permaculture

[Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

Check out www.farmshow.com
This is a magazine devoted exclusively to reviewing new ag products and 
showcasing farm built machines, buildings etc.  There is an article this 
month on two methods of bending steel bows for green houses; one using old 
cable spools, one using an old folding cultivator frame.  Both involve the 
use of hydraulics.  Subscription price is reasonable and each issue is a 
day of joy around here.
Mark
At 02:15 PM 4/8/02 -1000, you wrote:

> When I exhaust the internet and my own imagination, I turn to you guys...
>
> Out here in Hawaii, there are a lot of greenhouses built with metal pipe
> framing and plastic covers.  Often, the pipe is bent into graceful curves to
> create arches, corners, etc.  I want to make, not buy, a greenhouse but I
> can't figure out how to bend the metal.  A few comments:
>
>  I don't want a PVC greenhouse - I want something big I can climb around in.
>  I'm aware of "conduit benders" used with electrical conduit... however,
> they only give a bend of a certain radius.  I've considered using these
> anyway, since a bunch of short bends spaced out over a pipe will give a
> long, deep bend, but since that's the only solution I've found, I'm still
> thinking it over.
>  The one person I've asked, point-blank, "how did you bend that pipe", won't
> reveal his secrets, but says that he "uses hydraulics" and can bend any
> shape I can draw.
>
>  So, I put it to you free-thinking creative types.  Any good ideas?
>
>  Thanks!
>   Elijah
>
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Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM