Anyone good with metalworking?
 

I have a quick question. I have a full size, bolted down pipe bender and i'm trying to bend some 1 1/2'' 18 gague steel tubing but it keeps crimping after I pass about 20*. Any suggestions? I'm fairly sure it's crimping because it has a seem but I already invested the money in it so i'd like to work with it if possible. Thanks.

Tried heat? that's all I got.. sorry.

Throw up some pics.

Try filling it with sand. Pack it in really tight then try to bend it.

18 gauge is really way too thin for a normal, non-mandrel bender.

Also, what type of bender? A JD2? I've seen some pretty nice bends in 1.5" 16 gauge steel on their model 32 (no wrinkles, but it still deforms out of round a bit), but that thin wall is really a job for a mandrel bender.