Further to Baggo's suggestion of a bar with a groove machined in it, If you put the bar in the vice and get two pieces of wood, one to hold against one end of the tube and the other to push it round the bar. Bending copper pipes also reduces the number of fittings used and although this probably would not make a great deal of difference to the DIY enthusiast as the cost of a pipe bender for 2 days is probably more than the cost of the appropriate fittings, it is important to a plumber who probably saves over 600 fittings in the course of a year. The handles (2) are opened wide which allows the hook (1) and the stay (3) to be in a straight line. Pipe springs can be used in pipes up to 22mm diameter but bending a 22mm pipe with a spring is a herculean task which none of us would attempt.

I was talking about this subject of bending small pipes only yesterday to an engineering friend. He was at the Harrogate ME show and was told that one of the ways to do it, is to anneal the copper pipe and then to fill it with molten lead. Do the bending and then melt out the lead. This way will prevent collapse and kinking of the pipe. Seems like a good idea. I will put this to the test myself when I get to my pipe bending bits. Hope this idea will help you. Bending pipes with a pipe bender is difficult. Its not actually difficult to bend the pipe, but bending the pipe in the right place is a different ball game. Working out the diameter of the bend and linking it to the place in the run where you want the bend to start and finish can only be done with practice and we would very strongly suggest you buy extra pipe to practice with. You will not see many plumbers using springs however as it is very hard to keep the bend neat and to the correct diameter. The formers are sized at different pipes sizes and are about 150mm long. Now, as you close the handle, the former pushes the pipe round the wheel former giving you a perfect, kink free bend. Hold the two pieces of wood close to the bar and the bend will start where it is meant to and not some distance away.

Another method is to machine a groove in a piece of bar, the groove width being the diameter of the pipe and the inside diameter to suit the radius of the bend. The pipe's simply bent around in the groove. Any recommendations please of a suitable tool? I have seen a Record 210 advertised, but no details of the minimum radius is given. I have a bender which will produce a 1" radius, but it would be useful if tighter bends were possible. The copper pipe is then placed under the hook across the top of the wheel former (5) and under the stay. When the handles are pulled together, the stay (3) which is attached to one of the handles, pulls the pipe down and around the wheel former creating the bend. Bending copper pipe can be done properly in two ways, ether a tool called a bending spring is used or a more substantial tool called a proprietary plumbers copper pipe bender is used.

It isn't too good for very tight radii,I resorted to the groove in a piece of bar method mentioned above when making new cylinder drain pipework.

Pipe springs are just that. Springs which go in pipes. Putting a spring into a pipe before applying pressure to bend it, will stop the pipe kinking. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time.