Have a Burmos stove with removable legs. Was missing one of the three leg supports that are permanently attached to the fount. Ordered in some brass tube and bent it with a small jig but it left grooves. Just curious if anyone knows how to bend these up to look original. Would filling them with sand first work? If I use a metal rod inside I might be able to do it better but then I can't remove that steel rod so that the legs can be inserted. Pondering this! My repair is shown above. One of the original leg support tubes with smoother bends. Iain
Plumbers would use a bending spring inside the tube when bending copper tube etc so as not to kink or split it; or form it on an external pipe tube bender. I don't know whether there would be a spring small enough for your sized tube, though. There are small diameter tube benders for automotive applications like brake or fuel pipes Thinking on, would a piece of bowden cable - cycle brake outer cable or net curtain springy wire do the trick? Obviously the steel in them is not heat treated and thick enough walled to withstand bending as would a bending spring, but just a thought. Some cycle cables (Shimano) do not have the twisted spring design, but straighter strand construction with a plastic tube liner - not sure if this is just for gear cables, which is narrower than brake cables. You could even try it with a piece of cable inside to reduce the chance of it collapsing The long strand style might be better for eventual removal - strand by strand if necessary. What about a length of solid plastic, like the glue gun refills which you could burn or melt out if it stuck? Just my thoughts. Dean
You only need to get the top bend to bend without crushing, the lower one is not so visible as it gets hidden by the fount! Sounds like a bodge but its probably easier to achieve one bend rather than two. Another thought was could you not shape a piece of rod with a rounded end to use as a dolly to basically ease out the crease from the inside, like panel beating it?
I agree with @Dean . I have desoldered many of those discus supports, from many different stoves. Commonly, the part that is in contact with the bottom rim is the one crushed. The crushed part, that is a little flattened, is also useful to keep the support in place when soldering. Nicola
Hobby Tools in Braeside had listed a set of small diameter long springs to go inside tubes, for bending. (Use oil). Also available elsewhere. Hard packed sand didn't work for me at first try in 1/2" steel tube. The ends of the tube must be firmly plugged after filling. Non-ferrous metals - might be easier to bend if annealed.
I remember good old Blue Peter bending metal pipes for a sledge back in the 1960's... They filled the pipe with sand and sealed the ends before using a simple jig. You might be able to use fine play sand for something similar.
