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Applications · tube fabrication

Tube Bending and Tube Fabrication

Balford Technical Team

Bent tube carries fluid, gas or cable through a space that a straight pipe will not fit. Balford bends and fabricates tube assemblies for water, air, oil and hydraulic lines, from prototype to series.

What we bend and fabricate

Tube work is quoted from the drawing or from a sample line taken off the machine.

  • Water lines, air lines and oil lines for machines and equipment
  • Hydraulic tube assemblies and transfer lines
  • Small bore tube assemblies with end fittings
  • Tube frames, handles, spacers and bent wire forms

Capabilities

Repeatability comes from the tooling and the machine, so bends are set up rather than eyeballed.

  • CNC mandrel bending with bend angle and rotation held from the drawing
  • End forming: flaring, beading, reducing and swaging
  • Brazing and welding of fittings, brackets and bosses
  • Cleaning and pressure testing before packing when specified

Materials and control

The material is chosen for the medium, and the ovality is what most often decides whether the part works.

  • Copper, brass, stainless steel 304 and 316L, aluminium, carbon steel
  • Bend radius selected against the tube diameter to limit ovality and wall thinning
  • Bend angle repeatability checked against the drawing from the first off
  • Leak or pressure test and cleanliness level recorded for hydraulic lines

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