Bending PVC?

[TWright]

How to bend 3/4 inch gray PVC/10 feet? ... heat it first?

[Paul Roberson]

TWright wrote:

How to bend 3/4 inch gray PVC/10 feet? ... heat it first?

What kind of 'bend' are you talking about making?

[Jim Saul]

if you want to make arches, plant your rebar 6" apart, the pvc will bend.
If you want something more than that, you would need a heat gun, torch, or you can heat some play sand in the oven, then pour it into the PVC and heat it from the inside.

[Paul Roberson]

Jim Saul wrote:

if you want to make arches, plant your rebar 6" apart, the pvc will bend.
If you want something more than that, you would need a heat gun, torch, or you can heat some play sand in the oven, then pour it into the PVC and heat it from the inside.

You mean 6' (feet)?

[Richard Hamilton]

Jim Saul wrote:

if you want to make arches, plant your rebar 6" apart, the pvc will bend.
If you want something more than that, you would need a heat gun, torch, or you can heat some play sand in the oven, then pour it into the PVC and heat it from the inside.

Agree. Actually, mine are 5 feet apart that I have been using for 3 years.

I think that is about as much of a bend as you can make without it cracking.

[wallleyes]

I plug one end of my pvc and put boiling water into it.I wear heavy gloves so i dont get burned with the boiling water.

[shakeonit]

Just place one end where you want it, and place the other end where you want it, hold it in place with rebar as suggested before, and stake it down with rope if you want it to hold in place in the wind. The bend comes with elbow grease and gravity, just muscle it up.

[TWright]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to make arches for the first time and, after checking out the "bend-a-bility" of a couple of 10 foot pvc pieces that have been laying around, I was just curious. It didn't seem all that flexible.
Thanks again.

[Dennis Cherry]

TWright wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to make arches for the first time and, after checking out the "bend-a-bility" of a couple of 10 foot pvc pieces that have been laying around, I was just curious. It didn't seem all that flexible.
Thanks again.

The WHITE PVC does not bend well and will snap.

The GRAY Electrical PVC is designed to bend.

Do not think all PVC bends the same.

Price is the same either Gray or White.

[gizmomkr]

You can actually buy a conduit bender - but I dont think you need one.

The bender is in the electrical asile - its abot 4 foot long pole with a curved metal head (sort of looks like a section of a protractor. And it kind of is)

The conduit is fed into 1 end then you pull the rod to wrap the conduit around the head of the bender untill the desired angle is reached.

[magish01]

May be a little late in the year for some of you to try this....but here in So Calif the days are still rather warm. I laid my grey PVC on the driveway and after about an hour in the sun, it was hot enough to bend easily. Ran rope through it before laying them out so when it bent, just tied them off at the correct arc that I wanted. Then left them out in the sun awhile longer and it seemed to help retains alot of the bend.

[ericnagel]

Supposed to be sunny & near 60F here in Buffalo tomorrow, so I plan on making my arches then. I've had my (grey) PVC leaning against the fence, and gravity is already bending them.

Bought 8, 2' rebar and 4, 10' grey PVC at Home Depot to make the 4 arches.

[Richard Hamilton]

In case it isn't warm.... get out the hair dryer to warm up the PVC.