Who make a decent tubing bender that will bend 90 degrees ( it doesn't have to bend 180)and has hydraulics..it needs to be able to bend chromoly 1-5/8"...
http://www.jd2.com/p-32-model-3-bender.aspx The above link is a Fixed Unit or of you want a portable unit, this is what I used for numerous cages, http://www.irvansmith.com/scart/man....html?osCsid=2079f38ac5ec7fe73a94dd11f7297656 All depends on how much you wish to spend....
All it takes is money and depends on if you will only occasionally be using it or will be using it in a production setting. If I were doing it everyday there is no question I would have one of the Baileigh benders, and if I ever hit the lottery it will be one of my purchases. But we only bend tubing maybe once a year so I can't justify that expenditure. Our ProTools manual bender is fine for that frequency of use. We have had it for probably 8 years or more and whenever we drag it out it works great and has given us some nice bends. We did make a longer handle for it to make pulling it easier, but aside from that it works great right out of the box. Don
Been doing this for a lot of years, and except for the very expensive benders, the HOSSFELD type give the best results for C/M material. The problem with the other cheapie style benders is that they pull the material around the die and the result is that it flattens the outer od of the tubing and winds up being egg shaped, whereas the Hossfeld pushes the material around the die and compresses the id so the material remains round. Now if you are happy with the results you get from the other benders, that fine-- but for my customers I can not/will not use a bend that deformed for it can become a liability issue. How those benders work with mild steel I dont know, but they disrupt the C/M too much for me. A lot of companys offer chassie bends (myself included) so try and build off of that or hack and fit some U-bends and then send out to a bending house for the real stuff.
I have the JMR 1000-90 and it is a great machine and affordable, makes excellent bends, trick tools sells them on ebay with and without die packages
I bought a US Die and Tool bender almost 10 years ago. I purchased it after I first bought one of those benders that come with four aluminum dies. This bender deformed the tubes like described earlier in the thread. It took me months to get my money back. The company I bought it from had me call the manufacturer so they could teach me how to us their bender. He said I was the first to ever return his bender. The manufactures rep even had the balls to tell me that all the Hendricks cars were built using this bender. I sent it back and told them I want my money back and purchased the US die and tool bender. There are better benders, but at the time this bender was the most economical and produced great bends. If I had the money I would buy one of the others mentioned. I dont know if US Die is still around or not, but it would hurt to get a quote from them also. A friend who also built race cars bought a Pro Tools bender and he was pleased with it as well.
For a 90% Hydrolic Mittlers makes a nice one that works slick and not a ton of money. I had one and used the heck out of it till it was stolen. I now have a Mittlers 180% and I love it and like all Mittler's tools IMHO the quality is top notch. Never been around a Baileighs so can't say about them but FWIW Mittler's is USA made but I think the Baileigh is imported (somebody correct me if I'm wrong), game changer in my book.
OK, just looked at their website and Bailiegh say USA made as well. To be honest the only reason I didn't consider a Baileigh is when they sent me a catalog it didn't have prices or a price sheet and when I called to get prices the guy on the other end acted like I was a bother since all I wanted was prices. Figured I'd not bother him with a sell as well.
I have a Vic Irvin bender. Air over hydraulic. I think they are outta north Carolina. I've bent a lot with it and has always worked great
I have a pro tool bender works great I did have to add a extra tab to the shoe to pinch the tube in the dies so that when you pick up another hole in the radius die the tube does not slip and try to start the bend in another spot and kink the tube on the inside of bend.
I use a Hossfeld #2, they can get expensive with hydraulics, but it works well. Before we converted to hydraulics, it required a long handle, and at least a couple friends with "sticky" tennis shoes to bend the big stuff.
I am correcting you. Baileigh tube benders are built right here in Wisconsin....and we treat HAMB members like gold. Call me for the hookup 920-482-3220
Call me direct. Sorry for this. Just mention you are a HAMB member, ask for Shane and get the red carpet treatment. 920-482-3220
I believe the Baileigh branded RDB-50 are made overseas. At the moment (2014), the Baileigh Branded RDB-100 are made in USA. The actual manufacturer on the Rotary draw bender-100 is Rusch Machine and Design.
The Jalopy Journal
