I have one and it does work OK. A little slow as you have to pump the jack manually. It also leaves a little dimple where the tube contacts the two rollers. You might be able to avoid this by using an intermediate piece to protect the tube. It does not crush the tube too bad, but it is not a pure bend like a mandrel bend. The tube flattens out a small amount. Depends on how precise you want to get. Works great for bending tubing for mini-bike frames.
I've got one. I mostly use it for tranny mounts and stuff like that. Is rather slow as was already pointed out. I figure it was worth the $ on sale when I got it but I'm looking at better quality benders now..
bought one on a friday, took it back saturday. It doesnt like tubing very well. Like the ad says, its a "pipe bender". I am looking around for a deal on a used "tubing bender". Dale
[ QUOTE ] At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what is the difference between "tubing" and "pipe?" [/ QUOTE ] wall thickness and I think one is always measured inner diameter and the other is always measure outer diameter or at least referenced like that. http://www.lowbucktools.com has a decent looking tubing bender Read this about what the differences are..... http://www.lowbucktools.com/benderFAQ.html
You need to chack this place out. It is called Pro-Tools and it is the east-coast version of low-buck tools. Their benders are killer and I know a lot of off-road shops swear by their tube bender. Here is the link... www.pro-tools.com
So, from what I can see in the web pages a pipe bender beands from the middle, like you've pulled it over your knee, and a tube bender appears to bend from one end so the bend is constantly moving along the tube. Other than that, not a lot of difference. Other than price. The basic tube bender is fairly cheap, but the dies cost a fortune
[ QUOTE ] Other than that, not a lot of difference. [/ QUOTE ] As noted above, about tubing being measured on the OD and pipe on the ID - not to mention tubing is high quality stuff compared to pipe - the really big difference is the size of the mandrels. Making, for the most part, the pipe bender useless for bending most tubing. Strength enters into it as well. Once you get into roll bar size tubing - 1 5/8 to 1 3/4" - it usually has a wall thickness of .134 (NHRA mandated) and at the least .120 when used for other things - it takes a lot of power to bend the large diameter thicker wall tubing. Having said all that, for a while I had one of the HF horizontal pipe benders and made radius rods by using the 1" dies on 7/8" OD tubing. Worked fine, the 1" die fit the 7/8" tubing quite well. There were no kinks, but - the bend was not too extreme. AV8 did a tech article a while back that showcased noted chassis builder Kent Fuller bending curves in dragster chassis tubing using sand and heat. SamIyam did much the same and perhaps he'll weigh in here with his methods. Which were interesting to say the least . . . but then . . . Sammy boy is always interesting....
Anyone ever try using one of these cheapo benders on tubing with the tubing filled with sand? Might be worth a try.
i bought one of the HF versions a few years ago. anyone on here who agrees to pay the shipping - I'll give it to you. that's how much i like and use mine....
This is the bender that you want. I comes with 4 sets of dies, which makes it a steal compared to the other benders. https://www.hrsapplications.com/cgi-bin/shoppingcart/cart.cgi?action=link&product=230&uid=3800\ The price on that one was a little high. I bought mine around 5 years ago between $500 and $600. Mine came from Midwest Tool in Bettendorf, Iowa. I couldn't find a link for them, but there is two phone numbers on the instructional video. (309)-786-0500 and (319)-359-3576. The only problem I've had with this is someone borrowed it who then loaned it to an idiot, who tried to bend some super heavy walled tubing, which in turn bent a roller. If you stay within the ranges given, you'll be fine.
What about using one of these? Would this be a better low cost option to then the hydraulic one? http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&productId=630
[ QUOTE ] What about using one of these? Would this be a better low cost option to then the hydraulic one? http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&productId=630 [/ QUOTE ] That bender is for small flat and bar stock. Kind of like you'd use for trim and molding. It wouldn't handle tubing. I bought a 180 deg. actual tubing bender of a similar design, but quite bigger. It took two people on a six foot cheater bar to bend the tubing and we were putting our feet on the walls of the shop and pushing to bend it then. The tubing was very thin walled 1".
[ QUOTE ] That bender is for small flat and bar stock. Kind of like you'd use for trim and molding. It wouldn't handle tubing. I bought a 180 deg. actual tubing bender of a similar design, but quite bigger. It took two people on a six foot cheater bar to bend the tubing and we were putting our feet on the walls of the shop and pushing to bend it then. The tubing was very thin walled 1". [/ QUOTE ] That's what I was worried about. I'm not exactly a big guy and I'll be working alone 99.9% of the time. I guess I'll keep saving for one of the pro style ones then. I'm planing on building motorcycle frames so I want them do be the best quality I can make them. Thanks for the input.
The pro type benders have to be anchored to the floor, or you'll just drag whatever it is mounted to around the shop. The one I posted a link for earlier has everything you need. It will bend 3/4" od in the one inch die just fine. So with it you have 5 sizes of tubing that you can bend. The Pro Units only come with one die and the additional dies are over $200. The real beauty of it is that it doesn't have to be bolted to anything. You can throw it in the corner when you are done. The Pro units would be good if you were doing some minor production work where you could afford to dedicate some shop space to an Item bolted to the floor.
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