Tubing Benders

[R. Makino]

I've read a lot of info in tubing benders from 4x4 sites and tool manufactures and was wondering what you guys think would be the best purchase. I am leaning towards the ProTool manual 105 bender package. Any one have any experience with these kinds of benders? Pros/Cons
Its going to be used for making a cage for my aircooled Beetle and some bumpers/rock sliders for the Bronco.

Rei Makino
P.S. Where is the best place in the metro area for tubing?

[lundgren]

I know a guy who does it... if you get stuck let me know.

[Eric Pollock]

You should give a call to Grant Barclay. "Built-by-bones" He is the guy to talk to and also a local guy who autox's and has a business of building off-road vehicles.:)

He should be able to help you build a cage or bumpers.

[Built-By-Bones]

Rei,

the ProTools 105 is a good piece of equipment. have you looked at the JD2 models or the Tubeshark bender?

Have you checked out Pirate4x4.com? The Shop and Tool forum is excellent. Search the forums for the ProTools bender info. AVOID mentioning the harbor freight pipe bender.

A few recommendations regarding benders.

- make sure you have enough space around the bender when installing it in your work space. The ProTools and JD2 benders require you to pull on a handle to bend the tube. The bender needs to be securely mounted for this to happen. A stick of tube can be 24' long so you need to allow space around the bender for the excess tube to swing around as you make your bends.

- many 4x4 guys mount their bender in the rear hitch of the p/u truck. This gives you a stable platform that can be moved as needed. Or if you are mounting it in a shop, a receiver tube set in the concrete works very well.

- or splash out and buy one of the hydro powered benders. We use a JD2 model 4. The beauty of the self powered benders is they can be mounted on a stand and rolled around as needed. I have two areas marked in the shop where the bender die is perfectly level, and I have plenty of open space around the bender.

- a self powered bender can be had for $500. A powered bender is closer to $3000. Really fancy benders can cost 10's of thousands.

- make sure you know what tubing (not pipe, remember pipe is for poop) you are going to be using. If building cages this is often dictated by the sanctioning body. If doing 4x4 stuff, the weight of the vehicle will dictate the size tube you need. We use 1 1/4", 1 1/2", and 1 3/4" dies in our bender. make sure the die radius is larger than the spec'd minimum radius for your sanctioning body. example - SCCA specs a minimum radius bend of 3 times the thickness of the tube. so 1 1/2" tube needs a min. of 4.5" radius. All our dies are 5.5 inch radius.

I only use DOM (drawn over mandrel) tube, or Chromo if the customer can afford it. DO NOT USE ERW or HREW tube for race car cages, it is no longer legal for most sanctioning bodies. You can use it for the Bronco stuff though.

Steel supply

I use EMJ (Earle M Jorgensen Inc.)almost exclusively for bulk orders. And the local metal supply place in Ft Collins for smaller stuff. EMJ will deliver if you order more than about $400 of tube. The more you order the cheaper the price/foot. Be prepared to handle sticks of tube up to 24 foot long.

My Denver 4x4 buddies use Dencol (sp?) for smaller stuff. I carry 1.75" and 1.50" in stock but am in Ft Collins.

Other tools you will need.

some handy tools that make working with tube easier.
- blue gloves from Harbor Freight. keeps the oil from the tube off your hands
- silver or black Sharpie markers. Soapstone is for the oldies, the silver Sharpie markers are great. You may need black too, if your tube is clean.
- Pipemaster tube shaping guides. allow you to mock up and duplicate tube intersections.
- digital angle finder. used to ensure the tube bender is level. and then to measure the tube angle once you start compound multiplane bends.
- tube of grease. lubricate the tube and die before each bend. high pressure grease is best, wheel bearing grease works just not as well.
- tube cutter. avoid the Harbor Freight cheapie. The JD2 tube cutter is a lot more expensive, but is far better value in the long run. tube cutters are cleaner, quicker, and quieter than the usual chopsaw/grinder method.


Other tips.

read and understand - Tube bending 101, on pirate4x4.com (in the tech articles section) This is probably the best article written for the home tube bender. It explains things really simply.

practice, practice, practice.

HTH, I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

Bones

[Built-By-Bones]

Or you could build your own :)

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=343427

Pipemaster tools

http://www.pipemastertools.com/

digital angle finder

http://www.quickcar.net/chassis/ch_angle.html

JD2 benders - we use the model 4 with all the bells and whistles

http://www.jd2.com/

check out the tube notcher on the same site.

Pirate Tube Bending 101

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/bendin_tube/index.html

Pirate Tech

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/

Bones

[Eric Pollock]

See! The man knows his tubing.:D