Nisei Engineering > Forum > View topic - How The Nisei Engineering 1018 LICP Is Done!

**Nisei Team** Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 115

First, I just wanted to thank you guys who called in regarding whether we actually make our pipes “in house” or not. Apparently, there are a few members of the community who are questioning us or falsely accusing us of not doing the work “in house”.

Unfortunately, we just completed our aluminum pipe kits (everything is out for final finishing)… BUT, luckily we were still at the tail end of our bending production for the 1018 LICP’s…SO, I put together some rough footage just to give you guys some insight to see the advantages of a CNC mandrel bender at work!

Now keep in mind a few things before watching the “raw footage”. What you are seeing is a very, very, dirty bender that has NOT been cleaned for the purpose of filming. It was at the end of over 300 cycles, and once the 1018’s are completed it will be cleaned. Also, I’d like to add anyone who’s familiar with mandrel bending will tell you that it’s NOT a glamorous process.

Here is a breakdown of what it takes to produce a production piece. Things you don’t get to see in the footage.

1) Starting out with “full length” materials: 20ft steel / 12ft aluminum.
2) Each piece needs to be cut to the appropriate “bend length” for every different pipe being produced.
3) Every tube then needs to be de-burred (in/out), cleaned before hitting the bender.
4) The CNC Mandrel Bender needs to be set up with the proper tooling for the bend job. Each diameter, wall thickness of tubing, radius of bend is taken into account in the tooling set up process.
5) Once set up is completed a few “calibration pieces” are run to ensure the tolerance/quality control is within specification.
6) This step is the portion you see in the footage below.
7) Each pipe needs to be cut to actual length.
8 ) De-burred once again in/out.
9) Cleaned in preparation for welding. Note: brackets have to go through a similar process.
10) Bead rolled on each end of the pipe for better sealing connections.
11) Cleaned in order to be sent out for Polishing, Powder Coating, or Anodizing.

After that it is simply returned assembled, packaged, and shipped.

Now regarding our 1018 LICP’s they are designed and produced in “One Piece” to ensure a smooth flow path is without obstructions.

Multi Sectional LICP have greater potential of disrupting the laminar flow path. Example: Some companies out there produce a Multi Piece LICP. Typically a “Multi Piece” unit will consist of pre-bent tubes that are cut to length/angle and assembled for welding. Now, this process can greatly affect the laminar air flow path because of each welded section increases the potential for internal flash to develop, which will create turbulence inside the pipe. The more welded sections to create a pipe the more flash points can be created. Once flash is discovered the only effective way to remove it would be to extrude it.
As with anything there are good and bad things with any process involved with production. Regarding the LICP’s here a some positives and negatives with the processes of assembling a production piece.

Multi Piece units –BAD:
1) Laminar flow can be severely affected.
2) Purchasing “Pre-bent Tubing” can be bad because in MOST cases the fabricator is forced to make awkward cuts to get the bend to work (meaning increasing the angle or decreasing the angle by cutting the pipe in a angle). Almost every tube bending house will stock/sell only the common/typical pre-bent degrees: 180*/90*/45*.
3) Cutting process alone allows for inaccuracy. Cutting too long or short of what is required can lead to bad fitment. (aka – the human error factor).
a) Coming up long or short on your cut means that your piping will need to be cut until it can fit or if it’s too short to be cut in the saw you will have the cut/grind it’s counter part to compensate for the bad cut. Most cuts that are a hair too short are simply welded together. The down side to that is with the increase in gap between the 2 parts being welded will certainly increase the internal flash and the part to move while welding.
b) Cutting / Reducing a Pre-Bent Pipe Degree is a bad idea because it has to be “eye balled” and can’t be held in the saw’s clamping device to ensure a proper cut. Example: If you need a 62.5* bend and you start with a Pre-Bent 90* bend you have to cut -27.5* which can be difficult or worse if you start with a 180* U-bend and need the same 62.5*. Cut’s like this usually are done on a Band Saw where the operator needs to manually position and hold the pipe for a straight cutting. Because Cold Cut Saws cannot clamp down on the pipe to get that perfect alignment for the cut.
4) Welding multiple sections together can cause the parts to move/pull depending the amps/gas/heat used/generated to weld the pieces together. You basically want 2 pcs to be flush against each other for the best case in welding.
5) Cutting a pipe after “tangent” and into the bend makes the fabricator have to weld a oval piece to a round piece.

Multi Piece units - GOOD/CHEAPER:
1) It’s cheaper to produce in the following ways:
a) Company doesn’t have to buy or sub-contract to a bending house which may cost more per unit.
b) Company doesn’t have to buy a Mandrel Bender (Manual or Semi Automatic machine).
c) Better yet doesn’t have to buy a CNC Mandrel Bender that is much more expensive than the manual and semi-automatic machines.
d) No maintenance or operator required to work on machine.
e) If a company has any type of Mandrel Bender (manual/semi-automatic/ or CNC) and they choose to make a “Multi Piece” pipe it will save them on the cost of tooling for the machine.

In a nutshell there are many ways a company can save/produce a cheaper LICP or even increase their profits.

This post has gotten way too long and I hope you guys can see the difference in our 1018 LICP’s and the rest.

To sum it up as to why we produce a CNC, 1pc Mandrel Bent 1018 LICP that is POWDER COATED!
1) Accuracy
2) Better Laminar Flow.
a) 1 pc vs Multi piece – IF both versions required a total of 180* to complete the part. The 1pc 180* will have smooth flow all the way around. The “Multi Piece” pipe if it used 2 x 90* Pre-Bent tubes and a section of straight to complete the same 180* will hit the hard 90* bank left go straight another hard 90* bank left again. Example: In driving terms the Nisei Engineering 1018 LICP is 1 pc 180* represents a smooth sweeper type turn. The “Multi Piece” produced by other companies represents 2 hard turns with a stretch of straight in between which would required deceleration/acceleration and shifting gears. It’s pretty obvious which method would prove to be the more efficient.
3) Fitment
4) One less fabricator required.
5) We buy so much “raw material” at any one time our costs are lower.
6) We already have a CNC Mandrel Bender … why not use it?

What is the main difference of Nisei Engineering and other companies? We can be considered a design house that is NOT LIMITED to fabrication BUT, had FULL PRODUTION CAPABILITY… we are a manufacturer.

Enjoy the demo! Here is the link:

http://www.niseiengineering.com/videos/NiseiEngineering1018.wmv

P.S. Next time we’ll make sure the machine is cleaned before taking any footage.