"Bending" exhaust pipe

[silverzx]

Any advice on how to get a slight kink into my straight mild steel 2.5" exhaust piping the pieky way?

I imagine putting in a massive clamp on a bench and pulling it with some rope/tractor would do the job?

Advice welcomed.

[Danny2009]

Cut a slit in the pipe, bend it to the desired angle weld the slip up jobs a gudun

[andyyy]

Cut a slit in the pipe, bend it to the desired angle weld the slip up jobs a gudun

This /\

[silverzx]

Makes perfect sense! Cut a slit, pull it with rope and a tractor, then weld it.

Been meaning to invest in a welder for time and have recently sold some bits on eBay so could probably afford one.

Can we settle once and for all which welder is ultimate for XUD customization.

Meaning what will do exhausts, turbo/manifolds, bodywork etc.

Gas is king, not electric, TIG, MIG or ARC. MIG is the noob friendly one right (and therefore the most suitable for me)?

[Danny2009]

Tig is for ally arc is shit

You want a gas mig welder I have a Clarke 90e got it second hand off eBay 5 years ago for £70 it will weld anything welded turbos to manifolds made exhausts saved me a fortune!

[Chris_90]

Tig is for ally arc is shit

You want a gas mig welder I have a Clarke 90e got it second hand off eBay 5 years ago for £70 it will weld anything welded turbos to manifolds made exhausts saved me a fortune!

This I got a Clarke 100e a few months ago welded all sorts on car turbo etc, seems to do the job great!

[anto]

Makes perfect sense! Cut a slit, pull it with rope and a tractor, then weld it.

Been meaning to invest in a welder for time and have recently sold some bits on eBay so could probably afford one.

Can we settle once and for all which welder is ultimate for XUD customization.

Meaning what will do exhausts, turbo/manifolds, bodywork etc.

Gas is king, not electric, TIG, MIG or ARC. MIG is the noob friendly one right (and therefore the most suitable for me)?

MIG with gas is a great all rounder. Its what i use for all my fabrication.
Ive done bodywork and also welded manifolds/ exhausts etc.
Try and get one around 160amp that should be enough for up to 4/5mm thick steel.

Its also relatively easier to pick up than arc.
Tig is too expensive for what you are doing.

Get onto mig-welding.co.uk for advice and tips about buying a wleder.

[simonh]

A good angle grinder (cheap ones aren't as smooth so harder to be really accurate) with a 1mm cutting disc, a gas mig and you can make pretty much anything. Can be surprisingly neat too when you get the hang of it. If you get some 10mm round bar you can make the hangers in the same way. Cut about 3/4 of the way through, bend it to the angle you need then weld up the outside of the bend.

For more complicated exhaust sections you can buy premade mandrel bends then just cut and weld to suit. If there's a friendly custom exhaust place near you they'll probably swage the ends for you so you can slide all the sections over each other before you weld them. This saves getting rough snottery bits on the inside of the pipe and also gives you a bit more adjustment when you're building the system.

[anto]

Old metal droplinks make good exhaust hangers

I never throw anything away and i havent bought an exhaust for any of our family cars since i got my mig!

[silverzx]

Nice one, cheers guys! So I need a gas MIG.

The plates I bought are 6mm, will 160 amp suffice for that thickness?

[anto]

Yeah you wont get full penetration on 6mm plate with 160amp but as the piece you are making isnt structural ie steel frame of a house etc, then you will be fine.

[Chris_90]

I got told that 100amp will do 5/6mm 160amp will be up to 10mm I've done more than 10mm with my 100amp one and it's holding fine!

[silverzx]

Ok sweet so minimum 160 AMP.

Now I need to get on GumTree, eBay etc.

[Frosty]

When i bent my exhaust that we had to make fit i just heated it up and bent it in a vice. That was just standard steel exhaust though. Maybe not the best way to do it but it does the job

[anto]

I got told that 100amp will do 5/6mm 160amp will be up to 10mm I've done more than 10mm with my 100amp one and it's holding fine!

That might be true for arc welding but mig is completely different.
Yes, a 100amp machine will do 5/6mm but you wont get full penetration through the steel. ie maybe only the first 2/3mm of the 5/6mm steel will actually have melted. You would need to cut a cross section through the steel to see how far the weld penetrated.

What was it you were welding 10mm plate on?

[Dum-Dum]

Depending on how much of a bend you want pack the pipe with wet sand and seal it then heat it till red hot with a blow torch and bend.

[welshpug]

you may well have stick some 10mm steel together with 100 amp, but you sure wont have got decent penetration of the weld with it.

[anto]

Ok sweet so minimum 160 AMP.

Now I need to get on GumTree, eBay etc.

I stumbled on a bargain mig welder for £45 as it wasnt working properly.
£16.50 fixed it lol
Old school English mig welder 200amp. RESULT!

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you may well have stick some 10mm steel together with 100 amp, but you sure wont have got decent penetration of the weld with it.

Agreed!

[silverzx]

Feel free to PM me bargains anyone stumbles upon haha!

[anto]

Feel free to PM me bargains anyone stumbles upon haha!

Silverzx - get yourself on to that mig welding site i posted earlier.
They have very good advice of what to buy, what not to buy and things to look out for.
They also have a good trader "weldequip" who sells all types of welding equipment. (Its where i bought mine) and also have a for sale section so you might find a bargain on there in your area from time to time.

Heres a decent new machine that seems to get good reviews;
Whats your budget?

http://www.weldequip.com/clarke-160tm.htm

[silverzx]

Ok Anto, I'll get on it.

Cheaper the better really.

£50-£100 (used).