Bender idea

[suzuki2stroker]

hey, im looking for some ideas on making a tube bender that will bend some ALUMINUM tubing. the biggest tube i would bend would be about 1-1/4" 1/4" wall 6000 series.

i was wondering if i could just spin up some hardwood dies on a lathe and work with that? i dont want the aluminum to get scratched to hell, so the wood would help that way.

nothing needs to be too exact, but i'd like to to be close as i need to weld it. what im doing is making some wheel guards for when we race our dirt bikes on the lakes. tire screws can be nasty you know..


thanks
Dave

[may pop]

With a wall that thick you could use an electrial conduit bender. 1"heavywall measures1 3/8" 11/4 h.w. measures 1.5". both are available in hand or hyd. The radiias is larger than a tubing bender but will make a nice bend in thinner aluminum conduit. Try to borrow a bender from an electrian to do this project.
Ron