Tubing Bender

[bigmac68]

Has anyone had any experience with either the JD2 or Protool 105 tubing benders? I have been thinking about getting a JD2 but I would like to know if others have had a good experience with it. Any other brands I should consider? Any input would be appreciated. It is a lot of money to drop so I would like to make the right decision.

Thanks

Brian

[extremetownie]

i use a protools 105. it works but i had to convert to air over hydraulic pretty quick. you need to be a big ole boy to bend much manually.

[bigmac68]

What size tube are you bending? What dies did you get? I am trying to figure out what radius die to select. I would like to get dies that would allow me to do work on circle track and drag cages (1 3/4), but I am not sure whether I should go with a large or small radius die. I think small would be good for inside a car but it would not work as well for exoskeletons. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the reply

[extremetownie]

i asked the same question before i bought mine. i decided on the 180 degree die on advice from friends and i think it was the right decision. there are a lot of bends we do that require over 90 degrees. i do most rock crawling cages and exo cages and a few side by side cages and i have not had a problem with the radius. i use a 1 3/4 die mainly and use a 1 1/2 on the small buggies that are real weight conscious. 1 1/2 is much easier to notch. i was really surprised . i got a deal on some 1 3/4 stainless tubing i have been using a lot lately. bends real good, notches nicely, it is real difficult for me to mig weld. im looking at a tig now.

[bigmac68]

What are you using to notch? I have a Miller Syncowave 200 Tig I like it very well but if I had it to do over again I would find an older syncrowave with out all the circuit boards. I already lost the main board under warranty, i would guess it was at least $500. FYI stainless is still a pain in the A$$ with a Tig. I weld alot of stainless, to do it right you have to back purge the weld so it does not beehive on the backside. I do mostly headers so backside of the weld is more important than on cages.

[extremetownie]

i mainly use my plasma cutter and a pipe master, or on 90 degree notches i use a chop saw. i sure wish i was good enough to do headers. they scare the **** out of me.. the stainless tubing i got was 409. maybe the same stuff you use. we had our doubt about it but we have tested it and it seems to be some tough stuff. at least equal to hrew.

[bigmac68]

What scares you about headers? What is a pipe master?

[extremetownie]

this is a pipe master. i find it very helpfull on some notches. http://www.pipemastertools.com/ i need to build a set of headers for a zuki i put a 4.3 in and i have put it off for a year. headers just seem so complicated to me.

[bigmac68]

I have seen pipe masters before on speed vision. I may have to invest in one once I get the bender. On the topic of headers, Mild steel is super easy to work with if your tiging. I always by the pre-bent 90s or 180s and a collector. The biggest thing is not to weld yourself into a corner. I usally tack the tubes with a mig on the vehicle once they are fitted. Then mark the orientation really well and break sections back appart so I can weld them out with the tig. If you use stainless flanges remember to slot the bolt holes to compensate for the thermoexpansion of the stainless. And never buy a set of header and think you will modify them to work it will take three times as long as buying bends and starting form scratch.

[pieter]

I used the JD/2 bender from the advice of Jon Martin. I actually got my steel guy to buy one for a handrail job that we got. We Got the air over hydraulic assist to go with it. I don't remember the exact die specifications. But we were not building cages or exo-cages like Roger. Just plain old handrails.

We put a lot of tube through it and it was easy to duplicate bends. You can take a look at some of the pics and see what we did. Nothing complicated though.

Pieter







http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmvliet...th/2038567980/