TPT January 2011

S traightening & F inishing T echnology

Until it is realised that the instructions are intended for someone building or modifying a hot rod, an online guide to tube straightening can seem somewhat regressive. The basic method calls for placing the tube between a flat bench and a flat board, then striking the board “to flatten down the high spots.” For straightening long lengths, it is recommended to slap the tubing against the floor, “turning it as you progress.” This is a two-person job but may be performed by one alone if the end of the tubing is secured. The straightening and finishing professionals who contribute to these pages will not find themselves in this picture; and their technologies locate them light years away. But they will have no quarrel with the accompanying warnings that kinking is a constant threat and that “care must be taken not to flatten the tubing out of round or collapse it.” A coil of tubing is a precious commodity-in-prospect that demands no less than their best from all those who perform the demanding tasks of turning it to its purposes.

Photo: ASMAG, Austria