Cheers,
In the course of preparing for the diesel, and hoping not to
change fuel lines every five years, I turned toward 3/8inch OD 3052 tubing
as an alternative. I had always admired the mystique of the choobender at my
elbow at the museum. His nimble fingers would fashion an intricate tubular
design in minutes. When he wasn't looking, I'd purloin a short length and
turn it into angular doodoo - not a desired skill. he caught me at it one
day and from then on he would turn away to produce some pleasing shape,
almost like the guy in the next stall.
The resultant shame left me bereft of self-esteem until it
became clear I would have to turn out something similar for myself. When I
dove into the "technology", I discovered many experts - the greatest of
whom guaranteed success simply by sending them out to the 'shop'. Several
others assumed leadership by espousing the frozen water centre, the salt
crystals centre and the sand centre methodologies - all unarguably the
finest. I bought an auto bender for $16 and produced some amazing shapes
none of which would pass kindergarten muster. However, the lust never left
me and having at last discovered the secret, produced my own in half an
afternoon. Since then I have been offering my skills to whomever turns the
corner on our short street.
Pride allows me to surf over casual rebuffs.
The secret is the 'walls'. You can bend this stuff over any kind
of surface you want, but it won't succeed until you find 'walls'. I refer to
the height of the sides of the pulley around which one forces the tubing. If
you can find a (in my case) 3/8inch rope pulley with sides exactly 3/8inch
apart, AND rising higher than halfway up the sides, these 'walls' will
prevent the tubing from deformation outwards and it will comply with the
bend - and not kink. My 'find' was in a large hardware (ironmongers) store
which carried ranchstyle hardware for gates and barns. There, amongst a
range of sizes was a substantial pulley (sheave) with an accurate 3/8inch
wheel with high sides. I bought two diameters of this model, drilled a soft
steel 1/4"x 1"x12" bar such that the wheel rims touched and my bender was
born. I can now bend with a light heart to either 1-1/2" radius or 1"
radius. Total cost was $7 plus too much tax Canadian, or about 17cents US.
Now if I can just succeed in puttiing the fittings on first, all will be
well.
If you were unaware of this breakthrough in Space tech, then my
mission is justified. If you already knew, why didn't you tell me before?
Ferg
A064
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