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what tube bender should i get

Thspittingllama

Thspittingllama

Member
Location
Taylorsville
hey guys, me and a buddy are looking at building our own sliders, and bumbers. we have access to a welder and such, but we need a good tube bender for these projects. We are wanting to build everything with 1.75'' x .120 tubing. what is the best bender for the buck? it doesnt need to be super fancy, just needs to be able to get the job done! should i look at harbor freight ones? or better yet does anyone close by have one they would be willing to borrow/ rent to me for a while to get the projects done? or hell even sell it to me?
 
skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
go with a JD2 or the pro tools 105 for an intro bender I have the JD2 and love it but after a die and the bender you are over 600 bucks after shipping costs. Might be worth it to pay someone to do the sliders for you
 
UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
You may be better off taking your bend designs to a shop and having them make the bends for you. That will be the cheapest way for you to get bend tube sliders.
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
Start out with a JD2 model 3 manual bender, and then when you get good at it and do more projects add the hydraulic ram kit. I have the JD2 model 4 which is fully hydraulic but I do a bit more than just bumpers and sliders. Also I highly recommend BendTech program, at bare minimum BendTech EZ3D, but if budget allows then BendTech pro. I have the Pro and I guarantee it has paid for itself in tube savings alone so far. I also have a notcher but 90% of the time I end up just using bendtechs paper wrappers and a cutoff wheel then flap wheel on a 4.5" grinder.
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
sixstringsteve said:
are the bend tech paper wrappers free to print?
Click to expand...

yep, print as many or whatever you need, its truly amazing how it works. prints out a 2 dimensional layout and then you cut it out, wrap it around the tube (it prints out a line on the template that tells you how far to put it from the end and at what rotation; tape it on the tube, and then cut it out and fine-tune it with the flap wheel. I like it better than notchers because (for me anyways) it is easier to mess up a tube by having the wrong rotation of the notch. Also, 90% of the notchers out there cant put a notch in a bend, so you'll have to do it manually anyways.

I've heard of people doing it with a plasma torch and the templates, however the plasma torch that I have access to is 15 miles away from me. Someday I'll have my own at my house.
 
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D

Deleted member 12904

Guest
I would also rent my Bender for $25 a day plus a refundable deposit or collateral.
 
I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
The roller will put large-radius bends in tubing, nothing to take the place of a proper bender though.

The pipe bender will put nice tight bends in tubing....tight enough that it will be collapsed and kinked. ;) There are people who have modified them to the point they actually work--but by the time you do that, you could have bought the right bender to begin with and been done with your projects.
 
jentzschman

jentzschman

Well-Known Member
Location
Sandy, Utah
Good point. Its just hard for people to justify spending that kind of money on a bender for perhaps only a few bends, at least in my case anyway. I am in not way a big rig builder so the cost is not justifiable for me. Just my two cents.
 
I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
jentzschman said:
Good point. Its just hard for people to justify spending that kind of money on a bender for perhaps only a few bends, at least in my case anyway. I am in not way a big rig builder so the cost is not justifiable for me. Just my two cents.
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Absolutely, it's not a tool everyone needs. If you just need a few bends, paying someone to bend them for you is definitely going to be your best/cheapest route.
 
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