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Bendy time!

B

bmikes

NAXJA Forum User
Location
portland or
Hey y'all, I recently got myself a tube bender. I'm super stoked! It's a jd2 model 3, so it's nothing special. BUT! I can bend tube and learn the basics!

I got it this afternoon from the magical brown truck that stops by my house every once in a while ;)

So basically I'm just wondering who else out there has one, and any advice they'd give to someone who is just starting to learn how to do tube work.

I have a level, chop saw, tube notcher (although I need to buy some 1 3/4 hole saws), and other fabrication related tooling.

I read this article on pirate and that's how I plan to go about a pair of sliders. I definitely plan on taking my time and doing bumpers and sliders and stuff before anything serious.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/bendin_tube/index.html

I feel like I'm rambling... So anyway, input is always welcome!
 
Wow that write up on pirate will take for ever to build anything have fun
You'll find 80% of benders sold aren't used buying it is the easy part
 
I had a bender for awhile.. I hope you use it alot more then I did..

I'm Jealous tho! I have alot of projects planned this spring and I'll be hitting up the folks that have one:pig:
 
I had never worked with tube, until today. My project was just notching, and angles, no bending. I will say it's a completely different medium than flat steel. Keep your planes (XYZ) in check! It's really easy to make a cut in the wrong orientation.

With that said, and you'll pick up on it quick. I'm looking forward when we start bending tube on a project I'm helping on.

Keep us posted on your projects.
 
TORX said:
I had never worked with tube, until today. My project was just notching, and angles, no bending. I will say it's a completely different medium than flat steel. Keep your planes (XYZ) in check! It's really easy to make a cut in the wrong orientation.

With that said, and you'll pick up on it quick. I'm looking forward when we start bending tube on a project I'm helping on.

Keep us posted on your projects.
Click to expand...

Where you doing at school? Or what are you working on?

Haha yea I've tried a couple projects with tube and definitely made cuts going the wrong way!
 
Well I had time to open up my packages and throw together the bender. I didn't realize that you had to pay an additional $135 for a stand, until I opened everything up and didn't see a stand. So I went in the backyard, found some steel I've have for a couple years and threw a stand together.

The bottom plate is 1/4", the stand is 3x3x1/4 square tube that's 36" tall, and then there is an 8x4x1/2 plate that the bender bolts to.

So as of last night at like 11:30 I have this beauty sittin in my garage.
eqeveba8.jpg


Today I went to Home Depot and got four 1/2-13 concrete anchors and a masonry bit so tonight after work ill drill some holes in my driveway and hopefully get to bending! I picked up 40' of 1 3/4"x.120" tube today, so we'll see how some sliders come out over the next week!
 
Never used one, but I've heard that to keep the tubing from kinking, fill it with sand and tape/plug the ends ... helps the tube keep its structural integrity ... makes sense to me... good luck!
 
mopar440 said:
Never used one, but I've heard that to keep the tubing from kinking, fill it with sand and tape/plug the ends ... helps the tube keep its structural integrity ... makes sense to me... good luck!
Click to expand...

With a proper bender, it won't matter.

The dies are machined to the tube
 
If your real daring you can cap the tube, air it up to a 100 psi or so add some heat and just pull on it bit.

You should have seen the people in that shop duck for cover when I did that. A rose bud and compressed air works great for removing dents from 2 stroke pipes also.
 
Well last night didn't turn out how I wanted.. Drilled holes in my driveway and things didn't really turn out.. Haha wasn't precise at all.
butu8aza.jpg


So I guess il be making the holes in my bender bottom plate to get things to line up.
 
BoringDave said:
If your real daring you can cap the tube, air it up to a 100 psi or so add some heat and just pull on it bit.

You should have seen the people in that shop duck for cover when I did that. A rose bud and compressed air works great for removing dents from 2 stroke pipes also.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a real smart idea, I think ill do that the first time I bend ;)
 
yes it is hydraulic, you have to mount yours solid. To work full sticks you have to have a large clear area some times i have to load tube from both sides to get the bends i want so you need 20 feet out each end and 20feet on one side and 10 feet on the other side and the cages i do can have 12 bends in one stick so you don't piece the stuff together i do very few butt welds
 
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