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Built A Side Bender
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:11 pm
by twenty2late
That was fun...for a couple hours ;-)
Re: Built A Side Bender
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 5:22 am
by MaineGeezer
What is the heating element?
Re: Built A Side Bender
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:55 am
by twenty2late
It uses a 500W cartridge heater that is surrounded by 20ft of aluminum flashing. The plans to build it are in the book in the pic.
Re: Built A Side Bender
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 4:40 pm
by rcnewcomb
Is the pipe galvanized? There may be a health risk due to toxic gasses released when heating galvanized metals:
Metal fume fever
Re: Built A Side Bender
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:45 pm
by twenty2late
It is galvanized...because that is all I can find. After a little research, it looks like the concern is mainly for welders who liquify the metal. Most sources state it is fine up to 700°F. I plan to be at 400 max. I'll do some outside testing first to be safe. Does anyone else have advice on this? Thanks for the heads up!
Re: Built A Side Bender
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 7:55 am
by MaineGeezer
I doubt you need to worry about fumes. The surface finish may be more of a problem. I might be inclined to take some abrasive roll (the stuff plumbers use to polish copper fittings) or something similar and try to polish the surface so it is very smooth. I would wear a dust mask while doing so, to avoid breathing the zinc dust.
Re: Built A Side Bender
Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:17 am
by Sunset
Pablo Requena has a great youtube video on he made his bending iron using only a light bulb as a heating element. Very interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-py9FGK ... 6s&index=1