My buddy has a bottle jack type bender that he has fitted to full hydro. It is the type that pushes the die up between two rollers which can be positioned at different distances from the die edges.

He has messed with this thing and gone through a whole stick w/o getting a single clean bend. We're using .120 wall 2" DOM with a 2" die. I tried my best last night (I'm also a novice) and couldn't get a good bend either. Every bend is either kinked or rippled. On top of that the rollers are denting the tube at the contact point. Slow, fast, wide rollers, narrow rollers, moving rollers in the middle of a bend, I think I tried it all last night.

Any ideas? We were kind of thinking that the die he's got just isn't the correct radius for the set-up he has (if that's even possible- I don't know). We can get a different die from a buddy but will it be the same? Is there a special technique to this type of bender? We're lost:confused:

Sounds like the Harbor Freight bender.

Do a search a couple of people have had luck with it, but the bender is for pipe hence the problems.

It’s a kink-o-matic unfortunately. You can modify the bender and use JD2 dies to make a copytcat version if the of the Pro Tools “one shot” bender and you will be in business:D

You are getting kinks becuase that is a PIPE bender and not a TUBE bender. The dies are different. They are for pipe dimensions, not tubing dimensions.

If you mess with it long enough and shim the tubing, you may get better results. Bending tubing in the pipe benders takes a lot of luck to get it right.

It's probably a pipe die, so use the 1¾" die, and it should work alot better. Pipe is measured ID, Tubing is measured OD.

Man you are going to have some huge radius bends with that PIPE bender If you ever get it to work, just go spend the money for the right bender and do it right, especially if your making a cage for a vehicle your not building the cage for looks? most people build cages to save their melons from being crushed. do it right, with the right bender. don't mess with that pipe bender.

:beer:

Originally posted by kmgmacgood
Man you are going to have some huge radius bends with that PIPE bender If you ever get it to work, just go spend the money for the right bender and do it right, especially if your making a cage for a vehicle your not building the cage for looks? most people build cages to save their melons from being crushed. do it right, with the right bender. don't mess with that pipe bender.

:beer:

This has to be one of the dumbest things i've ever heard. How does the tube know what kind of bender it is being bent in? As long as the tube is bent without crushing or kinking, what difference does it make? I've seen entire vehicles bent with pipe benders.

I do agree it is alot harder to get a good tight radius bend, with a pipe bender, but when done properly it's just as strong.

I do agree it is alot harder to get a good tight radius bend, with a pipe bender, but when done properly it's just as

ZEUS,
I don't agree if you have seeen some of the tubing bent with a pipe bender 9 times out of 10 the stuf has dimple marks all over the bends the bends are huge, and the more bend per inch of tube the more chances of it failing if the tube is bent the steel is severly stressed when you bend it and the bends are the weakest point so when your a novice bending pipe for the first couple of times your not going to get it right with an off the shelf PIPE bender. Ever here the saying "use the right tool for the job" this would fall into that catagorie.

Originally posted by kmgmacgood


ZEUS,
I don't agree if you have seeen some of the tubing bent with a pipe bender 9 times out of 10 the stuf has dimple marks all over the bends the bends are huge, and the more bend per inch of tube the more chances of it failing if the tube is bent the steel is severly stressed when you bend it and the bends are the weakest point so when your a novice bending pipe for the first couple of times your not going to get it right with an off the shelf PIPE bender. Ever here the saying "use the right tool for the job" this would fall into that catagorie.


Do you work for JD2 or something? Just cause you read it in a book somewhere doesn't mean it's true.

Originally posted by Eric
You are getting kinks becuase that is a PIPE bender and not a TUBE bender. The dies are different. They are for pipe dimensions, not tubing dimensions.

If you mess with it long enough and shim the tubing, you may get better results. Bending tubing in the pipe benders takes a lot of luck to get it right.

Not all benders that are this style are PIPE benders I know of a very good professional shop that uses this kind of TUBE bender and does some of the best work I have seen...however if you are getting kinks it is most likely because it is a pipe bender...with that said I think its Brandon that knows how to use that bender without getting kinks(youhave to do something a little different I cant remember what) PM him and ask...

I have heard of packing the tube with sand - but that sounds like more of a PITA than an actual helpful method.

Originally posted by DRM
I have heard of packing the tube with sand - but that sounds like more of a PITA than an actual helpful method.

MYTH ... it dont work;)

Thanks guys keep it coming.

The die that we are using may be for pipe as you say, but it is getting a helaciously tight fit, we definitely could not downsize it to fit. Shit for all I know he may have the 1 3/4" die in their already, I just checked to see if there was a tight fit. This isn't my bender, I'm just trying to help a friend, so I'm not spending the cash to get the right tool. We're just trying to see if we can make this work.

We'll definitely check out the other dies we can borrow to see if they help. Now what about it *denting* the tube where it contacts the rollers, this is what really confused me. I'm assuming the JD2 dies have a smaller bending radius which will reduce the force applied to the pipe in contact with the rollers, or I am just full of sh!t:D

What mods might be needed to fit a JD2 or similar die to this type of set-up/die mount. I've never had the pleasure of working with this type of equipment before:(

The JD2 does not use those crappy rollers, they use a REAL follower bar.

Thanks everybody I'm going to pass the word along that I think he should give it up and get a real bender. I talked to a few more people who bend tube and all said the same things you've mentioned.

No one made mention of knowing how to mod it to work so if Brandon or someone else did it I think they should start a post about it:beer:

Originally posted by bigdude
Thanks everybody I'm going to pass the word along that I think he should give it up and get a real bender.

Make sure he signs an agreement saying you can use it whenever you want.

Originally posted by bigdude
Thanks everybody I'm going to pass the word along that I think he should give it up and get a real bender.


Man, he already has the expensive hydro stuff - a JD2 can be to his door with one die set for under $500, convert it to hydro, and be bending RIGHT in STYLE :cool2:

He was so frustrated that last night he told me if I could figure out how to get this one to work, he'd buy the tube for me to do whatever project I wanted. No shit:D

I do know people who have used the HF pipe bender successfully for bends up to 60 degrees or so. Basically they cut some pieces of oversized tube (ID matched OD of tube being bent) about 6" long. Then they split the tube and put one half between each roller and the tube being bent. That keeps it from denting in the rollers. However, even these guys who use the HF bender regularly say that going 90* is impossible without deforming the inside of the bend...

Alright, so to use a HF bender on exhaust pipe - will that bend well & to a 90* bend? I need to do some exhaust work and I'd like to do it myself rather than farm it out.

Bryan

Originally posted by Oxjockey
Alright, so to use a HF bender on exhaust pipe - will that bend well & to a 90* bend? I need to do some exhaust work and I'd like to do it myself rather than farm it out.

Bryan

If you think it kinks tube fast, wait till you try exhast work :rolleyes:

Hey man I ain't trying to bust your balls or anything I just have used about every type of bender out there and that style just sucks for tubing. I am a pipefitter/machinist/welder by trade and I work in a nuke plant that has more pipe and tubing in it than most people have ever even see so I may know a thing or 2 about subject.

Do you work for JD2 or something? Just cause you read it in a book somewhere doesn't mean it's true.

:beer:

Originally posted by Oxjockey
Alright, so to use a HF bender on exhaust pipe - will that bend well & to a 90* bend? I need to do some exhaust work and I'd like to do it myself rather than farm it out.

Bryan
I think the "pipe" that thing was meant to bend is like schd 40 or bigger. From what I have heard (never used the HF, I just bought a JD2), anything less than .120 wall is SOL even for 60*.

Originally posted by DRM


If you think it kinks tube fast, wait till you try exhast work :rolleyes:

So what to use on exhuast pipe? Get a JD2 and then get the die for the correct OD of the pipe?

TIA,
Bryan

Originally posted by Oxjockey


So what to use on exhuast pipe? Get a JD2 and then get the die for the correct OD of the pipe?

TIA,
Bryan

I have found that unless you have a shit load of exhaust laying around. It is almost always cheaper, easier, and faster to have some one that does it all day do it that yourself.

I agree with EMS, there is no way it's worth fooling with unless your opening an exhaust/muffler shop. They have special dies and machines specifically designed for exhaust work (i.e bending thin wall tubing). Also, if you look at many exhaust systems you’ll see that they often are wrinkled and/or deformed on the inside of a bend. Depends on the quality of the machine used. That’s about all (I think) I know about exhaust bending. Never put much thought into it, it’s just too cheap to have someone else do it and it’s not something that is interesting enough (to me) to provoke investigation.

Originally posted by cornfedred
It’s a kink-o-matic unfortunately. You can modify the bender and use JD2 dies to make a copytcat version if the of the Pro Tools “one shot” bender and you will be in business:D

NO you use the Pro Tools dies and modify the HF kinker to work
:flipoff2:
http://members.shaw.ca/bigbigbear/pic/tubebender1a.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/bigbigbear/pic/tubebender2a.jpg

XTRMTOY made this out of scrap metal. He bought the die from Protools and fabbed up the mount using scrap C-channel he had. Mat also reccomends using a min of three bolts holding it on instead of the two he used (that's why it's crooked from the force on the two bolts). Mat made his own bottom roller set but when I make mine I will be using the roller from Protools for the bottom roller. Also he used a 1.5" OD grade 8 bolt for the top pivot, anything smaller just bent.

HTH

Adam

Originally posted by bigdude
[B Now what about it *denting* the tube where it contacts the rollers, this is what really confused me.[/B]

I got a buddy who bought one of those pieces and we never could get it to bend right but to help relive the "denting" we used oil and wd-40 where the rollers met the tube and then also useing MONSTER Channel Locks helped the rollers to roll there was STILL some intention to it but NOTHING like without our efforts.

What about the harbor fright brnder the kind that mounts to the top of the work bench it says it can do all sorts of diffrent materials and it looks like the bender that was in my metal shop class:jeep3:

If your talking about what I think you are, those little bench top jobs (they also have a stand alone version) are for bending small solid rod (square or round) or strap. There is no support for the sides of tube so it will not work on tube. There was a post not long ago where this question (this entire thread in fact) was covered. And another a few weeks before that, and another…