Has anyone bent their own exhaust pipes at home with a manual or hydraulic tube bender? I am having trouble finding one that will not crush this type of 2.5" pipe. Any suggestions?

 

Anything at a home shop is going to be a crush type bender. It is unlikely a hobbyist would pony up $25k (or whatever they cost) for a mandrel tubing bender.

Either find a shop with a mandrel bender, or buy a generic exhaust kit with various bends, and cut and weld your exhaust together.

 

The cheapest you are going to find is about $6,500 for a hyd. exhaust pipe bender. Bendpak makes one for that http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...FUWCMgod6kIAPw

 

I buy all mine here
http://www.mandrelbendingsolutions.c...nds/Categories

You can buy a lot of bends for the price of one machine.

 

The exhaust kit is a good idea. Any recommendations for a first time welder?

 

Thanks for the website suggestion. I need to learn and buy my first welder. Any suggestions?

 

I have put together tons of exhaust pipe with my Lincoln flux welder. If you have the cash I would get a Lincoln mig welder then use flux wire when you don't weld stainless pipe. Although I have welded a bunch of stainless pipe with flux and it worked just fine except the welds were not stainless.

I built this y pipe with bends from their website.

I would also get a chain style pipe cutter

 

Buy a mig welder and be done with it. Do not mess around with just a flux core.. Sure it can work, but mig is easier to weld with a welds so much nicer.

I recommend Hobart handler 140 amp mig. That's what I have and I love it.
I started out with a 90 amp flux core, used it for 10 years, yelled and threw things every time I welded.. Needed to put a roll cage in my car and NHRA says only mig or tig welds, so I went mig shopping.. Bought the hobart, rented a shielding gas bottle for 6 mo for $30 plus gas fill. After the 6 mo lease, I bought the bottle out right.

Made up a welding cart for bottle and welder to get some practiced with the mig. Then welded in my cage..

I love welding with this welder, I was looking for things just to weld. It will turn down to 25 amps and up to 140 amps as can use .023:, .030" and .035" solid or fluxcore wire. can weld sheet metal to chassis/frame/roll cages
Can use 1, 2 or 10 lb spools of wire (I keep a 10 lbs spool on mine)
Also has a 5/3/1 year warranty.

I had mine now for right around 9/10 years. Not a single prob out of it.

 

Why 2.5 in pipe ?

 

1985 350 cu in crate motor with stock heads, Weiand stealth dual plane intake and Edelbrock 600 square bore carb. My research shows that the engine needs some back pressure for low end torque. The Hooker headers have some crushed pipes, so I need to replace these also. Since its not for street, I plan to run duals with dynomax bullets that exit before the rear wheels.

 

Wow, need to find a good sale on Hobarts or Lincolns. They seem to have the best reputation around.

 

I like lincoln and miller the best, hobarts are also very good. My friend has this mig and loves it.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...isSearch=29999

 

[QUOTE= I plan to run duals with dynomax bullets that exit before the rear wheels.[/QUOTE]


Nice !

 

Just FYI... Hobart is made by Miller. My Hobart's torch/gun even has Miller stamped across the handle

 

Thats a pretty nice package deal. Thanks for the info.

 

I'm using a Lincoln 140 welder, it's great, runs on 120 (requires 30amp when used on higher setting or for longer beads), can either MIG or flux with it, you can buy a spool gun and TIG with it as well. I will likely never need another welder.

 

Thanks for the reply. Got some shopping to do!

 

Hobart and Miller are actually both made by the same parent company...whereas Hobart is geared more toward the at home DIY'er and Miller is considered more of a professional grade welder. Hobart is a great welder though. Can't go wrong with a Lincoln either. I've been using the same Lincoln 175 for over 15 years. Probably put 100 lbs of wire through it with no problems.

 

Thats good to know. I guess my decision will involve the thickness of metal I will need to weld, too.

 

Yes you need to think about all of it.
Power source (120 v vs 240 v)

duty cycle of welder (how long you can weld at once, non stop)
thickness of metals you will be welding... I like having the options of being able to weld thin sheet and thicker steel.

Wire spool sizes the welder can handle.. It's a lot nicer to be able to trow a 10 lb spool in the machine and not have to worry about it for awhile. The 1 lb spools always seems to run out in the middle of a project 15 min before closing time of the closest place that sells welding wire.

Ease of getting consumables for the welder (tips, nozzle, liner)

Company history/life.. You need to know 5, 10, 15 years from now can you get replacement parts for your welder.

 

We have an Eastwood 240v/175 mig with spool gun for aluminum, sheilding gas for mild steel, gas for aluminum. Learned how to weld with this welder and no complaints. Did my whole exhaust as practice and it came out damn good. No leaks.

Had it about 3 years now and have welded ALOT. Thick or thin, and room for the 10lb spools.

Night rider is correct, check availability and pricing on consumables before you buy. And all the other stuff he said too, lol.

 

I've seen allot of DIY mandrel benders..Even one made out of plywood and a rachet handle.. Built under similiar principles as the manual cable rachet winch.
The hardest part is finding the dies and making a proper mandrel for it.
Mandrels for the same sized pipe would differ based in the pipe gauge, a 13/14 gauge (Most common in exhaust shops) isn't the same ID as say a 18gauge, so you would need quite a few mandrels.

 

Just buy a mig then buy mandrel bent pieces and weld them together.

 

Well I got lucky. My boss used to work in a machine shop as a foreman. I was talking to him about the different types of welders, and he said you can buy mine. He paid $300 at Tractor supply for the Hobart Handler 125 mig and offered it to me for $150. Nabbed that right up. Should be fine to learn on doing exhaust pipe and auto sheet metal.