View Full Version : Bending PVC
How do you do this? Not Fish Related but I want to put a bell end on my didgeridoo and don't know how.
A picture of what I mean by bell...
http://www.sunreed.com/images/flareddidgelineup.jpg
cvermeulen
04-04-2008, 5:14 PM
Heat!
Adam-011
04-04-2008, 5:39 PM
lol Digeridoo
kusojijii
04-04-2008, 5:50 PM
To practice, lay a length of "throw-away" one-inch diameter (or less) PVC pipe, about 3 feet long on a flat surface... garage floor, sheet of plywood or whatever. Turn the heat gun on high, place the "business end" about an inch, or thereabouts, from the section of pipe you want to heat. Slowly turn the pipe and move the heat gun back and forth 3 or 4 inches in each direction. Be sure to wear a good pair of leather gloves. You'll see that, in just a minute or so, the pipe becomes very malleable. Turn off the heat gun, pick up the pipe and slowly bend it to the desired shape.
WeeNe858
04-04-2008, 6:09 PM
do what kuso just said. but use a ball to spread the end out to get a flare going. youll have to heat the edges more to allow the spread.
cvermeulen
04-04-2008, 6:48 PM
Using What?
Heat Gun, Oven, Element, Torch, Whatever. Any way you do it, you'll have to do a test/practice piece first. Properly heated PVC will be like stiff play-dough, but you'll have to do some messing around to find that happy medium.
fishdance
04-04-2008, 7:45 PM
You will need a mold or something of the same shape to bend the pipe around. It doesnt have to be an exact mold, using several different objects to get the total desired shape will work. Luckily what you want seems easy, a wine bottle perhaps ....
One suggestion is to heat slowly in a large area, not rapidly in small areas. Its easy to burn PVC pipe but practice will help. When the pipe starts to bend, you will still need to continue heating till it is mallable.
You can also have a bucket of water to cool the pipe if your desired shape is tricky.
Dan Feller
04-04-2008, 7:51 PM
I have used a heat gun to bend pipe, but it is easy to burn it. Boiling water works too.
It helps to have a rag soaked in cold water to harden the pipe when you get it the way you want it. Like Kusoji said, practice with some scrap pieces first.
Have fun making strange sounds... :)
jamey0615
04-04-2008, 7:57 PM
I used to build whirlpool systems for bathtubs. You need to build a long wood box closed on the end to put the pvc in to heat it evenly or you will just put a kink where the pipe is the hottest. Leave one end open to place your heat gun, and place a small vent at the other. Heat the pipe to the desired temp and bend. Oh, and don't place the gun too close to the box or it will melt.:grinno:
mosthated
04-04-2008, 8:05 PM
what is a didgeridoo?
An Austrailian Instrument.
I have used a heat gun to bend pipe, but it is easy to burn it. Boiling water works too.
It helps to have a rag soaked in cold water to harden the pipe when you get it the way you want it. Like Kusoji said, practice with some scrap pieces first.
Have fun making strange sounds... :)
So if I have a boiling pot of water and I dip the end into it long enough for it to become flexible then I can push a wine bottle into it and have a good bell? Sounds too easy. How do you cut PVC? Will home depot/ lowes do it for me?
Bderick67
04-04-2008, 9:57 PM
This will be rough to do. You will need to strech the pvc thinner to expand the end. One thing if you get PVC pipe for electrical, one end will have a bell built into it. This is already expanded larger then the rest of the pipe and may help.
This will be rough to do. You will need to strech the pvc thinner to expand the end. One thing if you get PVC pipe for electrical, one end will have a bell built into it. This is already expanded larger then the rest of the pipe and may help.
That would be alot easier.