Harbor Freight tool?

[76rustomatic]

Has any one used or own the 12 ton pipe bender they sell for $99.00 bucks?
Can I use it to build a roll cage?

 

[SnwMnkys]

Is it the one with the hydrailc ram in the center? Ive seen one person build decent cages using one, but they had access to a foundry and built better dies. Everyone else says they are peices of junk as far as building cages go, you will end up with crimped bends.

 

[76rustomatic]

yep thats the one. says it will bed up to 2". They also have a bench top unit looks like you need a strong back for that one.

 

[scorpio007]

I have the pipe bender you speek of

I have used it to build bumpers and for light bends in smaller tubing they are right though it will crimp the tube on bends that are over 25 degrees or so. There is a trick to help combat this but it is time consuming and must be done just right. You can fill the tube with sand and cap the ends. I have done this with some sucess. But it does not always work perfectly. But hey some of us can't afford a hydraulic mandrel pipe bender in the thousands so we do what we can. It's just cool when you do it yourself.
Good Luck
SCORPIO

 

[Broncobowsher]

The dies are for bending pipe. Most cages are made of tubing. What’s the difference? Tubing is measured by its OD (outside diameter), Pipe is measured by ID (inside diameter). The pipe dies don’t fit tubing. The poorer the fit of the dies, the worse the bend comes out.

I have used the bender with the 2” die on heavy wall 2” pipe. The die spread and the pipe crushed to half its diameter. But that bender worked great for bending ¾ brass pipe for plumbing the pool light.

 

[sstlaure]

Get a Protools Pro105 Bender if you want to build a cage. The manual version is fairly inexpensive and will work fine. You'll crimp the tubing with that $99 bender. (I believe pipe is extruded, i.e. continuously formed, whereas tubing is formed by rolling a flat piece of steel into a tube and welding the seam.) You have more control over the material properties with the tubing forming process.

 

[Pirate EB]

I have the Northern Tool version (same thing) that I got for $70. I am very happy with it. For the money it has worked very well for me. I have built several bumpers, but no cages. The only thing I have had kink was thin conduit and exhaust type pipe. The 2 rollers on the end will sometimes put small indentations on the tube, but I have found that putting a thin piece of wood will prevent that. This topic has been covered before, so you could find more info if you do a search. I remember one member here doing a cage with one.

 

[wildbill]

%) %) %) They work good on PIPE but not well on tubing. Save up and get a tubing bender if tubing is what you want to bend. If you use a pipe bender you must pack the tub full of sand and cap the ends. That way it wont crush the bend good luck. %) %) %) Bill %)

 

[azkikker]

Take a look at these guys!!!!

Try these guys, http://www.jd2.com/ not real cheap and not real costly.
I've got one and have bent 2 -1.75 - and 1.5 and it works great.
Certain things to know about tubing tho.
Get on the net and do some looking.
There are minimum radii for different thicknesses of tubing
and if you exceed these limits, your chances are good if you
take a hard roll your cage will collapse.

 

[76rustomatic]

thanks for the info. that pro tools bender is great but a bit to much $$$ for me right now. that model 3 is also selling on ebay now. might have to rob the piggy bank.

 

[ehumaui]

I have one, you can have it for half the price.....Don't buy it. Like it has been said it is for bending pipe, not tube bending. I found out the hard way. Steel cost a pretty penny. I am using JDII tube bender to finish my family roll cage. It works great. See if your local club has one you can borrow.


Russell