I need to make an exhaust out of 2" copper tube. Does anyone know of a place near Chicago that can bend it? about 6-9" radius . Or any experience of how to bend it? I'm thinking of annealing it. filling with sand, and then bending with??? thanks Mat
I use a HF hyd pipe bender, like you say, fill with sand make sure it is dry sand, I just use duct tape on the ends and heat till cherry red then bend makes real good bends for flathead cooling lines..........
You will need somebody with a mandrel bending machine. The same type they use for the bent tubing pieces you buy to make your headers, etc. You could also get steel bends with a slip joint and have it copper plated. Every chrome place can do that. And yes - why copper?
If using a traditional exhaust machine (radial die walking shoe) they may have to tinker a bit with the backpressure. Otherwise I could see some expensive tubing getting screwed up. With copper being so soft it could go two ways, the force may result in more problems with dimpling/die marks, or it could bend even easier than aluminized resulting in less die marks. Tough to say without doing it. I'd definitely investigate the claim above though. Hate to go through all the trouble to find your exhaust is going to try to kill you.
I have 2" dies for my tubing bender, but I've never tried bending copper on it. It's a JD2 hyd. bender for bending rollcages and the like. I have tried 2" exhaust tubing in it, but it's such thin wall and soft, that it wants to makes a series of kinks in the inner radius. Don't know what copper would do, and might not be a small enough radius for what you're doing. I'm in East-Central Iowa, about 4 hours from Chicago. Bud
"No, copper does not release toxic fumes. However, copper oxide will be formed (CuO, black), which is brittle and could generate particles. You dont want to breath them. My advice is to use a simple filter on the mouthpiece (if that is the case). Good luck! " Google is a bad mofo!
Sounds like this might be for one of 2 things, an Orange County special style "bike" ( A word very loosely used to describe the junk the OCC crew build) or for a Rodent Rod.
I also have a JD2 bender. I have not tried copper or exhaust tube in it though ... wonder if filling the tube with sand first (and capping with the temporary/expanding frost plugs) would allow it to create a smooth/wrinkle free bend. The JD2 certainly works great for roll bar tube (.134 or .125 wall) that I do know (without the need for sand).
Ive heard of recycling theives stealing cat converters ... and now copper theives swiping zoomies?? LOL
You may get more ideas if you provided more info. Can your system have joints, elbows, unions etc? Is appearance a factor? Are mandrel marks or die marks an issue? Copper comes in various degrees of hardness. Will you use hard copper like house plumbing, or softer stuff, like tubing? Years ago a friend of mine had access to large diameter tubing and built an exhaust system out of it. He mentioned how easy it was to bend, so it must have been soft tubing. He did mention that he drove it about a week and went back to make some minor adjustments and found that it had become very hard and unbendable, so unintended metalurgical consequences are possible. It may be prone to vibration cracks or premature fractures. Study what you want to do very carefully. Using copper for automotive exhaust may create some unexpected safety issues. Hope some plumbers or boat guys can address your project.
It's been used in the past for inboard boat setups. To bend it, I would sweat on a cap, then pack tightly with sand using a tamping rod then sweat on another end cap and go for bending it over any round form you have handy. I'd be concerned obout the soldered joints and high stress areas being vulnerable to the repeated routine of going from very hot to cold... Consider that you'd have a possible good base for sending the piece out for chrome plating.
First, I have not started the materials engineering course I want to take, so I am talking at least half out of my ass here. I do not think using copper pipe in exhaust tubing is a good idea. Reason one, chemistry Mr. Besty34 brought up toxic gases being produced when copper pipe is used as exhaust tubing. This may or may not be correct. I do know that catalytic converters using copper do produce dioxins, which are some of the nastiest compounds known to man. If the initial toxicity does not kill you, the cancer will. That said, the environment inside a catalytic converter is very different than that of a simple copper pipe. It is entirely possible that no dioxin would be produced. Or lots of dioxin. I am fairly confident that the small amounts of sulfur present in exhaust gas will interact with the copper of the pipe, producing copper sulfides. Copper(I) sulfide is stable at the high temperatures associated with exhaust pipes, but should it be exposed to oxygen it will produce sulfur dioxide, which can certainly ruin your day. Hot copper will definitely oxidize, this can be toxic and will not be very pretty. Reason two, metallurgy. Copper weakens rapidly when exposed to heat, your pipes fail catastrophically or simply fall apart. All the sulfides and oxides described above will definitely weaken the pipe, possibly leading to a failure. Reason three, why? Why do you need to use copper for the exhaust when steel and cast iron are commonly used alternatives. If you desire the aesthetic effect you may want to look into getting the pipes plated at a chrome shop. Often times copper is clad onto steel, then nickel, then chromium. Stopping at the copper stage would produce the desired finish, though I doubt it would be very durable.
Copper tubing is sized by the inside of the tubing. Exhaust tubing is sized by it's OD. Copper won't fit exhaust bender dies. Hard copper actually bends very well if you have the correct sized bender. I've bent a lot of 1/2" copper with the proper tool... a big hand bender. The tubing measures 5/8" on the outside. Plumbers called it 1/2" Fitters called it 5/8"....same tubing. I've never heard of anyone bending 2 1/8" copper tubing. I knew guys that used copper in the 60s. I was a steamfitter. One guy made his own 100% copper exhaust including glasspacks with 2-3"X2" reducing couplings. It looked like shit IMHO Unless you are stealing the materials from your employer, the cost is gonna be up there and you are limited to using costly fittings that look like shit to my eye and have very sharp restricting radii. The only advantage is that it doesn't rust. I know of some aluminized tubing exhaust systems that have lasted over 30 years and still look good. He's replaced the mufflers more than once but the tubing is still going strong.
Holy shit the question was how to bend it, not weather it would keep your grandchildren safe, been doing it for years see....... this is 1 1/2 but have also done 2"........can't do real sharp radius but have done many flathead lines.......
Try a 3 wheel bender (tube rolling machine). About $179 at Hater Freight. That way you can slowly increase the bend pressure. Probably going to take some practice/ F ups, but I don't see any reason it wouldn't work. You may have to customize or make the correct dies. They'll need to fit the tubing pretty closely.
Like I said I may be wrong ,just trying to help - I wouldn't want someone poisoning themselves or their family
I still would like to know the reasoning for wanting to run copper tubing outside of having a stack of it available or wanting to build the king of rat rods. I've seen it use on inboard wooden power boats from the 50's and earlier but that was more because it didn't rust like steel would.
Everytime someone here wants to do something out of the ordinary,everyone starts with the "You'll shoot your eye out with that, kid " shit. It doest matter if its compressor tanks, red fuel lines , or copper exhaust. What a bunch of grandmothers!
I think that we got all this poising thing wrong, moon shiners have been using this stuff for years and the stuff that comes out of it tastes pretty good!
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