So, I'm thinking about getting a tubing bender for my shop. Just wanted to check with you guys about the efficacy of the "Die and Ram" type that can be had for a reasonable price. How well do they work on non-DOM tubing? I know that if used for exhaust they crunch bend and leave a restricion in the pipe, but what about for thicker wall tubing? I've got a buddy that wants me to do a pre-runner style bumper and skidplate for his pickup, and I just want to make sure that it won't leave me with squidgy bends that look like Fido's **** when I go to weld it up. Any thoughts are appreciated, gentlemen.....
Bad news, brother. If it crushes one type of tubing it will crush all types of tubing. There are several types of mandrel benders available but they are more expensive than crush benders.
Look closely at the names. The common harbor freight push type is technically a pipe bender. Pipe is measured by inside diameter, tubing is measure outside diameter. So all the dies that come with that pipe bender don't fit most readily available tubing sizes. Ask me how i know. I bought one of those push type benders. You can bend schedule 40 pipe with alrite with it, but not too far. MTech makes a decent tubing bender you can pick up in the neighborhood of about 600 bucks.
Don't confuse mandrel benders with rotary draw type benders. Mandrel benders, as the name implies, use internal mandrels that keep the tube from collapsing as it is being bent. These are very high dollar and would be way over-kill for hobby work. Rotary draw benders use 2 outside dies that capture the tube as it is being drawn through the radius that keeps the tube from flattening. Although not as precision as mandrel benders they are fine for hobby work especially heavier wall tube. Do a web search, and you will find them complete for under a grand and also plans, parts and die sets are available to build your own.
I've worked with several different types and I prefer the Hossfeld.....it's the most versatile and simple to work with. I did mainly ch***is and cages....it's NOT for headers. I have a manual Hossfeld #2 for sale but I won't ship it.
i have 2 hossfelds,one with hydraulic power.the hossfelds can bend anything (almost!).once you start bending steel you will want to bend flatbar,angles,squares etc. buy a bender that can do all of that stuff! and the hossfeld can! Randy
Play with the adjustment holes etc and use Schedule 40 pipe if all your doing is bumpers and skids. You'll do ok. Roll bars etc your better off to use tube and the required bender. Thats close tolerance work. You might need to add shims where the rollers contact the pipe to prevent pressure dings from forming... They're cheap and so is pipe. The parts you are making are basicly disposable in the 4x4 world, so just have some fun and learn until you decide to graduate up to a real tube bender.
I've got a Tubeshark . I like the fact that it bends on a vertical plane instead of the horizontal. I dont have experience with others, but I like it. http://www.tubeshark.com/
I have a jdsquared model 4 I use it daily and I like it alot. I have owned a hossfeld it is also nice but the jd it a better deal. the dies are nicer and cost less. They also use a bigger pin.
Another vote for the jdsquared. $600 incl 1-3/4 dies. Pretty much paid for itself in the first cage I built. I also made a receiver hitch mount, so I can go to my buddies shops and bend on site. Easier than hauling half built rigs, and you definitely earn favors.
I run a Protools 105 with a Hydro setup. I do offroad and race cages all the time with HREW. Works the same as with DOM. For asthetics only I try to hide the seam in the HREW to the inside of the bend. But sometimes you have multiple bends and it ends up on the outside. Never had one split. Bender is cheap, dies are a bit pricey, and hydro is variable depending on how much you can salvage from other apps vs. buying new from say northern or grainger. mine is virtually identicle to this one http://www.mindspring.com/~jayk5/bender/
I have a JD Squred also. It replaced my Hossfield. I'm very satisfied with it. Buy all the dies you can afford and find some junk to practise on.
I have had one of the JD2 benders for almost 16 years. I bought it when it was Hughes Engineering. One clarification. People call these mandrel benders. They are not. They are a rotary draw bender. Mandrel are a metal rod or other device that is inserted into the tubing. They are used for making smooth bends for header tubes, etc. It keeps the thin wall tubing from collapsing. If you combine a Mandrel with a rotary draw bender, then you have a mandrel bender. I've built several race cars with this bender, and between me and a friend we have several tube dies from 1" up to 1 3/4" diameters. I built a table and mounted a hydraulic cylinder on it. Two guys can put it in the back of a pickup truck, and it spends time at a couple of different shops whenever the projects need it. There are other companies that have tooling that fits this bender. One tip, make sure your pins are installed all the way through. I learned the hard way that a lack of attention will bend the arms when the pin is only through the top arm and the die. Proper bending should put the weld seam along the neutral axis, or the side of the bend. If you have several bends at different angles then just find the best compromise.
I agree with hackerbill, if you're doin certain things schedule 40 works well. Its heavy but its pretty damn sturdy for stuff like a bumper. I've even pivoted my entire grand cherokee on the rocker sliders i made outta schedule 40 and they didn't bend. If you're doing something you're life depends on like a roll cage, then check out some of the other options people have mentioned here.
I have a JD squared that has done an incredible amount of work for me. I have posted this before so bear with me. If you buy the JDSquared buy the biggest die set you need and shim or space it down for the rest . For instance 1 3/4 ,to bend 1 5/8 get a piece of 1 3/4 with a wall thickness of of .063 and bend it . Split the part that goes in the bent shoe and just use the inside piece. From a straight section cut it in half lenghtwise to make a spacer (shim for the straight piece. For 1 1/2 just buy a piece of 1 3/4 with a wall thickness of .125 and you have a inside diameter for 1 1/2. I have two die sets ,1 5/8 and a 1 1/4 ,I can shim all the other sizes. I also lube all my tube when bending , it makes a mess but save from a lot of wear on the dies.
I can do 180 degree bends with my Hossfeld. Can the JD2 and those other benders do this ? All the ones I've seen have 90 degree dies. When I did the cage in my friend's Willys using the "low-buck" bender I had to calculate the length of the bends because it required me to bend from the end of the bend back to what, with the Hossfeld, would be the beginning of it. Major nuisance !
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