[TowerTalk] Bending, Not Breaking Aluminum Tubing

[Tower (K8RI)]

Stuffs a lot easier to bend than straighten<:-))

Yes the sand, "or salt" works quite well with some limitations.

You can build a fixture similar to the one shown in some of the handbooks
for bending tubing except you don't want near the radius used for bending.

You basically need a block with a rounded grove to hold one end of the tube
and another as a bend point.  Possibly a third to apply pressure.   Getting
the bends located properly and the proper amount to straighten the stuff is
the tricky part.  I've never seen tubing whether large or small that had
been straightened that didn't look, ... well... like it had been
straightened.  I've seen some remarkable jobs done, but they had gone
through far more tubing than I.

Me? I'm happy if I can get it so all the bends average out to a straight is
some what squiggly tube.


Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com


> Folks,
>
> Someone drive their car over the KT 34XA a while back and bent some of the
> thicker elements.  (Near center of driven element, abt 1 1/2" tubing.  I
am
> tempted to use a vise, and or other stiff clamp and some armstrong to try
to
> straighten the elements, but dont want to break or kink them in the
> process...Once I heard of a trick of filling a tube with sand to support
the
> tube, and minimize chances of collapse under bending forces...Any ideas,
> tricks to bending antenna tubing without breaking?
>
> 73, de  Pat, AA6EG
> aa6eg at hotmail.com
>
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