Bending Stainless Steel Tubing By Hand. This added hardness increases the amount of force needed to place a bend on a stainless steel sheet. Generally tube is measured by the outside diameter while pipe is measured by the inside diameter so pipe may appear thicker than tubing of the same measurement. And there are a couple of ways to cheat that number even lower.
Generally tube is measured by the outside diameter while pipe is measured by the inside diameter so pipe may appear thicker than tubing of the same measurement. Rigid metal pipe and tubing tend to be made of copper steel stainless steel or aluminum but are not the same thing.
You need a really good flaring tool to make good quality double flares with stainless steel tubing.
For show cars and street rods the polished look of stainless steel is. Homemade hand bending may not be the best technique for really short radii. For example 1 x 1 18 gauge steel tubing can be bent to a minimum diameter of about 30 before it starts to kink. Tubing benders can help create smooth tight radius bends in tubing such as soft copper aluminum and light wall hydraulic tubing.