Those who know about the crucial value of dependable tube bending in metal fabrication probably know that possibly the best tube bending machine on the market carries the Crippa name. The Crippa Tube Bending Machine is a device that allows you to create multiple close shapes in one cycle and offers the most precise results of tube benders on the market. But who created this machine?
The Crippa Tube Bender was the brainchild of Italian businessman Agostino Crippa, who, in the wake of World War II, had a view towards rebuilding Italy with machines that could be used to revive houses, factories and more. To this end, he formed the Crippa company in 1948 and created amazing fabrication machines like Spingitubo for building gas pipelines and Titanus for bending pipes. But the real breakthrough in bending machines came in 1955 with Aquila 1, a manual tube bending machine that was capable of bending pipes up to 45mm in diameter, which was put to work in a furniture factory. Another breakthrough was Boxer, which was used to bend nautical pipelines up to 16 inches in diameter and Ercules. Boxer which took the place of Titanus for larger pipes.
In 1959, Crippa created Mediolanum 1, followed quickly by Mediolanum 2. These hydraulic machines with continuous cycles revolutionized tube bending by allowing for mechanical programing of the bending angles. Mediolanum 2 could bend pipes up to 72mm in diameter. These machines where the forerunners of the Crippa Tube Benders of today.
In the 1960s, Crippa’s Electric Division opened up new possibilities for the Crippa Tube Bender, allowing Crippa’s technicians to improve upon the Mediolanum and design other, electric powered bending machines including what he christened the “Primavera.”
Crippa continued to innovate throughout the 20th century. At the turn of the century, Crippa’s upgrades expanded to include horizontal tube end forming machines and tube bending machines with push bending with variable radius.