Does anyone have experience with tubing benders? I have a few projects I'd like to work on. These look interesting:

Pro-Tools 200

Medford(?) Model 3

Any others you've used? I'd probably start with 1" tubing 0.065" wall.

Berkeley

I have a couple like the 2ed one.. They depend on the attachment to the floor.. unless you also get the hydrolic attachment. I have mine attached with 4- 3/4 inch bolts in concrete..
If I went after another one I'd get the first one with the common hydrolic jack in it. Bending tubes is an art and requires a few mistakes and practise to get it understood..
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Ya know, depending on how much you will actually use these, and if you dont mind goin Chinese, here is about the same thing from Harbor Freight at a whooooole lot less money. I have found their stuff to be perfectly acceptable for home apps. If yer gonna start buiilding cages for a livin, go with the American version. All my pipe wrenches are made in by God America by Ridgid but I make my livin with em. My engine and chain hoists, engine stand and a few other potentially high dollar stuff is from China but I dont use it every day. Check out this website. Harbor Freight Pipe Benders <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

The HF unit is a pipe bender not tube. If you don't know the difference, you have no business building anything that requires structural integrity. HF bender is 100% joke junk to even attempt to build a "cage" with. Buy a good bender with good air over hydraulic power pack and ram, then buy a at least 2 dies, 1.75 x 240 degree and a 1.25 x 240 degree.
Invest in quality tools! never look back!
Hand bending 1.75 DOM tube is tough at best.
SD

Dawg, you have the tact of a rolling Colorado boulder. Why do the "experts" on this board feel they can insult people because they have more knowledge than the poster. You could have been a great resourse but you chose to go another direction. How about educating this amateur as to the aspects of tube vs pipe and exactly why this bender wont work. Tell me why .065 DOM tubing is better structurely than .25 Schedule 40 steel pipe. Then tell me why someone who wants to try to build a cage for their Jeep would spend $1500 for your "tube" bender and all accessories for occaisional use. I could buy a professionaly prebent cage and have it welded for that. Your insult and flat dismissal of my suggestion tells me or any other board member nothing. Your right, I have no business building cages because I dont know how. OK, maybe I was wrong in suggesting the "pipe" bender. This may be obvious to a man who is in the 4x4 business but even if I make a "dumb" comment, I still dont like to be called ignorant. Not everybody likes the Monster Garage-Jesse James approach to business. Step up to the plate and give info not insults, I might be a potential customer.

I looked at the HF benders, and (newb that I am) I didn't even notice that they're pipe benders (not tubing benders).

I was originally interested in the vertical bottlejack style because they have a build-it-yourself kit. The "Model 3" style by JD2.com looks nicer.

As far as degrees bend, the JD2 has 180 degree dies. The vert bender has 120 degree. I don't see any 240 degree dies for them. What am I missing?

No cages for me (though you never know). I'm thinking of roof racks, so tubing between 1/2" and 1" max.

If all you will be doing is 90 degree bends, then the HF bender will work fine.

Lots of discussion over on pirate about it. Here is a link in case you want to do some reading: Link to Pirate

Here are some pictures i took today, the shorter one is a bend done with a professional tube bender, the longer one (darker) was done with a 12 tone HF pipe bender that i got for 60.00 (on sale):



In this picture you can see the lines i drew on the tube to make multiple bends to make the 45 degrees. It takes patience and a little practice.


I just could not see spending 600.00 to purchase a professional bender with one die. If you are a professional, thats great because you will recoup the money you spend, but for me the HF works just fine.

Here is another link to a discussion on metal for cages, they actually built roll cages with the HF benders: Link

Here is a picture from that thread:

I bought that chinese bender before I knew about pipe versus tubing benders and tried it a few times. It,s ok for exhaust pipes or conduit pipe. One thing I noticed that the pipe gets a kink in where you bend it, by that I mean the pipe does not stay uniformly round around the bend. All thoughts of builing a better cage were put on hold after noticing that. Also a tubing notcher would be a valuable tool in building a cage. As far as the expense basically if you want play you have to pay.

Jesus Jaime! A old guy like me would need some grab bars just to get around your shop! Get a broom or something.
Clean that mess up after one job and get ready for the next.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

ThatÆs not my shop <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ; it was a picture from the link right above it. Although I would not mind that Lincoln Welder in the background!

My garage is not much cleaner though, with an extra set of mud tires, some old rims I need to get rid of and a bunch of metal pieces just waiting for the next project! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />