I need to bend some 2" .120 wall. Have any of you ever used a cheap Harbor Freight Bender? Are they worthless? Any advice would be good.

I don't have the cash right now for a JD2.

It's a PIPE bender.

As much as I hate to admit it, I used one to make my exo out of 1.5" .120 and it worked fine. You can't make tight bends or it will kink the pipe. But it does bend it "ok"....

I've used one before with limited sucess. It's definitely and armstrong tool though. Pack the tube with sand and plug the ends to do tight bends.

What would you consider a tight bend?

90 degrees 6 inch radius?

Thanks for the input fellas.

Using a pipe bender on tubing will seriously weaken the steel in the bends, having seen roll cages sonic tested for thickness, .120 wall can be stretched to as thin as .100. the "crush" effect also disrupts the strength of the tubing. All tuibing benders are a mandrel type that maintains the shape of the tubing. I use a Hossfeild hydrolic bender, I had a JD squared, too much work.

Originally posted by zags:
<STRONG>Using a pipe bender on tubing will seriously weaken the steel in the bends, having seen roll cages sonic tested for thickness, .120 wall can be stretched to as thin as .100. the "crush" effect also disrupts the strength of the tubing. All tuibing benders are a mandrel type that maintains the shape of the tubing. I use a Hossfeild hydrolic bender, I had a JD squared, too much work.</STRONG>
What was the damage $$$ on your hossfield bender?

my Hossfeld with homemade hydraulics and tubing dies from 1/2" to 2" cost me about $3000 expect to pay twice that for a new one.

Harborfreight benders suck I have one. Now I have a JD2 and it works great definately worth the price. So it takes a little arm work I use a 3 foot breaker bar and can bend .120 wall easier than the pipe bender.