[ZAG]

here is some info of my bender i made last summer.

it uses 1" two row chain/sprocket and hydraulic ram to drive the die.
power scource is 3 phase 400v 1.5kw motor and hydraulic pump
it has hydraulic clamping for tube.

first i made the dies or actually cutter to make the dies.
pic and vid of the radius cutter i made to make dies.

 

[ZAG]

then it was time for bender it self.
i had chain sprockets and chain laying in my shop. played some with them and got this idea to use ram/chain to drive the die
oxy acetylene cutted and shaped the bender frame from 30mm (1,18") thick steel plate.

made main shaft to the bigger chain sprocket and fitted smaller sprocket to ram.

 

[ZAG]

i machined the slider dies in lathe from solid square metal bar. cutted it to half and i got slider die ,clamping piece and piece for the die.
i made quick release system for the slider dies and tube clamping for the bender.

clamping plate bolts to the main shaft and has drive pins for the dies

 

[smewhtguy]

That is fucking sweet. Your shops a damn mess.

 

[ZAG]

support bar in top of clamping system holds dies down and stops the clamping plate to bend.
attached the hydraulic pump to motor.

 

[ZAG]

i made degree wheel for it from stainless steel in lathe using air grinder and then punched numbers to it.
it got welded to clamping plate and has adjustable pointer in the frame.

 

[Finaltheorem47]

woah very nice!

For the dies, how did you attatch the larger diameter ones to the lathe (to fit the chuck) and how did you measure the precise radius you wanted on your tool you made?

 

[ZAG]

made skins for it and painted it.

 

[Urban Wheeler]

Cool idea! How well does it work? Looking at this makes me wonder about using a hydraulic motor instead of a chain and cylinder.

 

[ZAG]

more pics and video from first test bends before it was skinned and painted.
and after final assembly.

 

[ZAG]

woah very nice!

For the dies, how did you attatch the larger diameter ones to the lathe (to fit the chuck) and how did you measure the precise radius you wanted on your tool you made?

when die was made i used my big radius jaws and made cutted small step in to it, then changed normal jaws and took hold from the step i had made , cutted the center hole and then supported it with tailstock.

i measured radius to the tool by caliper. and i had tube sized bar to test the cutted radius.

 

[ZAG]

Cool idea! How well does it work? Looking at this makes me wonder about using a hydraulic motor instead of a chain and cylinder.

it works like dream

using motor. why not if you can get enough torgue to bend the tube.

 

[YjF350]

that sweet ....goood job

 

[Ed ke6bnl]

I would sure be proud of that project. great job. I have the tools you have to do that project, not quite the ability though and it takes the desire and time. keep up the good work ED

 

[89breaker]

Awesome work.

 

[Captainfab]

Thank you for posting this for us all to see. It is quite obvious all the thought and work that went into this bender. This has to be one of the nicest home/shop built benders I've seen. Appears as though it works as well as it looks too. Like I said on the OFN, this is inspiring me to build the one I thought of years ago that is very similar to yours. Not that I really have the time, but this has me thinking about it. If nothing else I'll start collecting parts.

 

[carslut]

great work, looks top notch.....

 

[Azzy2000]

Great job on the bender.. thanks for posting up the details of the build. That is something to be really proud of. :beer:

 

[ZAG]

i took couple vids today.

first one is from tooling to 180* bend.

this one is just close up of die action

 

[DILYSI Dave]

I remain impressed.