hey all,
i was just thinking that such it will cost me quite abit to buy sliders, and 2 bumpers for my runner, that if i priced it out, i could afford a tube bender, gas torch set, and chop off saw, with these tools, and my welder, i could easyly try an make my own, but my question is, how hard is it to bend tubing to how you want it? just curiouse, cause i think im gonna do this not by the already built stuff.....thanks

wade

 

I'd love to know about the tube bender also. It'd be cool to find a decent, yet cheap bender.

Anyone...?

 

If I had a tubing bender I might wet myself. That would be so cool!!

 

If only I had the money.....
http://www.universaltoolsystems.com/tube_bender.asp

 

this is the tube bender im thinking of getting, i dont think i need nothing fancy if im not gonna be using it constantly or making things to sell....

i dunno though, i know it wont be as easy as the other one you showed but it should work....

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=35336

later
wade

 

That's not a tube bender it's a PIPE bender and it won't work. The diameter of pipe is measured differently from tube so the dies won't fit tubing right, it'll kink the tube at angles greater than ~30deg. Here's info on bending tube: http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/bendin_tube/index.html

When you say "welder" do you mean you have an arc/mig welder? Because you can't gas weld your bumpers/sliders, they have to be arc/mig welded.

If you stick with angles rather than curves then you don't need a tube bender. Just cut the tube and weld it together. Of course, curves look better and are stronger, but for bumpers and sliders that doesn't matter, just over build it (cages are a different story).

 

wow, glad you told me that! i was actually gonna order one online today!!

i have gas welder, mig welder, and i have access to a tig welder(cant use it yet) and stick electrode welders....so i should be good on that part.i would like to make a cage eventually and i like the look of bends not angels, and like you said, there stronger!

thanks for the info man.

wade

 

This is the bender I'll be getting hopefully in the not too distant future, seems to be the most popular of the "low end" benders. I'll be adding hydro to it though as I'm lazy and want to keep it portable. If you go manual you'll need a good spot to bolt it to the floor. rockbuggysupply.com seems to have the best pricing on the bender and dies. A basic setup with bender and a couple dies is still going to run you close to $450 with shipping.

 

yeah there expensive but i think it would be a cool hobby and a usefull tool.....i dunno, im still looking at getting one, but it might be a little later now...not sure yet!

later and thanks for the info!
wade

 

Here's some videos of a few different benders manufactured by jd² in action including the models 3 which is very similar (albeit of lower quality) to the Pro-tools MD105.

 

Tube bending 101 on the PBB website, there will be a quiz so study well!

 

In true pirate fashion, REPOST!

 

Damn, didn't see that... :flipoff2:

 

For som sliders why not try to make a jig out of 2x4s and use a welding torch to heat the tube till red hot, stick it in the jig and bend it by hand. This has proven to be an effective way of bending 2.5 inch tubes past 90 degrees. I bet it would be hard to bend smaller pieces this way. Jessie James makes Motocycle frames this way. Just another option

 

As with most benders, it's not the bender that's expensive, it's the dies- the guy's I know who have'm spent about $1500.00 total- that's above the cost of the basic machine, for a 1", 1.5" and 1.75" die.

Then you absolutely need a good notcher, without it, the joints look like hell, and it's virtually impossible to get a clean product.

later

 

I don't know, I've gotten some surprisingly decent looking notches just from a benchgrinder. I'd say for sliders and bumpers it's not too critical to get the notch perfect. The hole saw and jig fixture should be fine.

 

I will be ordering my pro-tool bender here shortly

 

You getting the 105 Mike?

 

yup, getting the 105hd, full hydro...

I aint going to mess around, need to get more tooling.
Plus, will be getting 1.5,1.75 and 2" dies (240 degrees)

The also have a very nice notcher, but not sure If I will get that one or not. A low cost notcher works if you know how to use it.. But the high end one will last longer..

 

Sweet! If you have it soon and want a project for practice let me know, I'm still needing some shock hoops for my axle swap.