I like to review new tools that I get and this one is no different. Recently I received the DU-BRO tube bending tool for annealed brass tubing. At first I was a bit skeptical as I have seen many supposed tools for bending tubing, most require a bit of finesse to truly make them worthwhile.
I am happy to say that when it came time to bend some 1/8th inch brass tubing for my model airplanes fuel tank breather line, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. It made any bend that I required. I could even place the tubing back in the tool and bend it a little more to accommodate my needs. There were no kinks or caved in walls in the brass fuel tubing. It was a clean and smooth bend. This bending tool is a great addition to my arsenal of rc airplane building accessories.
How Does The RC Airplane Bending Tool Work?
It uses two handles (lever arms) that are hinged to a mounting plate that holds a machined brass roller (this is not hardened, so make sure your tubing is annealed before using it). Your tubing rests in a tube itself that rests your brass tubing on top of the roller. Now you simply push the handles together until you achieve the correct bend for your rc building project. The result, no more kinked tubes, caved in tubes or scrapped brass tubing. You can be a beginner rc hobbyist and still get it right the first time. Say goodbye to filling tubes with sand or attempting to bend it by hand (or one of my favorites, filling a tube with water and freezing it). Go forth fellow hobbyists and confidently bend tubing to your hearts content.
TIP: Need to anneal your tubing (some tubing you purchase will be hard). Annealing needs to be done with care (and only to the area where you want to make the bend. Brass will anneal in a few seconds when it reaches a temperature of 800 degrees (just until it glows red). The brass tubing would then need to be quenched in a water bath to quickly cool the metal. This removes the stresses created when the brass tubing was extruded in the factory, ultimately softening the metal and making it more workable.
In the video below I review how the tool works and show some results of bent tubing that came out really perfect. I believe the best tools are the ones that take the simplest approach and the DU-BRO tube bending tool is no different. You cannot get much simpler than two levers and a pivot point around a brass roller. This simple design lends itself perfectly to making tube bending a breeze for any of your rc airplane projects requiring this product.