Well ordered myself a model 3 bender from www.jd2.com today. haven't ordered dies yet. I can only afford one right now. i'm looking at a 6.5" center line radius, w/180 deg bends, and either 2" or 1.75". first project is a full front cage with 4 spreaders, seat mounts, and rear cage. what tube would you pick? all .120 wall thckness of course. i was thinking 1.75 would be good for spreaders and seat mounts but was worried it wouldn't be big enough for the main front hoop. also will a good hole saw and drill work well enough for notching the tubes?
later
Bob

1.75 x 5.5 radius

When I am ready I am going to get this for $275:

http://www.pro-tools.com/model105_small.gif
http://www.pro-tools.com/pro_model_105_mechanical_p2.htm

with

1-1/2" 6" 120 DEG. .065 $140

then these:

1-3/4" 6" 120 DEG. .083 $150
1" 3" 240 DEG. .065 $110

i have had good luck with the dewalt and the lennox hole saws. they seem to work best in a cheap drill press that will stall easy. every time we ran it on the good drill press, when it hung up just a bit it would bend the hole saw. then it bent the shaft on the notcher. so we went back to using the bufflo brand drill press and it works fine. mike

Damn it... I wanna tube bender :( Just dont have any place to put it right now... First need to buy a house.... with a BIG ass garage (primary concern) :D

good point on the notcher. yeah i looked at the pro-tools.com too but jd2 was cheaper and looks pretty good too. Hey FatCity (Eric?) why the 5.5" center line? i thought the bigger the better. can you explain that one to me please.
thanks
bob

AFAIK, 5.5" Is typically used because it's the best compromise:

The bigger, the stronger and cleaner it looks (usually)
The bigger, the bigger. It takes more space up.

5.5" gives the good clean bend that a large radius gives you... But if you go much broader than that, it starts to look goofy because it can't follow body / interior lines as tightly and cleanly as a tigher bend will.

Originally posted by FatCity
1.75 x 5.5 radius

Why? I'm in the same boat as RockJeep and couldn't figure out what to get in terms of radius and bend angle.

thanks

Originally posted by RockJeep
Well ordered myself a model 3 bender from www.jd2.com today. haven't ordered dies yet. I can only afford one right now. i'm looking at a 6.5" center line radius, w/180 deg bends, and either 2" or 1.75". first project is a full front cage with 4 spreaders, seat mounts, and rear cage. what tube would you pick? all .120 wall thckness of course. i was thinking 1.75 would be good for spreaders and seat mounts but was worried it wouldn't be big enough for the main front hoop. also will a good hole saw and drill work well enough for notching the tubes?
later
Bob

I'm "this close" to finally ordering one, too..

I remember reading a welding/fabrication manual and it was mentioned that you should go with a CLR of 3 (3.5?) * the diameter of the tube for maximum strength.

Thus, a 2" die should be 6+" radius (must've been 3.5 for the figure)..

I used my cheap chinese drill press and a hole-saw to notch the Sch40 pipe in my current cage (Hey, the cage was free, I just added a few things on to it and it was enough to get my started..)

First few came from ACE hardware, but Pacific Steel had a better deal on some Blue-Mol hole-saws. Cheaper and seem to be better.

Originally posted by Rockbuggy
Damn it... I wanna tube bender :( Just dont have any place to put it right now...

Don't worry about that... go buy one and store it in my garage. :D :D :D

Almost any drill press should have a chuck that is on a keyless spindle. I just tap the chuck on the spindle with a dead blow or brass hammer. Make sure it's not seized on the spindle. Mine has a 1/2 hp motor. I don't even clamp the part down. If the drill bit or hole saw bit grabs the chuck will let loose before the part can even get taken out of my hand. This is the safest way to use a high hp spinning tool.

On the slowest setting (easiest on bits) you would be hard pressed to stall mine.

I use a good quality cutting oil and my bits still look new.

Originally posted by gunracer1
i have had good luck with the dewalt and the lennox hole saws. they seem to work best in a cheap drill press that will stall easy. every time we ran it on the good drill press, when it hung up just a bit it would bend the hole saw. then it bent the shaft on the notcher. so we went back to using the bufflo brand drill press and it works fine. mike

Originally posted by marco


Don't worry about that... go buy one and store it in my garage. :D :D :D


Gotta love the POR Boards.. Everyone is so thoughtfull, this is a perfect example of a guy just looking out for me, Now isnt that just swell :flipoff2:

I just bought the Pro-Tools 105HD with the 2" die (7" radius)

I have two complaints about it:

1. There is no provision for lining up the tube to the die. The upper swing arm covers the die, and you have to squat down and eyeball it from an angle. You can get it lined up ok, but it would be easier if they had cut a access hole in the swing arm so you could see the die. I wondered when I got it if I was doing something wrong, but I watched the video that comes with it, and when he lined up the die, he squatted down as well.

2. The Degree Ring isn't accurate. With a 2 inch tube, if you set your degree ring at 0 degrees when you start the bend, you actually have to bend to about 100 degrees to get a 90 degree bend. Again, I thought I was doing something wrong so I phoned Pro-tools and Phil the guy who designed it confirmed that yes, the degree ring will be under or over the actual degree bent depending on the tube size.

3. I bend 2" x .120 and it's still a chore to do with a 4" handle.

4. The bends however, are very nice. No rippleing, no kinking.

Tim

Hey RockJeep, how long did they tell you it would take before you get your bender? I ordered mine 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting. :( BTW I could only afford one die set as well, I ordered this one:
10-2060 M3B Round Tube Die Set - 1 3/4" (5.5-180) .095" $200.00
My whole cage will be made with 1 3/4 x .120 DOM (yes I threw my money away on DOM tube, but I got it for about half what you all are paying for ERW).:flipoff2:

5.5" seems to be the way to go. they said it shipped today!! they said they were back ordered on the die sets and had i gotten one right away it would have taken longer. so right now i'm looking at 1.75 5.5 180deg
thanks everyone
bob

I have the mld3 and it is great. I have had it for about 3-4yrs now with the degree wheel and no real probs.

What have for dies is as follows, and the reason is the all step down one size and look good when used in the same cage. Also 1 3/4 .120 is fine for a internal cage!

2" x 6 1/2"x180*
1 3/4" x 5 1/2" x 180*
1 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 180*
1" x 3 1/2" x 180*

Originally posted by WOLF359
I just bought the Pro-Tools 105HD with the 2" die (7" radius)

I have two complaints about it:

1. There is no provision for lining up the tube to the die. The upper swing arm covers the die, and you have to squat down and eyeball it from an angle. You can get it lined up ok, but it would be easier if they had cut a access hole in the swing arm so you could see the die. I wondered when I got it if I was doing something wrong, but I watched the video that comes with it, and when he lined up the die, he squatted down as well.

2. The Degree Ring isn't accurate. With a 2 inch tube, if you set your degree ring at 0 degrees when you start the bend, you actually have to bend to about 100 degrees to get a 90 degree bend. Again, I thought I was doing something wrong so I phoned Pro-tools and Phil the guy who designed it confirmed that yes, the degree ring will be under or over the actual degree bent depending on the tube size.

3. I bend 2" x .120 and it's still a chore to do with a 4" handle.

4. The bends however, are very nice. No rippleing, no kinking.

Tim

Tim,

1). I have a JD2 bender but basically same design, for lining up the mark, I made a hash mark on the die where the bend actually starts, then mark where on the tube I want the bend to start, then place it in the bender and set the marks together and move the arm enough to seat the tube in the die, and allows seeing the mark.

2). My degree wheel seems fairly acurate, but I use 1.75 tube.

3). Worked well for me to use a 4' bar, but I agree is still some work, I plan to go hydralic to save space and make easier

4). I agree

HTH

as for notching the tube use a chop saw. mt brother showed me this trick. put the tube in the saw and cut the tube 45 degrees one way then do it the opposite way so that u get a "v" shape on the pipe. when you rotate the pipe 90 degrees you have your notch. never done it myself but seen it done works good.

I have had the pro 105 for a few years ago and just resently sold it to a friend , and bought me a hydraulic pro one shot. I can make perfect kink free bends in 2" o.d. .120 wall in about 10 seconds son ill never buy another mechanical bender . A word of advice if I were bying a new one again for the first time go ahead and get the hydraulic unit even if it means saving up some more cash and waiting its worth it, trust me I speak from experience and both of mine were top quaility and accurate.:D :D

http://www.vansantent.com/model_3_bender.htm

This is another source for the model 3 bender

i've decided to go w/the 1.75 5.5 180 deg. but want to know if any of you have made a mount for the bender that can go in a receiver hitch or one that can be mobile(not bolted to the floor). If so how'd you go about it? also i'm going to make a bar on each side of the jeep to connect the front hoop and rear. and then 2 tubes that go across those to mount my seats on. does anyone have some pics of the seat seup like that?
thanks
Bob

Originally posted by Yota_San
AFAIK, 5.5" Is typically used because it's the best compromise:

The bigger, the stronger and cleaner it looks (usually)
The bigger, the bigger. It takes more space up.

5.5" gives the good clean bend that a large radius gives you... But if you go much broader than that, it starts to look goofy because it can't follow body / interior lines as tightly and cleanly as a tigher bend will.

I thought the Larger the radius the thinner wall tube you could bend, and with the small radius dyes you have a thicker minimum wall thickness. Also when it comes to ripples in the tube could that mean that maybe you bent to thin a wall for the radius of the dye?:confused:

jd2.com pricing page shows that the 1.75 5.5 180deg minimum wall of .095 whel the 6.5 is .083. so looks like your right about being able to bend thinner wall w/bigger radius. personally i doubt i'll go any thinner then .120
later
bob

You'll be surprised what you can make tube out of after your set up to do it. I'm using 1"x.065 to make a tube frame wagon for my kid. I even used 2"x.065 to do the exhaust in my sammy. Just a thought, having a larger range to work with your dies is nice...:)

I just ordered the model 3 from vansantent and they said it would be about three weeks, how hard would it be to rig up a hydralic cylinder on one of these benders , it dont look like theres much to it...