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Sometimes you need to bend wire or tubing with some precision but not enough to justify the purchase of a professional tool. In true "ghetto" fashion I built the majority of this out of scraps. The exception is the bending spring which maintains the integrity of the tubing shape (i.e. limits collapse of the tube at the bend).
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I'm bending some 1/4" soft copper tubing in a semi-precision bender to make elements for a homemade antenna. I tried to bend them by hand with and without the bending spring but the results were less than spectacular, not easily reproducible and it was time consuming to say the least.
Tube bending springs are available at most hardware and/or building supply stores and are used internally or externally to maintain the round shape of the tube near the bend. If springs can't be had for some reason or another the center element of the bender should have a grove in it to provide a uniform pressure on a greater area of the tube wall.
If you plan to bend wire, no springs or groves are necessary. Keep in mind that a bender will be made for a certain diameter and will need to be changed each time you want to bend a different size wire or tube. This is NOT a pipe bender. If you need one of those, this will not likely meet your needs.
Tube bending springs are available at most hardware and/or building supply stores and are used internally or externally to maintain the round shape of the tube near the bend. If springs can't be had for some reason or another the center element of the bender should have a grove in it to provide a uniform pressure on a greater area of the tube wall.
If you plan to bend wire, no springs or groves are necessary. Keep in mind that a bender will be made for a certain diameter and will need to be changed each time you want to bend a different size wire or tube. This is NOT a pipe bender. If you need one of those, this will not likely meet your needs.
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Suggestion: Instead of lines on the base, how about holes drilled in the base, and a nail stuck into the holes as a stopper. Make the hole big enough that the nail slides in and out by hand, but small enough so that it doesn't rattle around in there.