good skill to have?

pipe bending w/o pipe fill...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8mMQbEkr8w

Nice.

Practice makes perfect.

No fill, check again.

Id be smiling if I could do that!

Madnorton said:

No fill, check again.

Click to expand...

the original link description claimed no fill, but looking again I can see the ends taped off, meaning that it's likely filled with sand...

impressive regardless, and w/o a fancy pipe bending apparatus.

A close friend of mine was in business making 4 into 1 pipes for superbikes. Over a period he built about 4 mandrel pipe benders and sold them off to finance the next improvement. It is a bit of a black art, even using a machine. I don't believe their is any cheap way to make exhausts. Even buying bends from a specialist and welding them together is not cheap.

With all the money he wasted on torch gas, he could have BOUGHT a mandrel bender. A friend makes roll bars, brush guards, pipe bumpers and fender edges for rockclimbers. He has a simple manual bender that has different-sized dies and bends anything up to about 3 1/2" in diameter with no heat.

in the 1960's, New Zealander Ray Breingan was working in a small shop at the back of dealer Syd Mullarney's premises in Leighton Buzzard, England, making one off frames and exhaust pipes. Ray bent all his exhaust pipes by using a steel ball that he had welded onto a rod, and with this inside the pipe at the place where the bend was to be made, he heated the pipe to red hot on the outside of the bend, and worked the pipe into shape using the ball inside to keep the tube from collapsing. Obviously the ball was a reasonable free fit inside the pipe, but never the less, the finished bends were superb, without any ripples or creases.
This method may be well known in some parts, but Ray was the only person I ever say bending pipes this way.
Ray Breingan is unfortunately now deceased, but he and his son Peter were very active in Classic racing in New Zealand. Machine? Norton Dommie TT Replica!

The video below shows a guy bending a new exhaust pipe for a vintage bike with sand and plenty of charcoal for heat and the results look pretty good...
(FWIW experimented with sand bending for some MC racks I made, results were mixed and it was a PITA drying the sand, repacking after each bend, etc. Ended up buying a Ridgid hand bender for 1/2" tubing and it works great, better bends and way less trouble)

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cquCfvsvoq0[/video]