Baby Bear Pipe

[coaly]

When you're tempted to beat on your crimpers with a hammer, it's too thick ! Been there. It doesn't work.

 

[Don H]

When you're tempted to beat on your crimpers with a hammer, it's too thick ! Been there. It doesn't work.

Do they make a heavier set of crimpers for stove pipe?

 

[coaly]

Not that I know of.

 

[Desmond]

I have an old set of Malco brand hand crimpers. A senior journeyman tin banger gave them to me when I was an apprentice. Over the years fellow sheetmetal guys and I have always compared the different sets and mine have always seemed to crimp the best. I used to have to chase them down because someone had always 'borrowed' them. That being said and even though I have crimped hundreds if not thousands of pieces of pipe, I could not crimp a 6" elbow to fit the back of my baby bear. I ended up doing what coaly did and used a 6" T. I could have probably went back to one of the shops that I worked in and manufactured a tapered 53/4" to 6" 90 degree elbow, but couldn't bother. I did think of going to the shop and using their power crimper though. They are adjustable depthwise so you could start the crimp in much further than with hand crimpers. Any HVAC shop would have them and it would take less than a minute to run one through. But, I like the idea of the T for clean out purposes.

 

[Todd67]

I "ruined" two 90* elbows when I installed my Mama Bear. I saved the elbows as souvenirs, and to serve as a reminder the next time I have to over-crimp a pipe to fit an under-size stove flue.

 

[coaly]

I have an old set of Malco brand hand crimpers. A senior journeyman tin banger gave them to me when I was an apprentice. Over the years fellow sheetmetal guys and I have always compared the different sets and mine have always seemed to crimp the best. I used to have to chase them down because someone had always 'borrowed' them. That being said and even though I have crimped hundreds if not thousands of pieces of pipe, I could not crimp a 6" elbow to fit the back of my baby bear. I ended up doing what coaly did and used a 6" T. I could have probably went back to one of the shops that I worked in and manufactured a tapered 53/4" to 6" 90 degree elbow, but couldn't bother. I did think of going to the shop and using their power crimper though. They are adjustable depthwise so you could start the crimp in much further than with hand crimpers. Any HVAC shop would have them and it would take less than a minute to run one through. But, I like the idea of the T for clean out purposes.

That's what I have. But the factory dies have more crimps per inch than hand crimpers, so you're not crimping it down farther to match the same contour. My crimper fits every other hill and valley. So each crimp only does every other one of the factory's. Sometimes doing every other one is enough. If not, I then move it ONE notch over and crimp all the way around again, to get my dies in the same valleys. So going around twice hits every factory hill and valley. I suppose not all crimpers match up as well with the same crimps per inch. I can only make the thinner adjustable els work. The thicker corrugated els I have are too thick by hand.

 

[Don H]

Do they look like these?

 

[coaly]

That C1 is 9 1/2 long. Mine is the C5 at 10 1/2. Heavier duty version that says pipe crimper on it;



I tuned mine up today to match the factory flutes exact. Very simple too.
I removed the pivot bolt under the word Malco that the two jaws pivot on. There are 4 spacers, one each between each jaw. They are about twice as thick as a regular washer. I chose the thinnest 1/4 inch washers I had to put between each blade. So you can adjust the space between the blades easily. Here is the adjustment to match factory crimp;

 

[warburtonplayer]

Here is the one in my house

 

[Todd67]

Here is the one in my house

How is the stove pipe connected to the flue on your stove? With a T connector, an elbow, a collar...?

 

[warburtonplayer]

This stove has a elbow which was not a problem because it is a new stove.

 

[Opp]

Here is the one in my house

Nice door ! How paint?

 

[warburtonplayer]

I just used white high heat paint from a spray can and brushed it on