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Casey

Scratch Building Stacks

Question

I have made several attempts at bending aluminum tubing to but have been unsuccessful in doing so without getting a flat spot in the bend.  Can someone share a method that works or suggest and alternate material/procedure?

--Casey

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Any suggestion on which one I should get?  I have bought several over the years but have yet to find one that will bend a small enough radius.

 

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unfortunately you wont get a scale radius without kinking.the inner has to shrink the out has to stretch.the best option is to get plastruct tubing and elbows then foil or alclad them

That was what I was beginning to think.  I bought some Alclad a while back but I have been afraid to try it. 

 

 

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Filling it with sand is a technique used in the tube bending industry but it can be hard to do on our scale models.

I find a piece of round plastic rod that fits snug inside the tube, it doesn't have to be very tight, but the tighter the better. Let the insert exceed the tubing and you should be able to pull it out after the bend is done. You may need some good pliers to pull the plastic rod out of the aluminium tube, that's why you don't want your insert to be overly tight.

 

Beerz, Felix

 

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Filling it with sand is a technique used in the tube bending industry but it can be hard to do on our scale models.

I find a piece of round plastic rod that fits snug inside the tube, it doesn't have to be very tight, but the tighter the better. Let the insert exceed the tubing and you should be able to pull it out after the bend is done. You may need some good pliers to pull the plastic rod out of the aluminium tube, that's why you don't want your insert to be overly tight.

 

Beerz, Felix

 

I will be giving that a try!  Thanks!

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For my Pete 388 I did the exhaust tips only; styrene piping, filler and BMF. More like a wing and a prayer, but it worked...

DSC04313.JPG

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Filling it with sand is a technique used in the tube bending industry but it can be hard to do on our scale models.

I find a piece of round plastic rod that fits snug inside the tube, it doesn't have to be very tight, but the tighter the better. Let the insert exceed the tubing and you should be able to pull it out after the bend is done. You may need some good pliers to pull the plastic rod out of the aluminium tube, that's why you don't want your insert to be overly tight.

 

Beerz, Felix

 

I've done this with plastic rod instead of tubing, what I do is leave the plastic in the tube. I'll leave a little sticking out past the bend so I have a "mounting pin" for the stack- the plastic tube will either slip into a hollow pipe under the cab, or I'll use a short piece of tube to connect it to a solid kit exhaust pipe. I will say I've had mixed results, but I'm totally willing to admit that might be because I'm doing something wrong. :)

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Casey  i use the big plastic coat hangers , cut them to how ever long I need them ..THen heat up where my elbow needs to be and slowly bend them .. Drill the top out and chrome them  . its a very cheap way of making pipes 

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I like to use drinking straws from Culver’s or Arby’s as they are bigger bore and close to a 8 or 10 inch stack. McDonald’s for smaller diameter stacks. Then I use Plastic (Evergreen or Plastetruct) to make the elbows and foil or paint them. 

B559A5DB-C58B-4B6D-8EF6-9539873E594B.thumb.jpeg.51c11494197e2165ff06dfd707762470.jpeg

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