I helped a buddy build a family cage over the weekend. I added a front and rear family cage to his existing roll bar. It's not quite complete due to him having to leave unexpectedly, but we are close.
Pulled the tube bender out of the moth balls for a small project
- Thread starter SlugSlinger
- Start Date
Tubing for exhaust and pipe are two different animals. I think you need a different mandrel for each.
I have a hydraulic pipe bender up to 3”. It crushes tubing.
I have a hydraulic pipe bender up to 3”. It crushes tubing.
You need a different set of dies for each OD you want to bend. It doesn’t matter (tube or pipe) about what you are trying to bend. I started with a hydraulic pipe bender and it would smash pipe because it wasn’t really designed to make good bends. It’s designed to smash a corner although more than not, you can get a bend that would work. The only way I could make any kind of bend greater than 45* was to fill the pipe with sand and cap the ends. This helped from smashing corners, but it didn’t eliminate that.
Pipe is measured ID, tube is measured OD. So the dies usually don’t work well, although I have made decent bends of 1.625’ tube with my 1.25” pipe die. 1.25” schedule 40 pipe is 1.66” OD. 1.5” schedule 40 pipe is 1.9” OD.
With the model 4 you can bend square or round tube and pipe consistently with the right die. Dies are rather expensive for one time use, like building a cage or bumpers for yourself.
Are you looking at this one? A lot of people use that design. I think they work well and can bend up to 2" tube. The only draw backs I saw for this was the 2" limit and it's manual. Being manual doesn't make it bad, it just takes longer to make a bend and its a lot of work, especially if you're making a lot of bends vs. the hydraulic models.
Manual Bender
Model 4
looks great and the folks are getting a heck of a deal with your labor.... Good on ya!!
Dan's good people and does great work. He made some killer freaking rock sliders for my truck, although I'm a pud and don't do anything offroad - it's not a 4WD, lol. But they look killer, I love them!
Can't say enough great things about this guy!
Can't say enough great things about this guy!
Are you looking at this one? A lot of people use that design. I think they work well and can bend up to 2" tube. The only draw backs I saw for this was the 2" limit and it's manual. Being manual doesn't make it bad, it just takes longer to make a bend and its a lot of work, especially if you're making a lot of bends vs. the hydraulic models.
Manual Bender
Model 4
I believe so,
It's been a while since I've looked, but I was thinking I had one spotted that did up to 2.5 inch.
I know I don't have the money or space to get hydraulic bender.
Just want one for my own projects, not to make money with.
