Re: Steel Tube bender

"Bob La Londe"  wrote in message news:10nieak$1cc0q$1@dont-email.me...
There are guys who have made limited production plastic dies using 3D
printed parts sandwiched between steel plates.  I am 100% sure I can
make aluminum "cores" to sandwich between steel plates to do the same
job much stronger in a fraction of the time of 3D printing.  6061 would
probably last well enough for atleast a few dozen bends, and 7075 would
probably last long enough for hundreds if not thousands of bends.  I
have both on the shelf, but the 7075 WAS planned for "other" projects.
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I tested the compression strength of oak to 2000 PSI the weaker way when designing joist hangers. At 2000 compression was becoming slightly noticeable as a step at the edge. 2000# is the steel hanger rating, the expected load is around 500. The end grain is hard enough to make a decent shapeable anvil for hammering sheet steel. Around here pallets are made mostly from red oak of lower than lumber grade.
I made custom (steel) bender dies, I think by rotating the blank against a fly cutter set to the tube diameter. I cut wooden wedges by angling the fence on my 4x6 horizontal bandsaw and using a 6/10 blade. For a bending die the wedge angle needn't be exact, you could glue up two oversized halves and saw across the diameters.