HF tubing notcher and bender???

Gonna have the kids in shop build a go-cart and a mini-chopper and am trying to round up some tools. Are the HF tubing notcher and pipe bender worth a crap?? I know you get what you pay for but these would be used maybe four times a year. I bought the HF bead roller and have been pretty pleased with it so far...are the notcher and bender a good gamble, anybody else have them and can comment on them???

 

I havent bought a tubing notcher from them (dont know how to use it ) but, I do have the hydraulic pipe bender and it works pretty well plus the price was right ($70 on sale). My buddy has the floor mounted grey manual bender and it will kink conduit pretty easy.

 

so for $70 that musta been the 12 ton model??

 

I bought one, tried it, took it back.
Not worth a darn.
Other HF tools have worked out ok, but this one was lacking.

Go to Williams Lo-Buck -or Low-Buck - tools and take a look at their notcher.
I've heard good things about it.

For a couple of projects, nothing wrong with marking, cutting and grinding the tube ends to shape.
Especially so the sizes and wall thicknesses you'll be using.

 

I have the notcher, and it works fine. I wouldn't want to do production work with it, but for a gokart it should be OK. You'll spend more on good hole saws (bi-metal is the only way to go) than the notcher.

As far as the bender goes.... unless they have come out with a new model, their bender is a pipe bender, not a tubing bender. It'll kink tubing, and you'll be less than happy with the results.

Tubing is measured by OD, and pipe is measured by ID, so all the dies are the wrong size. I have a few friends who have thse things rusting in a corner in the garaqe...

Tackett

 

The biggest thing I'v enoticed with the pipe bender is to lube the hell out of everything and do it pretty slow. The lube will help it slide a little instead of grabbing and kinking. Still it's a risk...

 

I use the HF tubing notcher for building my bicycle frames, and it actually works really well. I use it in a drill press, and we had to machine the part the shaft spins in to line up the notches to the exact center of the tubing but once I did that it worked great. I do go through quite a bit of cutting oil though.

 

I have the HF notcher, and it worked well for me. I only used it enough to build 1 10 point roll cage, but with as much as it simplified that job I'd say it paid for itself!

I definitely agree though GOOD HOLE SAWS ARE A MUST!

 

DO NOT BUY THE ORANGE BENDER!!!!! IT IS A TOTAL POS..... I have used their notcher, and its OK after you weld it together......LUKESTER

 

Anyone have some plans for some home made stuff?