duct machine, shearing machine, press brake, bending machine

Introduction of Manual Bending Machine

There are various categories of tube bending equipment available on the market today. It is important a potential purchaser of a machine pay particular attention to required bending data and apply that knowledge to what is commercially available.  "Re-inventing the wheel" can be very time consuming and expensive. Tube bending solutions, when approached methodically, can be obvious and profitable.
 
The following is the main introduction of one of bending machine--manual bending machine:
The original method of manual bending began with human power.  Although bending a tube by hand is very economical, it is not conducive to higher production rates, quality or repeatability.

To counter the adverse effects of bending strictly by hand, basic die sets with a mechanical method of producing leverage were developed.  This increases the quality of the bend and the production rates attainable, as well as, decreasing the human power required.  Although machines have been built with the leverage to handle 2" pipe, hand benders are generally suited for 1" or smaller tubing.

Operation of this style machine requires that the operator place the tube in the tooling area at the proper bend position, actuate the tooling into position, and physically "pull" the machine mechanism to produce a bend. Basic machines have a single dial, gage or adjustable stop which serve as a guideline to produce the desired degree of bend.  When more than one bend per part is to be produced, the operator must index the part to the next bend point and repeat the process to the desired second bend angle.

Advanced hand bending machines have been developed which are capable of producing parts similar to those by much more complex equipment.  Systems have been devised to enable very accurate part positioning and to duplicate the method and quality of rotary draw bending.  Physical "hard stops" have been built by manufacturers or "rigged" by end users to accomplish this.  These advanced machines are significantly more expensive and utilize custom made tooling.  The fact remains that the power for indexing between the bends, rotating for plane of bend and producing the bend angle is provided by the operator.

The advantages of basic manual tube bending equipment are:
a: Low initial investment
b: Short lead times for machine and tooling
c: Simple to operate (if part configuration is unsophisticated)
d: Portable
e: Relatively safe to operate

The disadvantages of basic manual tube bending equipment are:
a: Maximum operator interface required
b: Limited capacity
c: Cannot be automated
d: Standard OD and CLR tooling is limited
e: Difficult to produce complex part configurations
f: Accuracy and repeatability in question

As a general rule of thumb, hand benders are best utilized for:
a: Lower volumes
b: Short runs
c: Small diameters 
d: Basic part configurations  
e: Low labor rates

Prototype areas, short run departments, job shops, remote location tube fabricating and situations where economical labor can be applied are all good applications for manual bending machines.