Think this would work to bend tube? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter kylebacc
- Start date
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Sand is a worthless waste of time.
Placement of the roller pins, and placement of the seam is the key to success with this bender.
This is for PIPE, not tube, remember that.
The bender needs the sides cut close to the pin holes than you can achieve a bend out of the side of another bend.
The rollers need a chunk of angle iron about 3 inches long welded to them also to keep the rollers form dimpling the tube. That way the pipe will slide on the rollers and not dimple it.
Look here, I have included pics and more text supporting using the HF bender with acceptable results. Towarsd the middle of the page till the end of the thread. https://forum.ih8mud.com/tools-fabrication/256962-tube-benders-6.html
Remember any idiot can use this and not understand/master it and then tell the internet what a POS it is. Its not the best bending option but does work well for cheap if thats your requirements from a bender.
That being said I gave my HF bender to my bro in law along time ago and use a hossfeld, jd2, and a muffler machine now.
Its a great tool for a competent tinkerer.
Placement of the roller pins, and placement of the seam is the key to success with this bender.
This is for PIPE, not tube, remember that.
The bender needs the sides cut close to the pin holes than you can achieve a bend out of the side of another bend.
The rollers need a chunk of angle iron about 3 inches long welded to them also to keep the rollers form dimpling the tube. That way the pipe will slide on the rollers and not dimple it.
Look here, I have included pics and more text supporting using the HF bender with acceptable results. Towarsd the middle of the page till the end of the thread. https://forum.ih8mud.com/tools-fabrication/256962-tube-benders-6.html
Remember any idiot can use this and not understand/master it and then tell the internet what a POS it is. Its not the best bending option but does work well for cheap if thats your requirements from a bender.
That being said I gave my HF bender to my bro in law along time ago and use a hossfeld, jd2, and a muffler machine now.
Its a great tool for a competent tinkerer.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks Chop Shop, I think you've provided me with all the information I was *really* looking for for the past few months.
Why not just buy a proper tubing bender, then you don't have to go through all these tortured measures to get the proper results (if that is even possible with a pipe bender bending tubing)? So many times people forget their time is worth something. Why waste all this time when you could simply work your normal job and buy a decent bender?
- Thread starter
- #5
Well, for various reasons, the most notable of which are that I'm a 21 year old college kid, I'm unemployed (there are three major colleges in Tallahassee so there are like 100,000 kids trying to get the same couple of jobs, but i'm working on it), I live in a townhouse with no garage with 2 girls (in other words, anything i buy, is stored in the room that i live in, so space is a concern), and last, until I am employed, my time is something I have an excess of, and building stuff (however tediously) takes up more time that I shouldn't be spending drinking. But don't get me wrong, if I had a garage (or even a decent sized closet), and a job, this probably wouldn't be a question.
Why not just join the local club and help other people work on their rigs. You get experience for free, use their tools, etc? I have been in your place. Go work for free at a shop. Sweep floors. You can find a job. But you are better off working out of someone else's shop considering your situation. How bout going to another college?
- Thread starter
- #7
I am part of some local off-road clubs, but unfortunately, no one seems to have a tube bender in this area. Lot's of mud trucks out here, which don't seem to have the need for much tube. Working for free at a shop is not a bad plan at all. I think I'll try to see what I can work out. And as far as a job, I know I can find one, it's just a matter of if I can find one that will pay my expenses AND pay for a tube bender haha minimum wage doesn't tend to allow for that. Going to another college is not an option at all. I love my school 
Thanks for the ideas though, particularly the shop one. Hey, I might even start getting paid if I prove I'm worth it!
Thanks for the ideas though, particularly the shop one. Hey, I might even start getting paid if I prove I'm worth it!I am part of some local off-road clubs, but unfortunately, no one seems to have a tube bender in this area. Lot's of mud trucks out here, which don't seem to have the need for much tube. Working for free at a shop is not a bad plan at all. I think I'll try to see what I can work out. And as far as a job, I know I can find one, it's just a matter of if I can find one that will pay my expenses AND pay for a tube bender haha minimum wage doesn't tend to allow for that. Going to another college is not an option at all. I love my school
If ya lived by me I have plenty of wood to split and fence posts to bury while I bent ya some tube.
Theres always someone with the tools that will trade ya their work for some of yours if its labor or dirty work they dont like.
I would much rather bend tube than scrape the moss of my roof. (get it?)
I don't know your situation but a tubing bender is not the first big tool you need. Do you have a welder? How about a full assortment of hand tools? Grinders, saws, plasma cutter? I don't recommend people buy a tubing bender as their first big purchase. A welder is a much better first investment, don't get a cheap one. They are more headaches than they are worth. Why not let everyone know where you stand with the basics and we can recommend the future upgrades based on our experiences.
- Thread starter
- #10
Yeah I see what you guys are saying. I just gotta find the person with the tool. Thus far, I've been unsuccessful in finding anyone with a bender (and I've been asking, believe me). But I'll have to try the shops, to see what I might be able to work out with them.
- Thread starter
- #11
Well with the exception of the plasma cutter, I either own all of those tools or have them available to me in one place. And I did buy a cheap welder, and it gets the job done for the little stuff that I just need to throw together. For the big stuff, I have a lot of friends that let me use theirs (or weld for me, if it's above my skill level, which is pretty low right now).
You should move to where they have rocks, that mud business is no fun.
- Thread starter
- #13
Tell me about it....
