What a gem of a post, and the comments are equally helpful. I did this and it works flawlessly on 3/4"; larger sizes I had some issues with, but I'm thinking that was more my lack of experience. I did have one suggestion: Have you considered using just plain external caps in place of duct tape? I did and it was very easy, no gunk to clean off. Thanks for posting this, it's awesome.

With the same process even iron pipes were bent 40 years ago for the British bikes exhaust pipes, my dad used to tell me.

What a great idea! I will definitely use this trick! I've only used a heat gun for this type of bending. I usually quench the PVC once I get the shape I want.

As a contractor this is very very helpful in the field. Thank you for sharing!!

If you fill the pipe to the brim with sand (cold) you will have no problem using the heat gun! Buckling occurs because you are compressing a side of the tube and stretching the other side, the sand allows you to do that safely! :)

Man the plumbing applications for this are endless....completely go around corners with one piece!!!...no 90's or 45's needed . Soooooo glad I saw this.....wooow Thanks

Very clever ! I use PVC tube at times to run electrical wire on custom truck and semi builds and have always slowly heated with a gun and was not very happy with sharp bends. Thank You for posting. Now I too have to figure out other projects to use this with LOL !

Thanks for the tip Linn!👍

I have been looking for videos explaining this method and yours is THE BEST!!!! Concise, straight to the point and easy to follow. And very well presented too! 11/10😊

You can put suitable size round spring inside the tube to keep it round when you are blending it

I'm planning on making a small project for my cat and this will be SO useful. I hated the idea of blocky elbow joints but with this I can get the smooth curves I want. Thank you!

Never too old to learn, this is simple but brilliant 😊 Btw I'm in my 60's

I always use external fire for bending pvc popes, but it is not perfect bend. This is new idea. Thank you very much

Hi Lynn we still use a "Spring Bender" where I live.. never seen it done or how they heat the PVC. But u put the spring inside the pipe heat then bend.. as far as I know..

Thank you for posting! Thanks to the commenters too! Very helpful for my project.

so helpful! I have been trying to make PVC pipe mini green houses for my plants this winter, I ended up just using multiple joints but now I know how to make what I want and had envisioned, Thank you!!

I like this, especially making an artistic lamp base from PVC. With care you could possibly extend the circular base upward in one piece to create an interesting floor lamp with three or four drooping bulb receptacles. Thanks for keeping the music low enough to not intrude on your explanation.

Oh man I didn't know you could do this. This is going to make my next project much easier! Thank you!

Love this tip ❣❣❣ Reading comments, many have offered additional comments, however I think your method is perfect for someone who will only be needing to bend PVC on an irregular basis ... Less expensive than most with no additional tools ... You have come up with a great method for your needs !!! I love it ❣❣❣

Brilliant! I've never seen PVC, or any other piping bent in this way. Thank you for sharing this idea.

Absolutely simple and super technique. I am excited already the way I could use this tip!

Thank You. This was something I never knew that could be done. 😊

Exactly what I was thinking about doing in order to make irrigation rings with half inch diameter pvc, and you have shown me it works, thanks!

Great idea. I've never seen those kinds of bends in pvc before!

Good one! I have also used hot/warm sand inside copper and stainless tubing, along with a heat gun or torch, to make shallow bends without caving or crimping it (handy if you have to put in a fuel or brake line in an older car or for running copper line to a refrigerator ice maker or to a sink, etc.). Also, and I've not personally used it, I have seen examples of using bendable wire springs as an outside diameter "form" for bending smaller diameter pipes, tubing or stiff plastic tubing.

Thanks lady, that's a good idea, you're a smart person.👍

This is so cool I've use a stovetop element to get the heat I needed but this works out so much better because the sand protects that shape.

With the thin pipes i found that if you evenly heat them for long enough ( heat it till you think its enough , then add an extra 2 minutes ) you can actually mold them around objects without getting kinks. I recently used this technique to make basketball hoops for a project ! Just flattened it on either side and put some holes in to get a hoop. Awesome video though

For your larger tubes, use drain pipe rather than the schedule 40. The thinner walls will heat and bend easier.

I could maybe use this idea for bending pipes for dust collection. I am intending to put a shop vac inside a cabinet I am building around the table saw. This might allow me to connect the shop vac to the table saw without using one of those ridged shop vac hoses (which add air resistance and reduce suction).

What great info on bending the pvc. I wish I had known this when I rebuilt my house. It would have saved me a fortune!! Thanks.

What a great PVC hack! Bending the smaller pipes looks like a heap of fun!

Very nice very informative thank you very much good job take care and God bless

I think the kink comes from lack of internal pressure inside the empty pipe. Filling it with sand gives something for the inside of the pipe to push against so it doesn't kink. Hot sand is a great idea though. Preserves internal structure and provides the heat for bending. I don't think heating PVC gives off toxic fumes. My understanding is that happens if you burn it. :)

thank you thank you thank you!. I have been trying to make some cheap Air gates for micro quad fpv racing and everytime it would do that crease bend. I basically gave up.

For the love of all things covered in gravy. This is awesome.

This is actually extremely valuable- forget having to buy fittings for $2 a piece Well done- thanks

Very good idea!!! It's fantastic.

First off , thanks for sharing...Your advise comes in handy as well as the comments that you've shared as well .

Thanks for the video. This could really come in handy. I'm adopting a dog with spinal issues and was going to build a wheelchair for him using pvc pipe (lots of videos on KZfaq) but there are one or two places that I thought putting a slight curve in the pipe would make it more comfortable.

I'm gonna use this for a cosplay!

Merci pour le partage de cette technique particulièrement astucieuse. Sincères félicitations.

Thanks so much! Knowing how to do this now, I can imagine a lot of potential uses.

I've done this many times, starting with cold regular unheated sand. I just used a heat gun to heat the PVC, carefully and slowly. The kinking is due to there being nothing inside the pipe to prevent it's collapse and kinking during bending. Sand inside keeps this from happening. This is exactly how the makers of musical instruments, like brass horns bend the brass, except with more heat. Fill the pipe with sand that will easily be cleaned out. I've made Aquarium piping for things like auto-siphons that keep a constant water level. That's basically 2 "U's connected by an inverted "U".

The sand should be a fine silver sand preheated to remove any moisture, then filled, tamped down and refill and repeat until it will not receive any more, then the heat gun is used to saturate the bend radius area and then bent. Quenching the pipe with cold water rags to set the bend. { Safety Note " damp sand can result in steam within the pipe"} Regards Ian.

I fill the pvc with water and use a heat gun slowly and I don’t get buckles

Awesome, never had the idea of twisting pipes without L or U-sockets. Thank you for sharing.

Hot Sand PVC Bending Thank You you fixed my hot tub 2" drain alignment problems! I was going to cut PVC fittings and re glue weld but that would have caused possible cracks and leaks. Hot Sand PVC Bending is a super fix.

Use the caps that are made for the ends, instead of the tape. They are cheap and reusable. Also, heat the sand on a flat pan in the oven @400F it will heat faster and more evenly.

I used this system to build the Audry II puppets for the broadway musical "little Shop of Horrors"

Great video! I needed to find a way to bend some pipe for a plumbing project, and this worked perfectly. Thanks for your help!

I have seen people putting a spring in the pvc pipe to support the inner wall and then using a heat gun while bending. Heating sand may be a little extra work but the results look great. This should be done outdoors while using a respirator.

Great tip! It really brings a lot of ideas to mind, so cool.

That's pretty slick, nice hack! 🤓👍

I used the sand trick for bending aluminum piping in a college project. It fills the normally empty volume of the pipe and keeps it from collapsing. I'm not sure heating the sand is necessary, but it definitely isn't hurting the cause.

happy to see this kind of video, I am also working in a project I have to bend a lampshade stand using PVC, many time I tried to bend PVC, but I was not a success, finally, I found your video, thank you very much.

As a plumber I will use this to custom bend pvc

I would think hot sand (internal heat) AND the heat gun (external heat) would work on the larger pipe.

Thank you Darbin for sharing your creativity. I'm your fan!

Thanks so much I have an unusual plumbing situation and I couldnt find the correct coupling to adjust the angle this will work I believe... again thanks fr posting this info

Great video Linn. Have you tried to use thin walled pipe? The thin stuff is easier to heat and bend. The guys over on Specific Love channel has a great video on how to bend pvc. They have a way to heat it up from the inside out. Check out there channel for different ways to use pvc. Thanks for sharing

Water should work better and easier due to higher heat transfer ratio (fluids transfer heat much faster). Once you get over glass transition temperature (~70°C for PVC), the macromolecules of the polymer brake bonds among them so there is no compression effort on the inside part of the curvature. Since there is no compression no buckling will happen.

Love how simple it is.

Nice one Linn! I'll definitely try it out on a future project.

"I used regular sand that I had on hand Heated up in a pot till it was pretty hot." A poet who doesn't know it...

I can attest, this really works! I tried it, and it worked great! Fantastic. I have some additional tips. Make sure and use very fine sand so it easily goes into the funnel and does not get stuck up. The sand had better be real sand made of tiny rocks. Some kinds of sands might not work i suspect. When heating the sand, how do you know when its hot enough? Simple, drop a drop of water into the sand. If it sinks into the sand, not hot enough. If it explodes off the surface, you are good to go. Hey, don't hold the pipe in your hand while pouring in the sand like Darbin did (even if she was wearing gloves), thats dangerous stuff! Set up a jig to hold the pipe so the hot sand gets nowhere near your body. Also, as you pour the sand into the funnel its good to have a stick or something to tap the pot with so the sand pours easily into the funnel. I bought a cheap aluminum pot just for the purpose and shaped it so it had a spout. That helps.

What a great idea! Thanks Darbin for sharing it.

Excellent technique,easy n availablity of materials, thanks for sharing.

No more elbow production with this trick

Why don't you use a bending spring this is what I've used in my job as a electrician.

Great technique! For thicker pipes maybe use two batches of hot sand. Let first batch preheat the pipe a little, pour out warm sand, then fill with the second batch of hot sand. With several rounds of your truck, you could probably bend the really big pipes (4" or 6"). Thanks for sharing!

Very cool; thank you. This hack will come in very handy for many projects I do.

dunk in cold water when desired shape is achieved, rather than hold the shape forever waiting :)

Would boiling water do the same?? 🤷🏽‍♂️

Great trick :-) I've used sand to bend 10mm copper pipe, but never thought of hot sand for PVC. Thanks for posting this :-)

Thanks for the creative way of bending pvc without having to use a heat gun!

So it was like -6 degrees out and snowing so i thought id use the sand in the cat tray........ ..........do not heat up the sand from the cat tray...... EVER.

PVC Heating Blanket if your going to be doing a lot of these projects.

Thanks for the posting. Found it worked very well for my project.

Awesome! That's what I was looking for! You save my project! God bless you!

Use care when heating pvc, it can off gas some nasty fumes. Toxic.

An idea Shape it like a spring Make some holes on it attached a pond water pump at the bottom of the pipe And you have a cascadijg water fall of some sort😁 Ok maybe more like a raind drops? But the sound of the water landing on the pond would sound so cool

Hi! In sweden we have electricians pipe, both PVC and halogen free, they bend easy cold whit a special bending coil inside. Nice vid!

Sparkling with your work

Maybe do this in a well vented place? Heating PVC, I've read, can release toxic and carcinogenic vapors

Do you know the pvc pipe will lose its properties after heating with sand or any liquid ? ""If exposed to temperatures any higher for a prolonged period of time, the thermoplastic material begins to lose its rigidity and pressure handling abilities. Like any thermoplastic, PVC becomes more pliable when heated. When enough heat is applied strategically it is possible to bend rigid PVC pipe."

Thank you so much for sharing this. Total game changer.

Cool video. I've been doing something similar. I've been filling it with room temp sand and then heating it in the oven for about 5 mins on about 300 degrees. It works well, but I think this method is better so thanks :)

Hate to be the safety police, but hot PVC can release harmful fumes. Probably best to do this with plenty of ventilation.

I do this regularly at work with a heat gun, but hot sand is a great idea to eliminate hot spots, well done.

This is just what I needed... To know for my projects... Thanks for sharing...

Thank you so much for sharing. Gives me many more ideas in my crafting adventures!

Your videos really get my mind working

Thanks so much! As one who works on motorcycles and boats, I can think of many places where this might help.

awesome darbin!

Thanks Linn, what a super great idea!! I will try that in some personal projects! ThanKS FOR SHARiNG!

Thanks for the great method. I want to use pvc to make a sleeve for a 1/2'' dripline I need to run over a concrete fence post footing to protect it and this will work great.

Fantastic job. Ive bent aluminum pipe using the sand technique only thing that may help is packing the sand in tight with a tamping method. I know you dont have alot of time do to using warm sand but tamping it in will give more even bends with less thinning in the corners. Nice idea's though

_Thanks, I'll be using that technic soon on a project in mind._

Fantastic, craft/maker hack. Thank you for sharing this tip. Good luck with your PVC Pipe projects.