Tube bender from Rogue Fab

[bigcountry]

Anybody ever used and know anything about this home made tube bender kit from rogue fab. it comes with the dies for $595, but for that price you still have to buy the harbor freight air/hydraulic jack and assemble it so there would be about $700 in it. I was thinking of building my own cage and some other stuff.

https://www.roguefab.com/

 

[GreMac]

I've been looking at this same bender. Will probably buy one in the next few months. 180 degree capability, die costs and bender cost is what sold me.

 

[bax]

I say no. That bender is using aluminum dies. Not going to hold up. The JD benders are built much heavier with steel dies. For about the same money. When you run a piece of tubing off the end of the aluminum die. Its going to mess up the die. A steel die will live thru that abuse. Plus the wear on aluminum is not a good thing.

 

[hyghlndr]

JD2 Model 3 is IMHO the best for the money.

 

[BroncoDesignTN]

I bought a JD Squared bender a few months ago. It is just the manual version but the bender with a set of dies was around $500 shipped. It didn't include a stand for that price but I built my own. They offer the air upgrade too, if you are wanting that option.

 

[doghows72]

Hey Cory, I keep looking for the pics on your site with the half cab?
Just kidding glad to see your around for question other than for your products. Sorry for the high jack.

 

[Dusty]

I'd hold out for a JD2. Its the gold standard. Keep an eye on the classifieds at Pirate4X4 and race-dezert.com, sometimes they come up for sale used with sets of dies for great prices. Then get the air-over-hydraulic conversion kit from SWAG Off-Road and a Harbor Freight ram and you're set. I love mine.

 

[ransil]

i will have a jd bender with 3 dies for sale delivery to the super celebration
price tdb need to check the die size

email me if interested

 

[EB70]

I'll be the one guy who says go ahead. I own one and have let my kids use it etc. It isn't hard, has held up well and I literally bought it from the owner at his house.

At work I have the JD and it is great too. We had an operator error and broke a follower.

There both good, but I think the RF bender is fine for me at least.

 

[EB70]

I should also note that when I say kids, I mean students use it. We use both and the Rogue has certain things that work well.

The aluminum die has not been the issue that I thought it would be .

 

[GreMac]

EB70 - Since you've used the JD and the Rogue, do you see any advantage with the Rogue bending vertically? I've used a manual JD 3 some and then Mittler Brothers benders a bunch, a complaint I have about them was the extra effort keeping bends in the correct plane while bending and supporting multiple bend pieces, like main hoops with four bends. Wasn't impossible but could get pretty awkward with big pieces.
Does anyone else that has used vertical and horizontal benders see any advantage in the vertical benders for this reason?

 

[BanditBronco]

I will throw in another vote for the Rogue. I have used a JD and yes its kinda the standard, but I also like to try new products and work with small businesses, I have heard nothing but good things about Rogue's customer service and products. I am going to give them a shot when I order my bender and drill press reduction kit!

 

[bigcountry]

What size tubing do you guys typically recommend for cages? I have seen 2" and 1 3/4".

 

[smoked77]

I have a rogue fab bender. It's held up well. Yeah, the dies aren't steel, but you just need to keep your tubing clean and run tubing off of the pressure dies.

Regardless, it's a good bender for the money and it sure is nice to get repeatable bends and not be yanking on a handle to get them. I have 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, and 2" dies and have bent 0.065 to 1/4 wall.

 

[BanditBronco]

What size tubing do you guys typically recommend for cages? I have seen 2" and 1 3/4".

1 3/4" if you want to be more modern desert style, 2" if you want to go more old school Bronco cage style.

I prefer 1 3/4" with 1" gussets/accents

 

[KBUCK1]

Bender

i will have a jd bender with 3 dies for sale delivery to the super celebration
price tdb need to check the die size

email me if interested

Pm. sent

 

[RogueFab]

I say no. That bender is using aluminum dies. Not going to hold up. The JD benders are built much heavier with steel dies. For about the same money. When you run a piece of tubing off the end of the aluminum die. Its going to mess up the die. A steel die will live thru that abuse. Plus the wear on aluminum is not a good thing.

Break one of our dies, and I'll send you a new one. Call it a lifetime warranty if you want, we call it standing behind our products.

Broncos are unique, they are one of the few practical applications for bending large .250 wall DOM. Our bender can handle that job with ease. Up to 2 x .250.

I'll be the one guy who says go ahead. I own one and have let my kids use it etc. It isn't hard, has held up well and I literally bought it from the owner at his house.

At work I have the JD and it is great too. We had an operator error and broke a follower.

There both good, but I think the RF bender is fine for me at least.

Thanks man! It's customers like you that keep our business and innovation going!

We love seeing these discussions, keep the questions and comments coming guys

 

[RPM289]

I really want a bender but can't see 7-800 on one no more than I will use it... maybe I need to expand my usage plans

 

[EB70]

I use a 1.75" die. Also, the vertical axis is why I wanted it. I have a small shop that has vertical room, but not much horizontal at the moment. The one at work (the JD) needs some space.

One of my seniors made a pretty cool picnic table using the Rogue and he did a great job with it. He is bright and got repeatable bends with basically no waste other than the first bend.

 

[BroncoDesignTN]

Hey Cory, I keep looking for the pics on your site with the half cab?
Just kidding glad to see your around for question other than for your products. Sorry for the high jack.

Hey Steve! I haven't forgot about your pictures...just haven't updated the website in awhile but I will get to it!