A shorter than standard pitch for a given tube diameter, pitch being the distance between the crowns of each ball (note: not the gap between the faces of the balls). When the tubing material requires more than normal support after the point of bend because it is thin-wall, soft, or some combination of factors, a close-pitch mandrel assembly is usually the solution. This is because there are a larger number of ball crowns supporting the tube bend over a given length of the arc than with a regular-pitch mandrel assembly.
FREE Tube-Bending Guide Download:
A complete guide to the principles of the 4-Step set-up for tube-bending tools
This is a printable handbook showing how to implement in four standardized steps the “forward mandrel” set-up for rotary-draw tube-bending machines and establish process control over the so-called black art. The procedure is based upon the guiding principle that the tools make the bend and takes advantage of the inserted design of modern mandrel tooling.