Say 3/4quot; or 1quot; tubing? (not sure what the materical thickness is)Does it need to be heated for it to bend easily? How can I control how tight of a radius it will bend at? I'm talking about bending it to oblique angles greater than 120 or so degreesI just don't want to sacrifice the strength of the tubingAdvice?
You won't control radius without a formIf you look at commercially bent square tubing, you will find it has often been formed into a radius by using a male radius former to bend around, such that it collapses the inside wall of the tube in, so the outer wall and side walls will conform more easilyPicking a more ductile grade aluminium should help, as will using a large radiusYou could probably bend such tubing more readily using a radiussed square pipe bender formBut do expect some bulging of the side walls, and thinning of the thickness, and cupping of the outer faceThe best bending of irregular sections is probably achieved by machine bending using a shaped mandrel within the tube, which slides back as the tube is formed around its endBut that takes expensive equipment, and I think it may not work with aluminium, as it will tend to pick up on the mandrel too easily.
You won't control radius without a formIf you look at commercially bent square tubing, you will find it has often been formed into a radius by using a male radius former to bend around, such that it collapses the inside wall of the tube in, so the outer wall and side walls will conform more easilyPicking a more ductile grade aluminium should help, as will using a large radiusYou could probably bend such tubing more readily using a radiussed square pipe bender formBut do expect some bulging of the side walls, and thinning of the thickness, and cupping of the outer faceThe best bending of irregular sections is probably achieved by machine bending using a shaped mandrel within the tube, which slides back as the tube is formed around its endBut that takes expensive equipment, and I think it may not work with aluminium, as it will tend to pick up on the mandrel too easily.
