tube bender or plasma??

[will-m]

planing on picking up a new toy. either a pro-tools 105hd and the goodies to go with it or a hyperthem plasma rig. not really sure which one to go for. So for the people that have both which would you get first, bender or plasma? Right now i'm leaning toward the bender cause i need to do a cage, tube fenders, ect and its pretty impossible to do without a bender. but on the other hand cutting everything with a sawzall or cutoff wheels is getting really old. i realize it's kind of a personal prefreance thing but just wondering what others would do in this case. thanks

[lagrange151]

bender:D

[4Runnerdude]

Bender, plasma is more of a luxury, can usually get by without it, but you can't bend tube without a tube bender.

[SBChero]

yup, def the bender. you can use the gas axe and angle grinders to cut stuff.

cant hack together a bend in tube (safely).

[TheBandit]

I think a plasma is cool, but you can make a lot more of the typical useful stuff with a bender.

Why not get a manual bender without all the bells and whistles and save up for the plasma? Seems like a plasma is about twice as much as a basic bender setup.

[vintagespeed]

I think my plasma was the best investment ever. I now CAD up all my projects and can accurately and quickly fab projects. I've got the Hypertherm Powermax380.

[Nigel]

I went through the same desision process a month ago and I got the plasma. I can borrow a buddies home made bender but the plasma is used EVERY day. I got a thermal dynamics cutmaster 51. don't get me wrong I still want a protools 105 hd with hydro :D

[chad3]

I also have the thermal 51. Almost wish I had the bender instead. If you have access to a bender, buy the plasma cutter, if neither, I'd say buy the bender first.
My $.02

[bronco75]

thats a hard one to anwser I had the bender first and use it every once and awhile and then I bought the plasma and use it all the time
but to bend you need a bender and to cut you have various options so I would say Bender first/ but I wouldn't go with out my plasma anymore

[Brian1]

I have both and would say to get the Plasma. It has many more uses than a bender. I use my plasma more than my bender

[Fordtrucks]

I would say buy the plasma wile u have the money cuz its easier to save up for the bender later cuz its cheaper

[redrangie]

depends...

I would only buy a bender if I could use it all the time, or had a big project to do (exo/cage) I make due with a pipe bender, as I only NEED to do bumps/sliders maybe once a year for myself or others. However, I can never run out of uses for the plasma. You can even cut glass with a conductor!

j

[jeepn4life]

hard choice,... I have a plasma and no bender, and wish I had a bender. You can get away without a plasma, it is true, A grinder or cutoff wheel will do ALMOST everything a plasma will, but got the plasma does it so much faster and easier, and for those jobs like cutting holes or odd shapes, there is really no substitute....

If you asked me to trade my plasma for a bender, I couldnt do it....

[tntcherokee]

get the plasma, I use mine so much and it can substitute so many other tools if you dont have everything already. A lot of times my drill press cant handle drilling the hole I want, so I just draw it on and cut it out with the plasma.

[Klem]

Go Halfs with a buddy and get both. That's what I did. Sort of. I own 2/3rds of the bender, and he bought all the plasma, so far. I'll pitch in when the bill comes due.

[Reflexx]

Buy plasma, make bender!

www.gotttrikes.com <---- mines finished and makes the most beautiful bends! total cost with three dies = $1000

REFLEXX :D

[teuflhundn]

sure bending tube is great, but the plasma will be used more.

how big is your air compressor? make sure you have a large enough air supply for the plasma.

[jeepn4life]

suprisingly plasma dont use much air... not more than 4-5 CF at 90 psi, which is pretty easy to do with almost any decent 110V air comp... plus, I dont know about you, but I find that I use the plasma in spurts more than continuous...

[lincontaco]

I say get the plasma, but get a model higher than you think you will ever use, i have the hypertherm 380 and wish i would have got the 600, i just ordered my bender last week so i will have both. i honestly dont know what i would do without the plasma though.

[Scott@Rockstomper]

I say bender. Plaz is great, and ours sees plenty of use (maybe even more than the bender) but there's plenty of other stuff (torch, Sawzall, chopsaw, grinder) that you can use to sorta do the job of a plaz. There's not really anything that subs for a bender. Plaz is just easier than some of the other stuff that subs for it. Kinda like how a chopsaw will do, until you use a horizontal bandsaw. Going back, sucks, but you can get by on a chopsaw.

[Todd W]

Make 16 brackets out of 3/8" steel wth a sawz-all or grinder and you will be dieing for a plasma! Let alone all the other stuff you can use it for!

If you need to bend - buy tube goto a buddys and bend.

[will-m]

looks like its gonna be the bender. I really need to do my cage and i don't know anyone with a bender. plasma will have to wait six months or so. I've been a hardcore grinder boy for years now so whats another couple months. :flipoff2: So the next question: Is it worth converting to hydro? I really like the idea of being able to roll the whole setup around. (shop is kinda small) thanks for all the replies. i've got some searching to do:D