I have a couple of questions for you and anyone else who can help.
1. Do you have any experience with the JD2 model 4 bender? Even if you dont do you see any major limiting factors associated with its design. What I want it for is the occasional cage (for customers-but certainly dont want to do them all the time!) maybe a buggy for myself in the future but I also like the idea of putting hossfeld dies for the more common daily items ie. hooks ,bent brackets etc(gen fab bullshit). I guess my question is more geared atleast for you(fatkid) is this bender going to be more than able to complete a major tubing bending fiasco such as the buggy without feelong like I should have went ahead , and ordered JD2s' version of a one shot?
2. I was going to order this model 4 with a Enerpac turbo air over/hyd pump instead of the electric, and here again I'm wondering if cheaping out here may not be such a good idea- is this pump that slow by comparison to a 1.5hp electric, and would a 6hp 60gal air comp that feeds 10.1 scfm @ 90psi be satisfactory to power that pump (12 scfm @ 80psi) for the intermittant time that the pump would actually be working?

Thanks in advance for the help. Theres nothing worse than spending cash , and not being happy!

PS your ercolina kicks ass- I had Heller & sons calling me for months trying to sell my Bus one but bending tubes is nowhere close to being my mainstay. mmmmmm....microprocessor controlled..... feed tables..... errr yup I'm jealous.

Dammit I almost forgot ---how are you notching your tubes? I'm trying to figure out a rotary table set up using plasma- I've seen the high dollar laser setups but I think with some work it could be done cheaply using plasma plus the torch would have to move not the tube(otherwise a big ass hoop would be flopping all over the place) otherwise it would be really simple.

Sounds good.

Chop saw.

ericfilar@fatcity

the model 4 is more than capable of building anything you want. it is a very high qualitity unit. probally over kill for a home bender. i have seen some of the most bad ass desert off road racing trucks built using a model 3. the one shot ram is nice but not nessasry. but if you have the $ get it.

jd2 tubing notcher does a nice job but alot of people just use a chop saw.

How exactly do you use a chop saw for notching?

Thanks for the info all.

Camo this bender will be for a general fab shop , and would used fairly often just not making cages. My business is more geared to portable heavy equipment repair & fab but I do consumer goods on occassion as well.

What I really need to know is if that enerpac turbo air/hyd pump is going to be great or so so. Spending extra cash if its neccessary is ok(plus its almost tax time-write offs!.

I see people saying chop saw for notching....I'm guessing cut & grind. Damn that takes alittle while ... I at the least would plasma cut using templates then finish with alittle grinding faster I'd say. Would like to know exactly what your all taking about however.

Lastly for those who own a Lathe why not put your appropriate diameter end mill in the chuck , and put your tube on a vise setup on the tool post , and use the pwer feed to bring it in & cut . I have always thought that this would be the shit --- just another way to use your lathe to make $$$$.

Thanks again,
Weldpro

The mod 4 looks nice, anti spring back, 2 1/2 capacity, built in degree ring, and it's hydrolic. Although it's around $1500 for the bender and the ram, and add some cash for the dies your gonna need. The mod 3 is cheap and it works well with out the hydro set up, it's worked well for us. As far as the end Mill notcher set up M-tech sells one thats nice, it goes for around $2800 they call it "God Zilla", thats about $2000 less than a belt stlye notcher but it's slow it does give you a nice notch thats burr free though. But for now we use the good ol Pro tools/M-Tech notcher jig.

We have made a vise to mount on the tool post for a lathe and it works pretty good. We also have a bitch'n hole saw notcher made by desert tool, it is similar to all the other ones but much more hungus. he also makes benders similar to the jd2 but much beefier and use better material. Call Dave 714-666-2866

Got any pics of his Bender? As for the notcher I think we gonna go with the belt style set up, it's fast and accurate. Not to mention the notcher is also set up to dress your pieces like a belt sander/square wheel. :)

The model 4 is completely set up (bender/ram/hose/pump)for $1490 + shipping BUT this is with the Air over hydraulic pump instead of electric 1.5 hp w/ hand control.
I REALLY NEED to know about that pump operating with my compressor though ANYBODY have any experiance with these?

PS-I ordered the bender last week (lead time 5 weeks!) but I might upgrade to the electric pump since the air over seems like it takes alot of scfm's to run (12 @ 80psi !!!)

For that price I would have got it too! Sounds nice, let us know. Sorry don't know anything about the Air pump, how much for the Hydro unit?

Fatkid- To get the same package but with the electric pump(enerpac) with the hand control it is $1990 + shipping. I will call them Monday to ask them about the enerpac air over hydraulic pump I guess they should know eh?
Thanks for everybodys input It helps me out alot,
weldpro

Weldpro,

I have the JD2 model 4 bender. I've got 6 dies already, from
3/4--up to 2".. buy the longer stroke cylinder with your bender
(14") stroke. I decided to look aftermarket for the hydro
pump
arrangment. The unit sold from JD2 for the electric pump is
basically a "hoist-lift" pump arrangement.

I bought an Enerpac "Turbo" air/hydraulic pump unit on Ebay
for about 300... Grainger has them for a little higher than
that.

The Turbo pump is nice because you can get EXACTLY the
degree of bend you want without going too far. push the
foot
peddle a little, and go slow. push it hard, and it goes fast.
works great. I have pictures of my "cart" I built for the
bender, but I don't have a red star! I used a sears craftsman
9 drawer roller-slide toolchest for the storage unit, and the
frame is made from 3x3 angle iron. The bender support is
a column of 2x3 tube with a triangle plate on top to mount
the bender to. I originally tried sear's non-roller slide drawer
tool chest. but it didn't like the wieght of the dies very well...


works killer. You'll really like the way it does tube. Mine's
only made one cage so far, and done some misc work for
suspension links, and nose-pick bars for front ends. They say
it'll do solid 1 1/2 rod........ wow....

I want to get a 2 1/2 die to do exhaust.....

--Enjoy,

--Sherpa

that sounds like a good set up:)

i have used a end mill for notching and it is very precise but kinda slow. but then again i am slow. it is defenatly a cool way to go. although for full production work the belt sander that fatkid mentioned is the ticket. and only about 7k :D

Sherpa great information! What is the gallon size of you air compressor, horse power, and is it a single stage or two stage? Also about how far into the bend can you go before the compressor fires up if at all.
PS. www.use-enco.com has the turbo on sale for 353.00!!! I just figured I'd give all my cash to JD2:D
thanks ,
weldpro

***update I just got off the phone with JD2 , and they said that the Enerpac turbo pump is easily powered of a "home type" air compressor! So I guess I should easily be in the good.
I still would like to know how yours operates though (sherparig). Also if you want to email me a pic of your setup I would love too see it. stubbswelding@yahoo.com

One advantage to the Hossfield bender is the variety of dies available. You can get dies for square tube, angle iron, ect. and even a plate brake. Just a thought. I had a JD2, back in the day, but prefer the Hossfield I have now.

Belt grinders for notching are way cool, but kinda pricey. If you use one you will never want to use anything else. The drill press/holesaw method seems best for occasional use. I have seen the end mill style notcher, but haven't used one. Again, big bucks though.

Weldpro,

my compressor is a Champion 5hp 2-stage, 80 gal upright
running thru a refrigerant dryer. At 150 working PSI, I
think it will do about a full 70-90 degree before the pump
fires up again. (again, it's been awhile since I bent some tube)
You'll like the turbo pump and the JD2 #4. Huge degree ring
means absolute precise bends. You'll experiment with the
"overtravel-springback" for the first few bends. 1.75, and 2"
seem to require about 7-9 degree of overbend/springback
for a 90' degree bend.

And as for notching, I use a Williams Lowbuck manual notcher.
NO HOLE SAWS.... But then I bought a 90 ton Scotchman
ironworker this past summer, so I might buy some tube-notch
dies to use on it.......

--Sherpa I'll try to find the CD with the pics on it...