Learn me: Bending 1.75 x .095 tubing using a HF bender or Rogue Fabrications DIY bender

Pretty much like the title says.. I have a HF hydraulic pipe bender that I've been working on modifying as I've found on Pirate4x4 and other sites (grinding out a smaller die, adding a support structure/strap to the top of the die, welding on some sized supports to the rollers, etc), and I haven't had much luck so far bending up the tubing with it. Have you guys had any luck using one of these?

Although dropping $1200 on a JD2 setup is out of the question (and I wouldn't be happy dropping that kind of coin and still pumping it manually..), I stumbled across rougefab.com's weld-it-together yourself rig for $795 + ~$90 for the air ram from HF.. That seems pretty appealing, anyone have any experience with that setup here? This would only eat up one chump events worth of racing budget, whereas the JD2 would pretty much sideline me for the rest of the year.

Any tips/tricks/whatever I'd love to hear 'em :)

Thanks!

You don't need to spend $1200 for a JD2 setup...

I have a JD2 Model 3. Added the HF air/hydraulic ram, and built a stand from plans from this guy: DBT Industrial

You can get the plans direct, or off eBay. The setup bends in the vertical plane, so the bender doesn't have to be anchored, and can roll around on casters. It also mounts an HF tubing roller if you want to add one for larger radius bending.

With the tubing roller mounted:

With the bender, one set (1 3/4") of dies, the HF ram, plans and materials to build the stand I'm in it for ~$775. So far I've used it to fabricate rock sliders and parts of front and rear bumpers for my Bronco. Works great! I need to buy a set of 1" dies to work on a roof rack, and a set of 1 1/2" dies for a cage for my Miata...

If you just have one cage to do and some time just use sand. Use very dry sand, pack the tube tight by duct taping one end and tapping the sides with a hammer and pounding it on the floor. Then put it in the vise sandwiched with some light Guage steel flat bar. Heat the back side very gently with a torch (don't get it red) and apply gentle pressure. After some practice you get very nice bends.

How tight of a radius and how big of an angle do you need to bend? I have what looks to be a very early JD2 or pro that I picked up years ago at the Stafford springs or Thompson swap meet, have two dies 1.75 and 1.0 both are 110 deg bend. Full manual but works great. I'd consider loaning it or come up with your cardboard templates and bend it up here. Currently its on the top floor of the garage and I've got little use of my hands (double carpel tunnel surgery) would need to be chain felled down and back up when done.

Manually bending by hand isn't that big a deal. I've done 20 or so cages and never got around to adding the hydraulic/air contraption. I mount mine on an open wooden deck trailer when I want to use it because there never seems to be enough room in the garage for bending some of the longer pieces. My extension handle is whatever piece of 2" pipe is laying nearby at the time. 4' length of black iron gas pipe seems to work the best, but in the past, I've used 2" exhaust tubing. The next tool on my wish list is one of those pipe rollers and a sheetmetal roller. Bending pipe with my torch, and rolling sheetmetal around whatever round object is handy is getting tiresome.

I've also got the jd2 and am in for under $800. I mount it on my truck's hitch and stand in the bed. I've done 7 cages that way and not added power. Yet. I probably will before the next project because it's going to have a lot more bends than a cage.

This pic from above is exactly what I'm looking to do...

The HF pipe bender is a waste of space in my shop. It would bend better if you just swung the thing at the tube rather than using it as designed.

The time and grief and fact that I had to pay to have some bends made when all said and done means I will be looking at the JD^2 when this kind of project comes around again.

If you have just a few bends to do, just go to your local offroad shop and have them do it. You'll spend less money and not end up with a bender in your garage that doesn't get used for years.

I have a pro tools 200. In it for about $350 with a 1 5/8 die set. Doesn't take much space and I've done a couple of cages.

kb58 wrote: If you have just a few bends to do, just go to your local offroad shop and have them do it. You'll spend less money and not end up with a bender in your garage that doesn't get used for years. I thought that way until I tried to find someone to do a few bends...$50 per bend was the going rate.

I thought that way until I tried to find someone to do a few bends...$50 per bend was the going rate.

Thanks for all the input, I think Rodan has the right idea! That looks like a pretty sweet setup for <$800!

44Dwarf - I'd be interested in buying your rig if you don't want it, and I really appreciate the offer to borrow/rent it, but I need do to do a few bends in the ~150-160° range, so I'd need another die for it anyway.

Kb58 - I don't think that'll work, but it would be nice. I want to fab up (at least) two roll bars for Miotters, and make a full cage for my Rx-7. I'm assuming that there's a few other cars around that will need bars or cages as well :)

Oldtin - Where'd you find a Pro Tools 200 for that price? If Look on their website, all I find is the 105 with a die that'll be $635.

Thanks everyone, I guess The HF one will go on craigslist, I shouldn't have believed the videos and forums, I guess.

Any recommendations on where to find used benders? Ive been coming up dry on Craigslist for months.

I've also been looking to no avail..

I looked for a long time and found one while I was on vacation in fl this past winter.

It is a jd model 3 that has 1 1\2 die for 300. Just keep looking especially when traveling.

I have seen the "Affordable Bender" advertised for $340 shipped to a residence. But it maxes out at 0.095, and the best they offer in a 1.75 die is 7" radius. I have no idea whether it's worth a damn.

I built a www.gottrikes.com bender. Uses Pro-Tools dies.

Video of it in action: SkinnyG gets bent

Wow that's some price hike from when I got mine.

Mines not for sale and not 100% sure what dies it use. there's no markings before or after glass beading them and the body holder is strange. Check out Dave Williams site loads of good info and every tool I've gotten from him is top knotch and still working just as it did the 1st time I used it. Williams Low Buck Tools

Hey SkinnyG - That looks promising.. What's the max bend you can do? I need to be able to do ~150-160°, possibly 180 occasionally.

44Dwarf - Ah, had to ask :) I've heard of Dave Williams' site before, but his bender says only to 90°, and it looks like he sells Hossfeld for the others which will put me well over $1000 by the time I buy dies.

I'm guessing to replicate a setup like Rodan's will now cost a bit more than he spent (probably about $850+shipping), so I'm leaning towards the Rouge Fab weld-it-yourself kit.

I bought the die to bend 180°. You can always bend less with a bigger die, but if you buy a smaller die you can't bend it more.

This ones been advertised on Cape Cod CL for a while now. Only does 90. There was another better one that was used a couple of months ago. My buddy sent me the link but now I can't find it. If your willing to drive a little over an hour, you can come here and bend all you want. I have 180 dies for 1.5 and 1.75. The 1.5 won't go all the way to 180 thou. I screwed up ordering it and it has too tight a radius. After 135 or so, bad things start to happen. I needed to make hoops around my strut towers last summer and I had to bend 90 skip a few inches and then bend another 90 Came out pretty cool looking. https://capecod.craigslist.org/pts/5598544471.html

Thanks for the offer, TR8Todd! I really appreciate it. Unfortunately my time to play in the garage is generally limited to after 9 PM, so I think I'll need to have this one local. Looks like the one is the one JBasham referenced above, so it'll be tough to make a "hoop" style bar on it.

Here's the video I needed to see about Gottrike's plans: Bending 180° on a gottrikes bender Looks like I'll be able to get setup for under $500 with this guy, and I like how portable it is. Thanks again for the idea here, SkinnyG!

I can't seem to find pricing on the Gottrikes dies... he lists sizes, but no prices. What do his dies go for? Or does his bender use dies from another source?

The dies are a huge part of the expense if you are going to be fabricating in multiple sizes of tubing. JD2 dies vary by size/radius but are generally $150-250 for a set.

He uses the Pro Tools dies, so it looks like the 1.75 x 6" are $355.

Oops, missed that above, thx.