Bending steel frame tubing, rather than welding two pieces

[jmedclay]

I'm thinking about making a modified A-frame and am interested in bending the steel rails about 20 degrees, rather than welding the tongue to the side rails. It will probably be 1-1/2" x 3" x 1/8" steel tubing. I can't cold bend it but could heat it with a rosebud. Anyone know if that can work, or if will just flatten at the bend and be unusable? Any tips for making this process work well? What I have in mind is here:

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... c&start=30

[CarlLaFong]

Why don't you just pie cut the tube, bend it and weld it up?

[jss06]

It can be done but the best way to get it right and not weaken the tube would be a tubing bender using square dies.

I think the easiest would be the pie cut referenced above. This will leave the outer web intact and the weld would be agruably stronger then the steel you cut out.

[Yota Bill]

The problem with bending it is that the outside sretches, so that wall becomes thinner. I would angle cut it, weld it togethor, and then fish plate and/or gusset it.

[angib]

Some small fiberglass trailers used bent rectangular tubing to make an A-frame. To make enough of a bend, the inner face had to be seriously distorted and fractures at the bend were a problem.

To make a bend that didn't distort the inner face would require a very long, sweeping bend - say over a foot long - and some serious equipment.

I think a professionally welded joint is better.

[gww25]

What other have said is good advice. Cut a segment and then cold bend to the desired angle. Heat bending any tubing jusy creates a 'brittle' spot in the material that will eventually fail. No need to ruin some good tubing trying to take shortcuts. You don't want things coming apart as you're rolling down the roadway.

[eamarquardt]

I looked around in the Los Angeles area to have 2X3 tubing bent the "easy way". As I recall I found one place with the proper dies and it would have been expensive (as I recall a couple hundred bucks or more).

Since then I was at a metal supply that catered to the wrought iron trade and they had a "tubing roller" that the wrought iron guys use to bend their tubing. It was about $300 so it wasn't a tool I needed to add to my collection. It was pretty simple and would probably work but it would produce a relatively large radius bend. I put an abrasive blade on a radial arm saw to cut the pie section out of the tubing. You could also use a grinder with an abrasive blade and do the cuts freehand after laying them out.

Sooooo, my "suggestion", if you really don't want to cut, bend, and weld (as I eventually did) seek out a wrought iron company and see if they can roll the bends for you.

Cheers,

Gus

[jmedclay]

Thank you all for the information. Lots of good ideas. I'll cut/weld/reinforce. If my welding isn't up to scratch I'll have a professional do it.

I'm still in epoxy sanding purgatory (encapsulated the cabin in glass & epoxy), so the trailer is a little ways out, but the design and methods are starting to gel.