Affordable Tube Bender? Or recommendations?

[evo626]

+1 on the got trikes bender. I have about $600 into mine. It's the dies that are pricey. I went with the 1.75" 180degree die. Works great no complaints.



Evo

[w650gb500]

I've owned on of these JD2 Model 3 benders for 20+ years and use it all the time. We've built over 100+ rollcages with it and it still works like new.

You can't beat the deal, $295 brand new! The die sets can get a little expensive, but you usually only need one, maybe 2 for your whole project. Over the years and based on different project needs, I've ended up with 6 different die sets, but the same old bender.

https://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx

[JagLite]

I have wanted a JD bender for several years and the price is reasonable.
It is the shipping to Alaska that is the killer.
Someday I hope to be outside (lower 48) and bring one back as baggage...
I have read many great reviews of their bender and dies.

[jaf]

Anybody know anything about these.......... http://www.tjdieselperformance.com/servlet/the-124/tube-bender-tubing-bender/Detail. The looks like it would do everything (up to 90 degrees) and the dies are resonably priced.

If you take a close look at any roll bar/cage you'll be hard pressed to find any angles that are greater than 90.

[w650gb500]

That video shows a die with a HUGE radius! Whatever you decide to purchase, the "general rule of thumb" is get a radius 3x's the tubing diameter. SCCA requires no less than 3x's and the smaller the better. My 1-1/2" die is a 4.5" and makes a nice clean/tight bend.

Just my .02

[wjfawb0]

Here are some pics of my pro-tools with a 240*, 5" radius, 1.315" OD (1" sched 40 pipe) die and backing block. It can make up to 180* bends with the 240* die. The 120* dies make up to 90* bends.





Here are some pics of my bends on the paper template. Start from the middle of the tube and bend outward to keep everything symmetrical.

http://www.fawbush.org/images/2012_1_7_ ... uggy_1.JPG
http://www.fawbush.org/images/2012_1_7_ ... uggy_2.JPG
http://www.fawbush.org/images/2012_1_7_ ... uggy_3.JPG
http://www.fawbush.org/images/2012_1_7_ ... uggy_4.JPG
http://www.fawbush.org/images/2012_1_7_ ... uggy_5.JPG

Where I stand with the buggy and bends now:

[cheapracer]

I have the cheapest nastiest hand hydraulic pipe bender (not tube bender) and it does the most awesome roll cage bends you could see! I can do up to 100 degrees easily and 180 with 3 sets of 60 and you wouldn't know the difference (trick is to do the 2 outside 60's first then the middle one last).

As I said "pipe" bender so it's just for the FIA/SCCA thickness roll cage tubing ie; 38mm x 2.5mm and 42mm x 2.5mm and 3mm wall.

It does bend 32mm and 25mm x 2mm wall nicely too.

.... and I mean real nice parallel wall bends but starts to get a bit iffy at 1.6mm and under.

Not this one but this type ..

[SkinnyG]

This is my Got Trikes bender:

[horizenjob]

Thanks for the video SkinnyG. It answers so many questions, for one it's now clear that I just don't work fast enough!

It didn't seem to take you much effort to line up the lower bends on the roll bar legs. Did you premark the tubes or just go for it? Does the tubing hold the shape you bend it to or does it spring back enough to make it take some practice? How accurately ( what's the tolerance ) on getting two hoops to match?

[photoman]

Nice video. The way you move, you could be a NASCAR pit man.

[SkinnyG]

Compound bends are either an art form, or black magic and voodoo.

I drew the roll bar up in 3D in Pro/Engineer, then measured the amount of rotation I needed in the legs to bend them "straight."

The tubes spring back a bit. I did about 6 or 7 hoops out of electrical conduit to get the feel for it. Every one of them "close," but not "correct" (figuring out spring back, rotation, etc.). I did bend a 90° out of the actual material so I could see how much further to bend to account for spring back. I wrote the spec down on the bent 90° and hung it on the wall as a reference. Was about 4° more for the tube I used. Getting the two legs parallel is another trick, involving a parked car, a fulcrum, and a long lever.

With practice, you can get pretty dang good. I use a digital angle gauge which measures to 0.1°.

[cheapracer]

I used 1.5" .095 tubing and tried it three ways:

Tube kinked every time.

Sorry to hear, at 0.095" you shouldn't be having any issues at all - I have found the hole position for the outer stopper dies very important, wider is better (example; the yellow machine pictured above has them in the most outer holes). If those dies are too far in you get inside kinking for sure. I go one hole further out than is recommended on mine, ie; the 1.3/4" holes for 1.5" tube. They need to be able to freely rotate as well.

[wjfawb0]

Always bending from the center out, using paper templates and slightly overbending helps me get hoops correct. Even with my 1.315" OD .133" wall pipe I can stick the end in a hitch receiver and open up bends a few degress by hand.

One of the pics above shows a full size template. You can barely see the hoop outline because the bent pipe is laying perfectly on top of it. The ends still need to be trimmed in the pic.

[cheapracer]

I had to pull old faithful out today to bend some 1.5" x 0.095" and as you can see I have no issues at all. Notice how far apart my outside dies are, I'm sure some have trouble with inner crimping because they feel they need those dies close together, you do not. Also be careful as the distance those dies are apart changes the radius slightly.

As it's a bit old, leaks a bit and needs a wash, I have named it "GonzoRacer"...

[GonzoRacer]

As it's a bit old, leaks a bit and needs a wash, I have named it "GonzoRacer"...

Ooooh, that was harsh... Damned accurate, though...