiguy]

My son discovered an old Eureka Solitaire (tent) in the shed but it has some tiny fiberglass poles that are a pain to insert/remove (as are they always). I've got a variety of small diameter aluminum tent poles that would be a great replacement but I don't believe they'll survive a bend of that tight radius.

I had a bivy sack years ago that had a similar setup with aluminum poles but each section had a slight but permanent bend so they could make a smaller hoop. Any ideas how I can add a gentle bend to the pole sections without getting a kink? I'm leaning toward trying to just bend them over a 5-gal bucket or similar.

[subcanis]

you can try filling them with sand, then sealing the ends up with some tape. You should be able to get a a kinkless bend that way.

[Carrico]

you can try filling them with sand, then sealing the ends up with some tape. You should be able to get a a kinkless bend that way.

Thumbs-up

[Caminante]

I bent some 1/4" o.d. aluminum tubing with a cheap tube bent from Home Depot. Rick's method is probably better for a more gradual bend over the bucket.

[dirtwheels]

Sand is a solid method, check out the spring benders for thin wapl copper, it couldn't hurt to use both. A spring bender is just a longish spring that just fits over the tubing, old school and pretty cheap.

[Gqgeek81]

I've seen people recommend both sand AND the springs.
I have a set of springs for copper plumbing and another for much smaller tubing. I don't think I paid more than $4-8 for either set. Probably something that's safe to buy from Hazard Fraught Tools.

[rhjanes]

Drop by your local NAPA or "Good Old Boys" auto supply store....see if they can assist......sometimes they get interested and just do it for you! (They sell steel brake lines and often help people to bend those using the old line as a pattern).

[Caminante]

Meant to say "cheap tubing bender" in my post, like $13 at HD. Bends up to 3/8" and if you ever get into making pack stays it's perfect

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-Tube-...X074/204218599

I've also seen people make a template on a piece of plywood with nails or dowels. Set the nails/dowels in the shape you want, and slowly bend the tube into the form. Having the sand in would surely help.

You might want to bend them assembled into a unit to make sure that the ferrules still mate up correctly.

[TPole]

Brass musical instruments are bent smoothly by freezing water inside the tubes prior to bending. Would accomplish the same thing as the sand I suppose.

[Kalle Mandelstam]

Brass musical instruments are bent smoothly by freezing water inside the tubes prior to bending. Would accomplish the same thing as the sand I suppose.

Don't they crack from that?