Rogue Fabrication Bender - My Review and Experience (2 Viewers)

[GLTHFJ60]

Gents, shopping for my first tubing bender. Looking in two different directions with where to go and was hoping to get some advice based on experience:

1. Rogue Fab tubing bender
Tubing Bender & one die set

Pros:
- smaller footprint
- bends vertical, allowing use of digital angle finder gauge (has angle finder built in too)
- cheaper with die (weld together kit is ~$800)
- does not need to be mounted to the shop floor
- hydraulic / air over hydraulic

Cons:
- you have to assemble it

2. Baileigh RDB-050
Manual Tube Bender (RDB-050) | Baileigh Industrial | Baileigh Industrial

Pros:
- multiple speeds
- accurate angle finder built in
- pre-assembled

Cons:
- has to be mounted to the floor
- manual
- significantly more expensive (bender is $1000 and dies are not included from what I can tell)


My questions are essentially:
- Is the Baileigh worth the extra money?
- Are there any advantages/disadvantages to one bender over the other that aren't covered above?


Intended uses are low volume shop work and personal tube projects.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Reading up on it and watching youtube videos, I'm leaning towards the Rogue Fab bender. Anything I should look out for or something I'm missing?

 

[NCFJ]

Look Here

JD Squared, Inc. - Tube/Pipe Benders

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

I'm a JD Squared guy. Been around along time and the service is exceptional for anything they sell and service.

J

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

HA Stan and I must have had a fabricator moment.....

J

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Gotcha. JD2. I'm not sold on the clamping mechanism, turning a bolt into the workpiece and I'm told the angle finder isn't very accurate. Thoughts on those two points?

I called the Rogue Fab guys and the gentlemen I spoke to was awesome, so I think great service will be had from any of these three companies.

 

[RDC76]

X3 on the jd2 bender. I've had mine a long time, over 10 years. I have the model 4 with the foot pedal control. It's a beast and has never let me down. Plus you can take the dies out and bend flat bar with ease. It is over built. Rogue fab does make some nice stuff and I do have some baileigh equipment as well. There all good brands. But as far as the bender goes I'd recommend the model 4.

 

[RDC76]

Gotcha. JD2. I'm not sold on the clamping mechanism, turning a bolt into the workpiece and I'm told the angle finder isn't very accurate. Thoughts on those two points?

I called the Rogue Fab guys and the gentlemen I spoke to was awesome, so I think great service will be had from any of these three companies.

The model 4 doesn't have that clamping bolt and as far as the indicator I can repeat bends all day. But 90 on the big indicator is not 90. You have to engage the tube and then look at the indicator to see what the degree number is at that point then add that to what ever degree you want to bend. So if tube engagement is at 13 degrees you would bend to 103 plus what ever for kick back depending on material to get a 90 degree bend. Plus I like bending horizontal not vertical it's easier to line up back to back bends like roof racks. I think the rogue holds the tube vertically. Plus what's the max bend on the others I can go 180 on the model 4 without moving the tube. As long as you get the die sets to do it. And jd2 will make custom dies as well.
Good luck with your choice

Rich

 

[GLTHFJ60]

The model 4 is slick, but it's even more expensive than the Baileigh!

The roguefab bender will do 180* with the dies it ships with. The other cool thing is that it will do 90* bends in one shot without repositioning. However, I'll do some more reading on the JD2.

 

[NCFJ]

If you do not want to go with the model 4 go with the model 32 and add a air/hydro cylinder from Harbor freight for $100. Buy the dies that you need as you go.

The degree wheel on mine works just fine. You can fine tune them to the material you are using. Also keep in mind that some of it is on the operator. Example: to bend say .120 wall 1.5" DOM to 90 degrees you may have to take the bender to say 96 degrees. This is due to spring back of the material and all diameters and wall thickness are different. This is something you learn over time as you use the machine.

I used mine in manual mode for about 10 bumpers before I went to the hydro set up. To use in manual mode the tool needs to be anchored as your body is providing the torque. I was in Hendersonville then and had limited space. So I made a set up that all slipped into the 2" receiver on my pickup. If you go with any form of hydro the machine does not have to be anchored to the floor to prevent torque as all the forces now work within the machine itself.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Used my JD32 this morning. 40+ bends with 3 die changes in about 2 hours. (also, that's about 2 weeks worth of tube laying on the floor )

The JD clamp bolt... I only use it to control the slip on my 2" and larger .250" DOM bends. I just slip the u-clamp over the tube, snug to my mark and go. As Stan said you will need to learn your materials.. just because its 2" means nothing... DOM has more spring back than HREW so "past angle bending" is required to get the actual desired angle. Every wall thickness of each tube has a different spring back as well.

Just my .02... but 3 known fabricators with 75+ years experience combined have mentioned the JD products......

My little set up.

J

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I really do appreciate the JD2 advice guys, but I'm looking for experience with either the Baileigh or the Rogue Fab bender.

Anyone out there use either of the two benders I linked in the first post?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I guess this will turn into a review thread for the Rogue Fab bender then, since no one seems to have one. Got mine yesterday. First impression is that it was packed with great care. For a 117# package, it showed up in great condition and no parts appear bent or damaged in any way.

 

[RDC76]

hows the bender working for you? anything to show or report?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Not yet. I am going to deliver a truck on Sunday and then I should have some free time to build this thing.

I've got some 1.75" .25" wall DOM in the garage I intend to do some practice bends on.

 

[cjmoon]

tube binding is an art. you'll find out every material type and size and bend degree will have it's own recoil, i end up over shooting about 5 Deg on average. it's easy enough to reload and add a little more so sneak up on it as your getting a feel for it. i'll occasionally add a little heat to tweak a bend that was over shot, just heat the inside and stretch.

 

[mr jits]

Gotcha. JD2. I'm not sold on the clamping mechanism, turning a bolt into the workpiece and I'm told the angle finder isn't very accurate. Thoughts on those two points?

I called the Rogue Fab guys and the gentlemen I spoke to was awesome, so I think great service will be had from any of these three companies.

If you have any issues with the bender, please report back after you talk to Rogue about what those issues may be.
A friend of mine bought one of their benders a couple of years back, and I can tell you that "customer service" was "less than stellar." The bender was returned and a JD2 was purchased.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

If you have any issues with the bender, please report back after you talk to Rogue about what those issues may be.
A friend of mine bought one of their benders a couple of years back, and I can tell you that "customer service" was "less than stellar." The bender was returned and a JD2 was purchased.

That's interesting. I called and chatted with a man I believe was the owner of Rogue Fab for maybe 40 minutes, before I bought this bender. He seemed extremely helpful and open about the product, assuring me that if I had any issues I should call him. Turns out he has a 4Runner with a bunch of modifications (Supra engine was the one mod I remember most) that he wheels all over the place, so we had a bunch to talk about.

What issue did your friend run into that he needed to engage Rogue Fab customer service?

 

[mr jits]

tube binding is an art. you'll find out every material type and size and bend degree will have it's own recoil, i end up over shooting about 5 Deg on average. it's easy enough to reload and add a little more so sneak up on it as your getting a feel for it. i'll occasionally add a little heat to tweak a bend that was over shot, just heat the inside and stretch.

A good habit to get into is always bending a test 90 degree bend so you know what your snap back is going to be and you know your exact radius. It's a habit that saves a lot of time in the long run. I also do a test bend if I buy steel at different times. There can be differences between batches.

 

[DTCsk8er]

I have owned my roguefab bender for over two years, and have been impressed so far. Used it to build a couple bumpers, some sliders, random things for friends, etc. Each time it pays for itself.

I did not buy the air over ram, since I had a (slightly smaller) ram from en engine hoist. Works just fine, but gives you a bit of a workout.

I would suggest spending some money and getting the bendtech software (the lower end works fine), as it greatly helped reduce the time it took me to do all the calculations by hand. I built my front and rear bumper purely off hand drawn math, and it came out perfect.. but bendtech made hours of math done in just a few minutes. Worth the money.