Copper pipe bender: match the former before the price
Updated: 23 October 2026
You have a length of copper to turn, and a search page that treats every pipe bender as the same object. The [pipe bender comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/pipe-bender) on amazon.co.uk mixes 15 mm and 22 mm levers with small crossbows, inch-size kits and a plastic insert. A copper pipe bender is the right buy only when the former matches the outside diameter and the temper of the tube in your hand. Price comes after that match. Listings and public UK plumbing guides were checked on 22 October 2026. This is not a laboratory bend. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have a length of copper to turn, and a search page that treats every pipe bender as the same object.
You have a length of copper to turn, and a search page that treats every pipe bender as the same object. The pipe bender comparison on amazon.co.uk mixes 15 mm and 22 mm levers with small crossbows, inch-size kits and a plastic insert. A copper pipe bender is the right buy only when the former matches the outside diameter and the temper of the tube in your hand. Price comes after that match. Listings and public UK plumbing guides were checked on 22 October 2026. This is not a laboratory bend. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Bender type | Sizes claimed | Materials claimed | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  IRWIN IRWIN Hilmor GLM, 15–22 mm | Lever | 15 mm and 22 mm copper; stainless and mild steel at 15 mm | Copper 15–22 mm; stainless and mild steel at 15 mm | 9.4 | about £78.98 | View offer |
| Best value |  Toolzone Toolzone lever, 15 mm and 22 mm | Lever | 15 mm and 22 mm copper | Copper only in the bullets | 9.0 | about £34.95 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Toolwiz Toolwiz 6–10 mm tube bender | Crossbow | 6, 8 and 10 mm, stated as inch sizes too | Soft aluminium, copper and brass. Not hard solid steel | 8.6 | about £12.79 | View offer |
On this page
Three tools share the name
A lever wraps the tube around a former cut for one outside diameter. In this set that job belongs to the Hilmor GLM, listed under the brand field IRWIN, and the Toolzone lever. They are about 79 cm and 76 cm long and weigh around 5 kg. They need room to swing. A cupboard under a basin often does not have it.
A crossbow squeezes the tube in a fixed groove. Nothing inside the bore supports the wall. Lawton Tubes limits that style to soft annealed tube. LIBRATON, Toolwiz and FUZVOL are sold for 6 mm, 8 mm and 10 mm. The inch tools sit around 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch. Jevervd is a ratchet kit from 1/4 inch to 7/8 inch, with a stated 0–90° range and a reverse head.
Yosoo is four polyethylene strips at about £24.80, diameters unnamed. You slide one inside soft tube and bend by hand. That is not a former for 15 mm or 22 mm heating copper. The spring and lever page argues that choice.
Temper and wall come before the brand
UK water and heating copper is specified to BS EN 1057:2006+A1:2010. BS 2871-1 still appears on the Hilmor bullets. It is recorded as withdrawn, so it does not say whether your stick will bend.
R220 is annealed soft coil, and Lawton allows a crossbow on that temper only. R250 is half-hard straight stick, the usual domestic water and heating tube, and it needs a matching former. R290 is hard-drawn. Lawton says not to bend it. Use a fitting.
Toolwiz and FUZVOL cap the soft wall they claim near 0.8 mm. The inch-size tools talk about roughly 0.7–1.5 mm of soft copper and aluminium. Hilmor's bullets allow copper at 15 mm and 22 mm, and steel at 15 mm only. A 22 mm half-hard boiler flow is R250. A £12.79 Toolwiz will not bend it.
Inch marks are not millimetre marks
UK plumbing copper is metric. 15 mm and 22 mm are outside diameters. 10 mm is not 3/8 inch. Three-eighths of an inch is about 9.5 mm. Half an inch is about 12.7 mm, which is neither 12 mm nor 15 mm.
Toolwiz is sold as 6, 8 and 10 mm. One review says 10 mm tube would not seat. Hocomay mixes inch sizes with 6 mm, 10 mm and 12 mm, so you cannot tell which groove is in the box. Measure the tube, or read the stamp, before you trust the title.
Jevervd's heads run to 7/8 inch, about 22.2 mm. That is near 22 mm and it is still not a metric former. One five-star review does not make it a heating tool.
Where each listing in this set sits
The two 15 mm and 22 mm levers are the Hilmor GLM, rated 4.7 from 243 reviews, and the Toolzone, rated 4.5 from 73. Reviewers say the Toolzone has no 45° or 90° marks. Neither star line is a lab score, and this page does not pick a winner.
Toolwiz has the most reviews in the set, and those reviews are about 6–10 mm work. A high count does not mean the former is 22 mm. Inch-size tools here have one to five reviews each. Jevervd is a single 5.0. Yosoo is the plastic insert. No 28 mm former is in this set. Toolzone states about 45 mm on 15 mm and about 75 mm on 22 mm.
Common questions
Do I need a 15 mm tool and a 22 mm tool, or one with both formers?
You need a former for each diameter you bend, not two tools, if one listing supplies both shoes. Only the Hilmor GLM and the Toolzone claim 15 mm and 22 mm formers here. A combi suits an afternoon with a 22 mm flow and a 15 mm branch. You still fit the matching shoe before you pull.
Will a 6–10 mm bender bend central-heating copper?
No. Those crossbows are for small soft tube, often near a 0.8 mm wall on Toolwiz and FUZVOL. Heating sticks are commonly 15 mm and 22 mm half-hard copper. The groove will not accept that outside diameter. Use a lever with the matching former. Nothing in this set claims 28 mm.
What is the difference between R220, R250 and R290?
R220 is annealed soft copper, the temper a crossbow or a spring can shape. R250 is half-hard copper, the straight lengths used for most UK water and heating pipe, and it wants a matching former. R290 is hard-drawn copper. Lawton Tubes says not to bend it. Use a fitting. These are tempers in BS EN 1057. The BS 2871 label on some bullets is a withdrawn standard number.
Why do some listings say both 10 mm and 3/8 inch?
The titles mix two measuring systems. 3/8 inch is about 9.5 mm, so it is not 10 mm, and 1/2 inch is not 15 mm. Hocomay puts inch sizes and 6, 10 and 12 mm in one listing. A Toolwiz review says 10 mm tube would not seat. If the copper is stamped in millimetres, buy the millimetre former.
Is a plastic air-conditioning strip a pipe bender?
It is a support, not a former. Yosoo sells four polyethylene strips at about £24.80, diameters unnamed, for soft air-conditioning tube. You slide a strip inside and bend by hand. UK reviews mention a split install and one stretched strip. It does not replace a 15 mm or 22 mm lever on half-hard heating pipe. Work on F-gas equipment also needs the qualification GOV.UK describes.
Does a high star rating mean it fits 22 mm?
No. Toolwiz is about 4.3 from 1,419 reviews and it is a 6–10 mm tool. Jevervd is 5.0 from one review, with heads in inches up to 7/8 inch. The Hilmor GLM is 4.7 from 243 and it does claim 15 mm and 22 mm. Read the former before the stars. Stars compare buyers of that listing with each other, not a microbore crossbow with a heating lever.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Listings captured 21 October 2026. Updated 23 October 2026.
- Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- HSE: Gas safety for employers (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, Part D (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: F-gas qualifications (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- BS EN 1057:2006+A1:2010 copper tubes (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- Lawton: How to bend plumbing copper tube (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- BPEC essential plumbing skills: copper (retrieved 23 October 2026)
- HSE: Manual handling (retrieved 23 October 2026)