Monday, August 11, 2008

Der-Fender-Bender

At Worlds of Fun there is a bumper car ride called "Der Fender Bender". For some reason I'm calling this, that.

This, "that" which I speak of is a tubing bender. First we need to know the radius.


Then we need two pieces of plywood, or something that will work.


Then draw the inside and outside radius on the pieces of wood. And screw these two pieces of wood together.


The trick now it to cut the radius at an angle. I'm able to adjust my circular saw to cut at a 45 degree angle.



Now flip one of the pieces so they will cradle the tubing.


Strap on end down and start bending.

That's a piece of 1-1/8" tubing that did not bend. infact it cracked to wood where it's strapped to. For steel like this I need stronger wood, but it works perfectly for my 1/2" (Pictures to come).

3 comments:

dmar836 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dmar836 said...

That fiberboard or even MDF is pretty weak structurally. I would try hardwood and/or fill the "v" with epoxy and trowel/sand it with tubing to get a tighter fit. Plate steel or steel strap on the outside edges might help too. These wood forms are limited to large radii.
I have a 1 1/8" die for my stand up conduit bender if you need it. The die could be used alone in a vise. I also have a JD-2 but with only the 1 1/4" die so far.
Dave
Olathe

CurbDestroyer Chronicles said...

I was able to bend the 1/2" with it. Yea I figured it would crack or break, I just wanted to test it to see what would happen and what is possible.

Hopefully I get it done tonight (8/13). I've got one side done and now I have to match the other side.