The main shaft of a pipe bender is MADE OF BEARINGS? Seriously?!
DIY pipe bender shaft without a lathe. How to make a bender shaft. Is it worth bothering with bearings? One of my channel's viewers, Alexey, suggested an idea that at first seemed downright ridiculous to me.
DEAR VIEWERS, THE EXPERIMENT WAS A SUCCESS: • ЛУЧШИЙ вариант для трубогиба без токарных ...
Judge for yourself: take good bearings and barbarically weld them onto a rod. What kind of gibberish would that be? And with a polished, slippery surface, no less...
However, this thought has stuck in my head like a splinter. And it still torments me. Let's put emotions aside and try to find the advantages of this design together. I would be grateful for your comments and opinions. If I find the topic interesting, I will definitely make such a shaft and conduct the experiment with a video report.
So:
1. Cost. For my wide shaft, designed for two pipes, I'll need six 204-mm bearings at $0.60 each. A meter of 20mm steel round stock is about $3 at the market. Roughly speaking, you can get a shaft for $4-5.
2. The geometric parameters of such a shaft will be close to those of a lathe, and it will require less time and labor than a "matryoshka" shaft.
3. A polished surface. Well, that's not a problem; we'll figure out how to roughen it up.
4. That's a real question. I know from personal experience that the bearing is welded with a regular electrode, and that its strength is sufficient for good loads. But what will happen to the bearing after such a beating? Its metal will lose its hardness due to tempering, and the geometry will be distorted due to deformation. Is it really that bad? Is such a shaft suitable for a pipe bender? I think so.
If your reactions, friends, indicate that this is an interesting topic, I promise to make a detailed video about making such a shaft and test it on the universal pipe bender you're already familiar with in the future: • ТРУБОГИБ УНИВЕРСАЛ своими руками Чертеж Ра... . If the experience is positive, then the idea is viable. If not, no one will have to make the same mistake twice. So, I look forward to your reactions, friends.