Bending 22mm copper pipe

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've not heard that before. The common way was to use sand.

[George]

I'd like to know how you manage to get ice in the copper pipe? sure we can fill it with water and freeze the pipe,but how do we freeze the pipe? unless the guy has a large freezer that'll accept a lenght of 4ft piping?

Hardly a practical way is it Dennis.

Sand packed into the pipe was the norm of keeping kinks out of the bend.

[dennis]

It doesn't work as well as freezing the ice in the pipes but YMMV.

He could just buy a 22 mm bending spring. 8-)

[dennis]

Its OK george is andy in disguise.. he doesn't think anyone would buy off the peg curtains. I wonder who the shops sell them to.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you try bending an icicle it breaks. Unless you had some way of making the ice a powder, bending a pipe with ice frozen inside would probably just fracture it?

Present day copper tube doesn't bend so well using a spring - even when annealed. The walls are too thin.

[dennis]

That's what the detergent is for, makes crystals rather than crystal.

I know. 8-( Anyone want a second hand spring (if I can find it).

[Andrew Gabriel]

I've done that with 28mm copper pipe (not having a 28mm pipe bender, and HSS having a long waiting list for the two they had in South of England). It worked very well. I got the idea out of an old book I have on working copper. The other way used in the book was to fill the pipe with molten lead and cap the ends so it can't leak out. Sounded rather messy...