bending pipe with o/a?

[chipmonk010]

hi guys new here and to the welding world! i already have lincoln 225 stick and im planning on getting an o/a setup and i would like to be able to bend exhaust pipe for my truck. can this even be done with o/a? pipe will be no larger then 2 1/2 " od and the walls sample piece i got from the muffler shop was pretty thick maybe like 7/64" i dono for sure but a little less then 1/8". anyway i asume i would need a rosebud tip for this and if so what size would u think? i would like to know this before i buy so i can plan my tank sizes accordingly. money is an issue seeing as im 17 with a low paying part time job but with o/a im willing to spend whats needed to be safe. (ie im not going to get a plumbers tank and throw a #12 rosebud on it)

a link to a victor rosebud flow chart would be great also

thanks for any advice

btw if learned a ton just lurking in this forum very nice community!
Chris

[cope]

Victor is owned by Thermadyne, and you should be able to get a tip chart on their website. I got one free from a welding supply years ago. It has cutting, welding and rosebud size/regulator settings.

You could bend the pipe with O/A but you might be better off paying an muffler shop to do the bends for you.

[Mike W]

chipmonk, you can buy exhaust tubing short bends in 45, 90, and 180 degrees. With those and some straight pieces, you can oxy/act weld a custom exhaust setup. I used to do that before I saw it on TV. You can make a slight bend by heating the tube, before you have a piece of scrap.

[hankj]

You won't be able to make a significant bend n any tube without a "shoe" of the same width as the tube to support the tube in the bend. Anything else will result in the tube folding at the bend point.

It's either Cope's or Mike's suggetion, or buy a bender!

Hank

[chipmonk010]

ive seen these prebent pieces and its probably a better way to do it, i was just wondering if it would be worth trying to bend and if so what tip i would need. i know today everyone uses mandrel benders but was just wondering if people still use o/a for such things. and of course if i need a huge tip its not worth it. just curious really.

thanks for the quick responses

Chris

[Mike W]

You can bend say a 2 by 1/4" flat bar with a fairly small tip. Heat bending a piece of exhaust tubing will cause so many kinks that it would cut down flow. They used to bend large pipes that way with a come along and a couple of weldors pouring on the heat.

[cope]

You can bend say a 2 by 1/4" flat bar with a fairly small tip. Heat bending a piece of exhaust tubing will cause so many kinks that it would cut down flow. They used to bend large pipes that way with a come along and a couple of weldors pouring on the heat.

Filling it with sand might reduce the kinks, but I can think of a lot of better things to do.

[Mike W]

This is a little too big for your use but it is kind of interesting.
http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac....ingMachine.htm

[Karish]

Wish I had know about that last year when I drove through Canada. I would have tried to get a tour to see that baby!

[chipmonk010]

This is a little too big for your use but it is kind of interesting.
http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac....ingMachine.htm

now that is cool! that looks like 2ft diameter pipe!

i totally forgot about the possibility of pinching looks like u guys are right guess its either have the muffler shop do it or use pre-bent pieces thanks for the help and quick responses.

Chris