How to bend Brass Tubing.

The First step in bending brass tubing is annealing. We anneal a piece of metal by heating it until its cherry red! At home I use my gas stove. But a propane touch makes it a little quicker/easier.

Step 1

          It helps to be in a dimly lit kitchen when you do this. Place tubing in the flame on the stove (the stove was on but the camera flash made it invisible). Make sure to move tubing around and turn it within the flame. It will take about 2 minutes on the stove to get it cherry red. For demonstration purpose I used a short piece of tubing. To hold it, I put a fork in the end and held the fork with a place holder.

Step 2

          Once I have the area that I want to bend "cherry red", I immediately go to the sink and place under water until cooled off. It will turn a blackish color. This is not a problem. It can be buffed out with a dremel tool in the when your done this this process. Once annealing is completed the tubing will bend very easy. If it doesn't I repeat above.

Step 3

          When making 90 degree bends I use a piece of home electrical wire and place in into the tubing before bending it. The wire will stop the tubing from getting a kink in it. I take my time and work the tubing slowly. I always make a hook in the end of the wire. It makes pulling the wire out, all the easier!

          This is the finished product. With the annealing process I can almost make a pretzel out of it! When cutting the tubing, make sure to sand any shape edges. I had a sharp piece cut a hole in the rubber tubing of a boat. It took me two times to the pond to find the leak!

          Things to consider. If you don't polish the tubing, you will need to sand any part of it that needs to be soldered. The blackish oxidation will prevent a solid solder.

The above process involves open fire, this is for adults only.