Tubing Bender Blues (Harbor Freight vs Woodward Fab)
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- Tubing benders, after boo-coo research this is what I came up with. I needed some real clean 90 degree bends (no crap) I tried the Harbor Freight 16 ton "Pipe bender" that's been in my shed for a decade so I don't have to buy a new bender, then I modified it to perform better as per CharlieBoyd65 here is the link to Charlie's video...
• Harbor Freight pipe be...
Thanks for the video and the lessons learned. The biggest issue with the Harbor Freight is it is intended for Bending thick wall Pipe so not intended for Tube. The Dies do not fit Tubing because Pipe Diameter is measured as Inside Diameter and Tubing Outside Diameter. At least that is the case where I am from. Good Video.
Yes, I totally agree! but you know how people are when it comes to trying to make something work it wasn't designed for and since I already had one I did the exact same thing but just couldn't get what I wanted out of it as far as quality bends go. If I needed just ONE good bend and I had a lot of material to try and get that ONE good bend I might have been able to pull it off but it was a total waste of time trying to get 8 identical bends of any quality. Best off getting the tool that was made for that.
The Harbor Freight unit is a PIPE bender, - as in schedule 40 {iron} Pipe, it works real well for that. - which is probably something your new one wouldn't be able to do.
Chilling man bending tube, great.
PIPE isn't TUBE, TUBE isn't PIPE.
Finkle is Einhorn, Einhorn is Finkle.
Good video showing the progression of work. I was making a roll cage with mine and the 45 degree bends were almost acceptable, when it came time for the 90 degree bends I had to have a shop do it.
+Dixon Cider I went thru the exact same thing, I went to a shop and the guy said the boss told him he could do it on his lunch break over several days, I thought...several days?? turns out they had a hand bender, I would have thought they would have a hydraulic bender being a metal shop and all, but nope. I asked the guy how long it would take to get me 8-90's out of the aluminum I supplied he said he could do 2 on his lunch break, that's when I finally said hell with it and bought the Woodward Fab bender, now I can bend anytime I want, I also bought 3 sets of dies with it.
can not believe how many wizards don't know pipe and tube ...
Yea I know... I can’t believe how many wizards don’t read the video description before popping off but... fuck it, I can’t fix stupid.
its a pipe bender and it work perfectly for me!! i also use it to bend tubes works perfectly too,the way i do it so it dont cone out like tgat is i put sand inside the tube or pipe the heat it with a torch super easy and im talking about aluminum
Yep I tried that... didn’t work to a professional standard 8 times in a row.... best i could get was maybe two good bends.
@@Bucket247 did you keep the tube hot enough? and slowly bending it? the first few times i did it it didn't work but because i was not heating the tubes enough or bending it too fast,after that they always come out super clean,play wit it around add more heat maybe is that the problem
LeoD Caribbean I experimented with it for a few days and couldn’t get 8 exact 90s... some were ok some were good but none were exact. So i bought a real bender and it works as it should.
Thanks for the information....I am a Harbor Freight fan.....I had the tube bender but only used it for exhaust systems.....under the car and out of sight. They have their place in the tool world but some things you can't go cheap. Nice to see your posting vids......Your work is missed. Have you been doing any prospecting lately?
bobbydemar-goldstryker Yea, I am a Harbor Freight fan too! I have so many tools from them it's unbelievable. I haven't been working on any prospecting video's in a while but will probably start again in the winter, I just seem to get more and more busy everyday and haven't had the time.
We use that HF unit for
SCH 40 pipe bending..Tube bending requires a rolling & drawing unit..
Great video. Probably gonna save lots of people a bunch of frustration and wasted $$...THANKS!!!
+C. Joseph Thanks CJ...I guess it comes down to how good a bend you really need, if you want a flawless bend don't go Harbor, your wasting your time, the Woodward Fab bender works great, wasn't too expensive, although when you start adding die's it can get there but I don't regret getting a better bender.
When bending copper or aluminum tubing a solid core is inserted into the tubing, then pulled out as the tube is being bent. Or, at least that is how we bend tubing at the factory.
everyone just says "tube isnt pipe" and "pipe isnt tube" no frickin shit really? i can tell you i bought a harbor freight pipe bender to bend PIPE for my jeep, and the thing cant even do that well. its all about the fit in the die. i have a JD2 now with a pipe die and it is way better. the thing about the harbor freight bender... the dies!! there is some lack of QC in them. because some dies fit their respective sizes well, and others dont. for example... the one i got it fits perfect and makes really good bends in 1 inch and smaller pipe.. those dies fit really well. anything larger the dies dont fit correctly, and the result is a kink. most times you are under the gun or trying to get shit done and you cant be screwing around with a piece of junk. if you want a hassle free experience, buy a good bender.
+Guinelle1 ....I couldn't have said it better myself!! I spent hours Grinding and cleaning the Harbor bender dies so the material would fit the die better and there was improvement BUT...not enough for me to put on a project, hey for 70 bucks I'm not that pissed, I mean if I wanted to I could still use the bottle jack for something else so it's not a total loss, and your right people stick to the pipe isn't tube and vice versa not realizing the fact is people will still buy the Harbor bender to try and bend both...or either cause it's cheap and they need it NOW. But to me the frustration of maybe getting two "decent" bends out of 10 just doesn't cut it, if you want good or even great bends...buy a good bender...bottom line!
+Bucket247 Thank you Guinelle1 and Bucket247 for that bit of information. I have been scanning youtube for a video of somebody bending pipe. Actual pipe and not tubing. Trying to find out how tight a radius the HF bender will do on 1/2" black pipe. For a project that I am doing.
That's alot of work for one bend .. I wanted one to build a roll cage but it would take me forever lol
Yea forget it, worth it to get a real bender!
Thank you for saving me a lot of time and money! I see a lot of these harbor freight benders for sale used and like everyone else I was almost drawn to the cheap price. These new good benders are getting "price wise" well within reach of hobbiest.
Are the Woodward fab and JD squared about the same bender?
No problem TMS, no matter what you do you will not get "professional bends" with the Harbor Freight bender. I do think the woodward fab and JD squared are about the same. The thing that gets you with the good benders are the cost of the die's...alot of them were 7 to 8 to 900.00! I went with the wooward because the die's were alot cheaper and now that I need a few more sizes I'm glad I did.
aluminium is always problematic you'll find because of the way it is extruded you have softer sections in the material it also depend on whether it contains magnesium what you call a common alloy which can be extremely soft at times not all aluminium is the same, be you did hit the mark annealing it abut unless you have an annealing oven it hard to get consistency that type of bender is more akin to steel. It works fine if you're bending galvanised pipe all I can say if you'd to take directly from an annealing oven straight to the bender while still warm, with dies use the smaller size with steel so the pipe almost jams into the die
I totally agree with that Gordon...aluminum is very tricky, I tried some 2" alum a couple of weeks ago and could not get a 90 out of it no matter what, I tried annealing the best I could and got further into the radius than other attempts but in the end all the bends broke.
fill it with sand and weld end shut
have you tried filling your tubing with sand before bending it?
Actually I did...then I wet the sand to get a tight pack and put more in and wetted that and so forth and yes the bends were better (and probably in most cases where a person might only need one or two of the same bends I could have gotten away with using that method but to try for 4 of the exact same professional quality was impossible without blowing thru 20 or 30 feet of alum trying and trying again.
gracias.
buen video
reason it didnt work was metal requires elasticity to it same as bending conduit, conduit is easier, pipe you are bending requires heat to bend easier, slow bending time as heat is conducted reduces kinks, ripples, and scoring
back boots from table benders work great same as conduit benders placed on ground with back edge of pipe forced into boot and boots face bending radius facing up forces perfect bending
look here 2000 dollar benders flatten pipe in bends its not the bender its the way you do it thin walled pipe flattens in short radious bends not to mention aluminum copper you anneal copper nickel thin walled pipe the trick is to plug pipe pack with sand pack it tight plug opposite end add heat to the area as you bend pipe sand will keep pipe from flattening.
That's a good video but I wouldn't use wd40 .it will ruin the steel over time . A better thing would be a gun lube like clp. Take it or leave it.
im not trying to be a smartass or anything but why didnt you just buy a good set of dies and followers and modify the harbor freight bender to use them it would have saved you some money although it would have taken a little time but with all the test bending you did it might not have been that much more and you could have had some good bends with a lot less cost. just a thought because i am thinking about doing just that with the harbor freight bender i have and if it doesnt work then ill try building one like the good benders ive seen anyways good luck on your project i hope it turns out nice
It sounds like the shoe was for emt conduit which is why it was to tight on the conduit. Next time go to an electrical contractor and see what they will charge to bend it for ya.
Roger Smith I did that, only it was a welding shop... they were too busy.
He spent $1000 to make a few 90° tubes?? How much would it cost to get on internet and ha e someone make them? $200??
Maybe.... but now I can be the one that charges 200.00...... booya!! 😂
Did you fill the pipe with sand?
yep, no consistency.
Nice result. So slow however you will need your grandkids to finish the project .
+Joe Sommers ...Up to that point I had only used it less than ten times, I'm not shootin for fast, I'm shootin for good bends.
that is not a Tubing bender that is a pipe bender maybe it will work better if you get right shit for the job and know what your doing
The facade of sunglasses is not necessary. Sit up straight and teach concisely.
brad alms .......yes sir
deberian de usar un traductor en español.
You have a pipe bender It isn't for tubing. The dies are different
Exactly!! But that doesn't stop the DIY people from modifying a Harbor Freight tool trying to get good bends out of tubing with a cheap pipe bender, the video is to show people that it's a waste of time no matter how you modify it...GET IT?
You can bend with pipe bender if you do two things. One, Use a hand bender foot ( I have 1.25 hand benders ) with a short handle and mount on one side of Harbor Freight Bender. I then added two risers on the other side of the bender to hold the roller at a different levels. I am bending with smooth bends. email me at dixoncstd@gmail.com it works smooth bends without kinks. Also on FB facebook.com/douglas.d.dixon.9 check my photos and you see it
facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210179826431627&set=pcb.10210179840591981&type=3&theater
It is a pipe bender not a tube bender
im not trying to be a smartass or anything but why didnt you just buy a good set of dies and followers and modify the harbor freight bender to use them it would have saved you some money although it would have taken a little time but with all the test bending you did it might not have been that much more and you could have had some good bends with a lot less cost. just a thought because i am thinking about doing just that with the harbor freight bender i have and if it doesnt work then ill try building one like the good benders ive seen anyways good luck on your project i hope it turns out nice