Stainless steel tube bending

Are you looking for a company that specialises in complex metalworking, such as stainless steel tube bending? At Vogel Tube Bending, we have more than 50 years of experience across every type of bending work. Round tubes, square and rectangular hollow sections, oval and flat-oval profiles, HOP profiles, cabin profiles, flat steel, angle iron and U-profiles: we have all the knowledge and experience in house to bend stainless steel tubes into any conceivable shape.

We also place great value on developing and improving our techniques and processes. For this we have a uniquely equipped laboratory with the most modern tools and methods, giving us clear insight into the results of our current production processes.

Because we have a unique, modern machine park with nine CNC mandrel bending machines, we can bend all ferrous and non-ferrous materials into the most complex geometries. So stainless steel tube bending is no problem for us at all.

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Bending stainless steel tube is a craft of its own

Bending stainless steel tubes is a craft of its own. Stainless steel is an extremely strong, corrosion-resistant steel. These properties, combined with the premium look of stainless steel, make this type of steel suitable for many applications. A stainless steel tube, however, is far harder to bend than tubes made of copper, aluminium or other types of steel. This is because one of the characteristics of stainless steel is that the material becomes tougher as it is worked.

With stainless steel it is also very important to prevent contamination of the tube during the bending process. Particles such as soot or iron that stick to the surface can cause local corrosion. In short, bending a stainless steel tube really is a precision job.

Cold bending stainless steel tubes

If you want to bend a stainless steel tube, it is important to do so by means of cold mandrel bending. Metal is often heated so that it can be bent. Heating stainless steel, however, has many drawbacks and should therefore be avoided. When heated, stainless steel can become prone to intergranular corrosion, meaning corrosion that forms along the grain boundaries. On top of that, heated stainless steel is more likely to develop cracks and kinks during the bending process.

In mandrel bending, the pressure on the tube is partly absorbed by a flexible mandrel that we place inside the tube. This is unlike ordinary bending, where pressure comes only from the outside. Cold bending a stainless steel tube with a mandrel bending machine keeps the tube from flattening or going oval. It lowers the risk of cracks. And it prevents problems such as kinks and unsightly folds in the bends.

We can bend stainless steel tubes into any shape

At Vogel Tube Bending, we have nine dedicated CNC mandrel bending machines for jobs such as stainless steel tube bending, with a bending capacity from Ø4 mm up to Ø168.3 mm. This lets us bend almost any wall thickness, up to a maximum section modulus of Wb 140 cm³. When bending stainless steel tubes, just as with other metal tubes, dimensional accuracy matters a great deal. All of our mandrel bending machines offer a range of functions, such as:

Multi-radius: this lets us bend several bending radii into one product in a single setup, and with form clamps we can bend bend-to-bend, with no straight sections in between.
Transport-boost: by pushing the tube or profile forward, this lets us bend tight radii down to 1xD.
Free-form bending: this lets us bend different bending radii across multiple dimensions without having to change tooling.

Our mandrel bending machines can of course also bend both clockwise and anticlockwise in a single setup.

At Vogel Tube Bending, you save both time and money

Because tubes made of materials such as stainless steel are usually very hard to bend at a radius smaller than 2D, the separate pieces are often welded together. Since our machines can bend several bends into a single tube, costly operations such as welding are often no longer needed. That way, you save time and money with us on unnecessary welding or soldering work.