Long story short I'm working with some coiled 3/8in stainless steel fuel line for the first time and it has proven to be quite difficult. Right now my piece of fuel line has waves in it like a bobby pin and is no where close to be being straight. I knew about tools that straighten out fuel line but had no idea they were $200++ That is out of the question, and after looking at pictures of them a little closer the simplicity of the tool doesn't look all that hard to duplicate I would think. I was thinking a piece of scrap steel plate or something along the lines of that. 5 wheels, not sure where I could find wheels with the slight groove in them like these tools use. Bolt 3 wheels on the bottom, then up top cut two slots vertically, bolt two wheels through the plate/slots. Untighten then tighten back up to adjust the height of the wheels up and down on the slots for whatever sized line you need to straighten. And just run the line through it back and forth. Could slap the tool in a vise to hold it for you while you run the line through it. Anyone think this crazy idea could work? I can't seem to find the kind of wheels with the little bit of groove in them that are used with the more expensive tool. Here are my Microsoft paint blue prints The $200+ tool
Another way is to get two straight 2x8 boards and lay the line in between them, then roll the line back and forth a few times.
Another way is lay the tube into the "V" of a piece of angle iron and run a soft wood stick down it a few times.
looks like you pretty much have it planned out. Just a thought....how about roller skate wheels. Wouldent be too hard to put them in a drill, lathe or what not and cut a groove in them. It would be nuts to spend that kind of cash on such a simple tool!
An old steamfitter trick is to clamp one side down, then clamp the othe side to the bottom part of a lever. Then pull like an old style parking brake. It stretches it out a bit as it straightens it. it also work hardens it a little and keeps it's shape. You have to take into account the waste where you clamp it. We used to use this trick mainly on coils of copper tubing, but it works on stainless too.
You can find the grooved wheels in pulleys isle at the hardware store. You could drill 2 holes in a 2x4 just slightly bigger than the od . Drill one thru the 1.5 way and one thru the 3.5 way. Pull the line thru short way then again thru long way. Should be pretty close to straight . Tighter the hole,straighter the line
Check post #336 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549153&page=17 My buddy built one. Matt
I think I've read about that when working with copper. Copper is a little easier to work with so didn't think much of it working on stainless steel tubing. Might have to give it a try. Another great option thanks. I wasn't even thinking of roller skate wheels, I was searching online yesterday and come how came across skateboard wheels, pretty bulky though so I didn't put any further thought into it. I've seen a few tricks done with copper, one was to clamp one side into a vise and clamp the other side with vise grips and then use a mallet to bang on the line to get it straight. Or heard of tying one end down to a pole or tree then other to bumper of a car and slowly pull on it ahah. I'll have to give it a look next time I'm at hardware store, thanks. Also like the idea of drilling some 2x4's All great suggestions fellas thanks.
@ mattrod68 or anyone else. Do you know what size line he was working with in that link you provided me? I was going to send him a PM directly but when I clicked his profile it says he hasn't been online in a while. Must have skipped past it cause I didn't see where he mentioned what sized fuel line. I ask cause those wheels he used, they are only offered in 5/16" wide. So I'm going to guess 5/16" line is what he was working on. Here are the wheels dimensions, I need the grooved part to be 3/8in for my 3/8in fuel line I'm using. 5/16" seems to be the standard for all sliding glass door wheels. I've found some that were 3/8" but they eneded up being plastic nylon ones Guess I'll have to purchase those ones and see how they work out with my larger line maybe.
I had to do some 3/8 steel line. I tried rolling it on the floor with a 2x4, didn't work for me. Wound up drilling a hole through a piece of oak 4x4, then feeding the line through right off the coil. You really straighten by hand and use the hole in the wood as a guide. If it goes through its pretty straight. Chris
you can buy straight tubing at mcmaster-carr and other places........... makes your work more professional
patio door rollers nylon pully from a garage door cable system various clothes line pulleys .. pulleys used in boating steering for outboards
For copper line, I used a tubing bender (two roller type) placed in the vice with just enough gap to run the tubing thru and straighten it. Couple of passes adjusting the gap smaller each time and my roll was now straight. Hope this works for stainless too! Similar in principal to the expensive benders, just less rollers it passes thru.
Looks like a piece of cake to make... Including the grooved pulleys... I could probably knock one off in a day if I had a Bridgeport and a lathe...
Garage door hardware. The pulley's/sheaves they use have a nice groove, bearings and are cheap. Thet make 3 different diameters, each has a different width and therefore groove. 3", 4" and 5". The 3 inch are available at every hardware store. The 4" are harder to come by but try at your local independent garage door company. Hope that helps.
When working with steel or copper tubing I stand on the end and unroll it against the floor. It comes out close to straight. Then I "correct" it by hand. If you want it perfectly straight do as above, then drill a hole in a 2X4 and drag it through the hole.
After hours of searching, all I came up with are high buck straighteners. $200.00. If I ran a shop maybe. No plans on the net so I guessed and made my own. First Home Depot, 3 packages of 1/4 wide door rollers, total about $20.00. Scrap from my shop (priceless). A couple springs and two 3/8 inch bolts, nuts and washers. I think the spacing is a little too wide, as it doesn't take the little waves out of my first try with a badly used 20 year old piece of junk. The nice new 3/16 Copper Nickel, worked perfectly. Very easy to use. I've tried to add 4 pictures, hope they work...
Local hardware store has inexpensive pulleys on the shelves for a few dollars each. 5 of them mounted on a good piece of 3/4" plywood would easily make a decent tubing straightener. If you wanted it adjustable for different sizes you can mount two of the rollers on a plate, and make the plate adjustable with a pair of slotted mounts in the plywood.
Found that I had other things to accomplish before having to worry about fuel lines. Well I'm back to getting fuel lines done and I have made the tube straighter as seen here. 64 Comet Build for Sema.....Its build time.... - Page 17 - THE H.A.M.B. Not sure who originally came up with this idea for a straighter cause I have come across a few other threads on different forums with the same design. Anyways with the suggested pulleys. Sliding Patio Door Replacement Roller, 1-1/8" Diameter Steel Ball Bearing Wheel, 5/16" Wide - Package - Amazon.com The tool would work with smaller diameter tube, but with 3/8in I would need different pulleys. Small scrap piece sitting in the rollers. The tubing is too big, I think for it to be effective the tube needs to be able to actually sit inside the wheels, not on top. I would need pulleys that look more like this, but these do not seem like they would have bearing centers in them. So the design would need to be changed and the wheel would need to be sandwiched like they are in the picture. The groove on these look like they would work with almost any diameter of tubing. They pulleys look like they have a similar groove like the $200 tool in the picture in POST # 15. The brake quip tool.
How about these? Almost all are available in 3/8" and larger. http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/sheaves/index.htm
Skate board wheels or the bearings out of them. Those clothes line type pulleys are available with bearings but I don't think you can get them at Homecenters or corner hardware stores.
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