Making up a copper pipe fuel delivery system, that is. Any good hints and tips for the cack - handed ( besides don' t) - solder type, materials, anti - cracking coil?

PS : for sale - half a hundred weight of short lengths of mangled copper tubing...............

Ferg lad, if you don't have a tube bender you can give the freeze method a go, fill tube with water, squash both ends, put in freezer until frozen solid, then bend tube to what you want, cut off ends, let it thaw out and then fit
if all else fails I have a 6,8 and 10mm bender you can borrow if you come over to medway for it

Ferg, I tried some fancy pipe benders from work and made a complete mess of it. We usually use them on hydraulic pipe but they just squashed copper.

The best method I found was simply to work them gently by hand. I rolled my coil round an old Norton fork tube.. Are you using the correct annealed soft copper pipe ?

There was an earlier thread dealing with this.

http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3155626639&frmid=16&msgid=1211796&cmd=show

There will always be discussions over whether soft solder is strong enough. Ron and I have found it to be OK.

You do need to take a sufficient length to allow the ends to be cut off once you've bent the important bit. It's not possible to bend accurately close to the end of the tube.

A similar one to Bazzer's suggestion is to pack the pipe with fine sand and then bung both ends up. You've still got to take your time, but it helps to stop the pipe kinking as you bend it. Just make sure it's well packed in and properly washed out again afterwards.

I think you'd have fun getting sand down a length of 1/4" fuel pipe
I heat the pipe to red and chase it along with a blow lamp over the area I want to bend. While it's still warm and with welding gloves I gently role it round a large socket or piece of tube which is clamped in the vice. I only ever soft solder oil/petrol pipe fittings. In fact I have taken quite a few original old pipes apart that were soft soldered. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Ron, that polished carb ! You Tart ! How long have you been planning that ?

assuming its an m20 one you want ,Draganfly sell repro ones which surprisingly compared to some things I have bought from them actually fit

Not gravel Ron, fine sand, it's fairly easily done with a steady hand and one of the wife's small funnels from the set in the kitchen. Just make sure to wash that out properly too before you put it back!

Yes Bill I guess kiln dried sand like they use for grouting block paving could work. I've never tried it. My tube bending guy who does my handlebars and exhaust pipes uses resin which he then has to melt out after bending.

Rik the whole bike is polished Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Make sure that you are using proper copper brake pipe, not the cupro nickel alternative that they use for more strength as that stuff is a real pain to bend.

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

Thanks for all the replies, chaps. It's for a G 3L - did they use anything else in WW2? Sorry. Anyhow, lots of stuff to try out and scrap copper is still a good investment, I suppose.

There are cheap tube benders on the market and they work. Use the thickest wall tube you can get and soften the copper before you bend. To soften, you heat to cherry red then quench in water.

email (option): pvlietstra