Needed to make bend some 5/16" steel line purchased from the hardware store for my trans cooler and my carb-to-pump line as well, yet whats the trick?
I have a handheld bender but when trying to do a 90 degree bend the line kinked real bad!...this cannot be good for flow...it seems to bend by hand but im looking for some nice 90 degree bends to match my brake lines, etc
any help would be much appreciated,

Try rolling it over a inch or bigger socket, put one end of the tube in a vise and slowly roll over the socket.

Ill try that on another test piece, yet I need to make some tight bends

anyone wanna let me borrow a high end bender?

a "ridged" (brand name) cast alum tubing bender

1/2"-3/8-5/16 tubes in one bender

works best

PVC pipes and pullys will work

but the bender will make nice tight bends with no kinks

You could try filling the line with salt while bending it if you can get it all out afterwards.

I've used all sorts of tube benders, from external springs to hydraulic powered units with changable dies.. For brake, fuel & trans lines I usually prefer this cheap style unit...

I have, in the past, held the line over my gas stove to heat it up a bit - don't know if that was the right thing to do, but it worked.

Dave

One of these cheapies should be more than enough for 5/16 inless you have some type rigid hard line not made to be bent

Im in california,
thanks for all the feedback everyone,

I kept kinking the line (or making little indentations) with the line i bought from the local hardware store when i was practicing some 75 degree bends...maybe it needs to be double wall tubing

round bends are ok but anything at a harsh angle and i get a kink...sounds like the tubing to me

If the radius you are after is making it kink I'd (as said) fill it w something & (carefully) heat it as you bend it w the bender that supports it on 3 sides. grab a helper.

IMO the ridged alum bender is best

there are cheaper ones that are the same also,the in the pic is a good one also

never kinked any I did with the bender,just bend it slow and steady,it will bend a 90* bend thats about 1.5" in the middle,thats a tight bend and used it on my fuel pump

I use the ready steel line that has 2 flare nuts and cut one end off

Where in California are you.

get one of these,i think imperial makes them,and snap-on sells them too. i like it ,works good,imho.

I had a 90 coming off the fuel pump on my pickup and even with the bending tool it still wanted to kink on me. I ended up bending it in stages. I would move it with the tool a little and then set it on the floor and very gently tap on the side of the radius with a rubber mallet. Using the hammer kept it from flattening out and developing the dreaded kink. It took way longer than it should have, but it came out nice and round like it's supposed to.

On the larger bends I just bend the tubing over my knee.

thanks all,
los angeles (redondo beach)
ive got a 3 piece metal one from advance auto and that multiple sized hand grippy one in the image up at the top of this post as well,

I have those same benders too and if you were closer and did not have I could let you try them. Kinda wondering about the lines you have, they should not kink easily but good tips here to try.

Slow and smooth is key! I was trying to bend up some 3/8" aluminum and kept kinking it. I asked one of our hydraulics guys at work what the trick is. He said go as slow as you can and as smooth as you can. Sure enough he was right. I have the black imperial bender pictured above and now I bend tube like a pro. One of my own personal tricks is to put one leg of the bender in a vise. Its much easier to stop the jerking that way... clean kink free bend every time.

Update:

I am using that imperial bender pictured above and got some double wall steel line,
Filled with sand/salt and could get 45 degree bends going super slow
anything more than that and it started kinking/compressing

thanks all for the help, almost just easier to bend over my knee!