With tube manipulation, what people really want is a reliable and professional service. The team at Multiform Tubes Engineering Ltd can provide this to you. We have been meeting the diverse requirements of our clients for years. It is a service that various industries can take advantage of. You can use it for things like heating, refrigeration, furniture, barriers, and more.

When you look at tube forming, you need to ensure you have all the right elements in place. If there is a lack of a sufficient knowledge base here, lubrication can become an afterthought. In this post, we want to talk about adding a tube lubricating step into the bending process at the right time. It can provide lots of benefits, including avoiding remedial steps you may not plan or budget for.

Lack of preparation

When introducing lubricant during a later phase, manufacturers usually are not ready to handle any resulting residue. However, it is necessary to dispose of the excess lubricant. Alternatively, you must get permission from the end user to let the residue stay on the components.

Depending on downstream procedures, you may have to introduce a tube cleaning or residue removal phase. This is the case even if a minor level of residue is acceptable.

In some cases you may need a more capable lubricant that is more viscous. However, it can leave more residue than is tolerable. This would also require an extra unforeseen processing stage to clean it. Contact us if you need the best tube manipulation services.

Consider lubrication during the engineering stages

To avoid expensive process step additions like cleaning, you must consider lubrication at the engineering stages. Ask yourself several insightful questions and you will be able to find out if you need a lubricant. Is yours a thick material? Is your substrate a high-strength steel? Does your part have a challenging configuration?

There is a great rule of thumb here. If you are moving the metal enough to make it hot during the forming operation, you will likely need lubrication.

In some scenarios, light lubricant is enough and will leave minimal residue. But, in many instances, you will need an extreme or heavy-duty one to make the part. If you figure this out up front, you can have a wash or wipe station to dispose of the residue.

Vanishing lubricants

Preparing the lubrication stage begins with selecting your lubricant’s chemistry. A recurring choice is a vanishing one. As its name implies, this type needs zero removal steps. The lubricants can function properly if the forming requirement isn’t too severe and the end part needs to be dry to the touch.

However, selecting a vanishing lubricant requires much consideration. The majority of them are solvent-based. They can bring volatile organic compounds (VOC) into the procedure. That can lead to further design costs up front to tackle flammability and air quality factors.

Alternate options

Other options include VOC-free and minimal quantity lubrication fluids. They also leave little or no residue. Both are lighter fluids and might need specialist application gear. However, the part could be tricky to form, and surpass the metal forming abilities of the lighter lubricants. If so, there are heavier-duty options.

Tougher fluids such as soluble oils and dilutable synthetics might provide the extra lubricity. They can also be a way to avoid secondary cleaning operations. But, it will depend on the dilution you can run. Even with the lightest of these products, you must dilute them using water out to roughly 5% to 10% concentration. Only then can the result be a light residue the end user can find acceptable.

We are a flexible team when we offer tube manipulation

At Multiform Tubes Engineering Ltd, we are proud to be a flexible establishment. Our technicians can work with a wide variety of tubing materials whilst performing manipulation. Each team member is also highly knowledgeable about the services and tubes we supply.

So, if you have any enquiries for us about tube manipulation, feel free to get in touch. We are happy to advise and always set up correctly to deliver high quality services.