How much does it cost · tube bending
A bent tube is priced from four items: sawing to length, bending (about 14 s per bend and 25 s of loading and handling per tube), bender setup (25 min per batch) and material, counted by the kilogram. RFQdecoder charges bending and setup time at €85 per hour, machine, operator and overheads included (figures published by QuoteBuddy in 2026). Scrap (non-quality) and a 5% margin are then added to the part total.
A bent tube is rarely priced on the bending stroke alone. QuoteBuddy separates five cost blocks: tooling, setup, cycle time, material, then the bending method with its scrap risk (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026).
RFQdecoder calculates four items: sawing the tube to length, bending time, bender setup and material, counted by the kilogram, then adds scrap (non-quality) and a 5% margin to the part total. Tooling and method risk are covered below, under “What is not included”.
Once the bender is set up, time per tube is made of bends and handling. On a CNC rotary-draw bender, each bend is a sequence: feed the tube to the next bend position, rotate it to the plane of bend, clamp, draw the bend, retract (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026).
The tool counts about 14 s per bend, indexing included, and 25 s of loading and handling per tube. These are the values in QuoteBuddy’s worked example, a stainless tube with three bends (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026).
Handling depends heavily on length. The same two-bend operation can be a 15-second cycle on a short part and a two-minute cycle on a long one (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026). For a long or heavy tube, the 25 s allowance may therefore be short.
Bending and setup time is charged at €85 per hour, the figure in QuoteBuddy’s example (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026). This is a burdened rate: a single number per hour that absorbs the machine’s own cost, the floor space, the power, the operator and a share of the shop’s overheads (source: QuoteBuddy, July 2026). The tool counts this rate as is, without adding overheads a second time; only scrap (non-quality) and the 5% margin are added to the part total.
Setup (mounting the die set, loading the program, dialling in springback, running a first-off) is fixed per batch, not per part. The tool counts 25 min, i.e. 25 / 60 × 85 = €35.42, which QuoteBuddy rounds to €35.40 (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026).
This fixed amount is spread over the batch. In QuoteBuddy’s example, bending cost per part falls from €36.96 for 1 part to €1.70 for 250 parts, while the bend itself stays at €1.56 (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026). Altior describes the same effect: an underestimated hour of setup goes unnoticed on 500 parts but pushes a batch of 5 into the red (source: Altior, June 2026).
Example assumptions (chosen for illustration, not taken from a source): tube with 4 bends, tooling already available, batch of 50 tubes, then a single tube.
Public values used: about 14 s per bend, indexing included, 25 s of loading and handling per tube, 25 min of setup per batch, €85 per hour (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026).
Sawing and material, which the tool counts by the kilogram, come on top. They are not priced in this example: their values depend on the saw, the tube and the purchase price, and no public figure is used here. Scrap (non-quality) and the 5% margin are then applied to the part total.
New tooling. A rotary-draw bender bends one diameter at one centreline radius, and each combination needs its own bend die. With the clamp and pressure dies, the mandrel and the wiper die, a full tool set for a new combination can run from a few hundred to a few thousand euros (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026). The calculation assumes tooling is available, like the QuoteBuddy example whose times it uses.
Method risk. A 1.5D bend in thin-wall stainless needs a mandrel and a wiper, runs slower and scraps more first-offs (springback, wrinkling) than a 4D bend in mild steel (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026). This extra method-specific scrap is not priced separately; the tool applies scrap (non-quality) to the part total.
Downstream operations. A bent tube is usually one step in a chain: cut to length, deburr, bend, then often end-form, drill or notch, weld and finish (source: QuoteBuddy, August 2026). Only sawing, bending, setup and material are in this calculation, before the scrap (non-quality) and 5% margin added to the part total.
About 14 s per bend, indexing included, plus 25 s of loading and handling per tube. These are the values from QuoteBuddy’s worked example, used by RFQdecoder.
Bender setup, 25 min per batch, is fixed. In QuoteBuddy’s example, bending cost falls from €36.96 for 1 part to €1.70 per part for 250.
It is a burdened rate: it absorbs the machine’s own cost, the floor space, the power, the operator and a share of the shop’s overheads (QuoteBuddy). The tool counts it as is: only scrap (non-quality) and the 5% margin are added to the part total.
No. According to QuoteBuddy, from a bend radius to diameter ratio of 3D and above, rotary-draw bending needs no mandrel. Under 2D in thin wall, a mandrel and a wiper die are needed.
Upload your PDF, DXF or STEP drawing: routing, time and cost of each step, with every assumption shown.