- Thread starter Tombodge
- Start date
Hello. Sorry im new here. Im a bit of a diy fabricator. I need to make a new trolly for work and i want to build it from 1" mild steel tubing. Idealy 2mm thick but i can drop to 1.5mm thick if need be. My project requires me to have some fairly tight 90 deg bends like in the picture above.
The only tube bending ive done in the past was with on of the floor standing manual benders but they dont produce a bend anywhere near as tight as id like. What process would the bend in the picture above be made with? Or what tool? I cant find anything with a die small enough to produce that kind of bend.
I was thinking along the lines of building a 18mm plywood jig. Fill my tube with sand and heat it but its somthing ive never tryed before.
It doesnt need to be smooth. Im not bothered about thinning or the odd ripple but i would like it to look perfessional.
Any help or advice would be massivly appreciated.
Cheers Tom
The only tube bending ive done in the past was with on of the floor standing manual benders but they dont produce a bend anywhere near as tight as id like. What process would the bend in the picture above be made with? Or what tool? I cant find anything with a die small enough to produce that kind of bend.
I was thinking along the lines of building a 18mm plywood jig. Fill my tube with sand and heat it but its somthing ive never tryed before.
It doesnt need to be smooth. Im not bothered about thinning or the odd ripple but i would like it to look perfessional.
Any help or advice would be massivly appreciated.
Cheers Tom
Gareth0123
You'll need 16 pigs to do the job in one sitting!
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How tight does the Centre Line Radius have be?
Wherever I have worked in the past, the bending dies for 1" O/D tube have always been 3"CLR. I really don't think I've ever come across another CLR for 1" O/D in either the Hydraulics or fabrication sectors.
My JD2 bender has a 3"CLR X 1" O/D die and follower set, and I do use it a lot especially for 1" O/D X 12 gauge ERW tube. I have also used my JD2 bender to bend 16g, 14g, 11g & 10g wall thicknesses as well.
Here is a photo of the base fabrication for the Camel saddle frames I make for export. All the bends in this photo are 3" CLR X 1" O/D X 12 g wall thickness ERW.
Wherever I have worked in the past, the bending dies for 1" O/D tube have always been 3"CLR. I really don't think I've ever come across another CLR for 1" O/D in either the Hydraulics or fabrication sectors.
My JD2 bender has a 3"CLR X 1" O/D die and follower set, and I do use it a lot especially for 1" O/D X 12 gauge ERW tube. I have also used my JD2 bender to bend 16g, 14g, 11g & 10g wall thicknesses as well.
Here is a photo of the base fabrication for the Camel saddle frames I make for export. All the bends in this photo are 3" CLR X 1" O/D X 12 g wall thickness ERW.
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Wendelspanswick
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I agree, the Hilmor type benders seem to have one radius for each die size.
C
Chris Stevens
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Gareth0123
You'll need 16 pigs to do the job in one sitting!
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Not with the JD2, the waisting on the bend of 16 gauge is around 1% of tube diameter.... but that is why good quality dies & followers are not cheap.
C
Chris Stevens
Guest
Have you tried any thinner than that?
Gareth0123
You'll need 16 pigs to do the job in one sitting!
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I have bent 1" x 18g ERW to 90* on one job only and as I recall there was insignificant waisting.
I have bent 7/8" X 20g ERW @ 3" CLR, 3/4" X 20g ERW @ 2.25"CLR, 5/8" X 20g ERW @ 2.25" CLR and 1/2" X 20g ERW @ 2.25"CLR many times with minimal waisting, but the outside of the tube must be lightly polished and slightly oiled to prevent any defects catching and dragging on the follower and causing minor collapsing of the tube in the radius of bend.... well, that is my experience.
Note: That I have also bent a fair amount of 1/2" X 20g ERW @ 1 & 1/2" CLR using my Ridgid 400 series Instrument bender without a single issue or any significant waisting, but again the tube must be next to spotless and without defect.
I have bent 7/8" X 20g ERW @ 3" CLR, 3/4" X 20g ERW @ 2.25"CLR, 5/8" X 20g ERW @ 2.25" CLR and 1/2" X 20g ERW @ 2.25"CLR many times with minimal waisting, but the outside of the tube must be lightly polished and slightly oiled to prevent any defects catching and dragging on the follower and causing minor collapsing of the tube in the radius of bend.... well, that is my experience.
Note: That I have also bent a fair amount of 1/2" X 20g ERW @ 1 & 1/2" CLR using my Ridgid 400 series Instrument bender without a single issue or any significant waisting, but again the tube must be next to spotless and without defect.
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C
Chris Stevens
Guest
That sounds very interesting. I have wanted a tube bender for a while but was put off the rotary ones by the idea that necking on thinner tubes, was very likely. How much for manual bender and a set of formers?
Gareth0123
You'll need 16 pigs to do the job in one sitting!
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My JD2 M3 has weighed me in at about £1200-£1300 overall, but includes the following die and follower sets: 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", 1", 1 & 1/4", 1 & 3/8", 1 & 1/2", NB 3/4" and NB 1". It has been worth every penny and then some to me.
The worst bender I have used is the Baileigh RDB-25 bender. That was absolutely diabolical to use. The tube was waisted by about 20%, the tube retainer either heavily marked or collapsed the tube by 10% or more at the start of the bend, and I had to hammer the tube to release it from the die.
Baileigh were an absolute nightmare to deal with and wouldn't refund me even though I sent them a video of it causing the mentioned problems with all sizes of dies including the ones for box/square section. In desperation I put it up for sale on eaby starting at £1 unreserved and it sold for £25 more than I originally gave for it.
The worst bender I have used is the Baileigh RDB-25 bender. That was absolutely diabolical to use. The tube was waisted by about 20%, the tube retainer either heavily marked or collapsed the tube by 10% or more at the start of the bend, and I had to hammer the tube to release it from the die.
Baileigh were an absolute nightmare to deal with and wouldn't refund me even though I sent them a video of it causing the mentioned problems with all sizes of dies including the ones for box/square section. In desperation I put it up for sale on eaby starting at £1 unreserved and it sold for £25 more than I originally gave for it.
C
Chris Stevens
Guest
Thanks...........very useful info. Was your JD2 new or bought a while ago, as price seems very low compared to those being asked today?
Gareth0123
You'll need 16 pigs to do the job in one sitting!
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I bought my JD2 M3 new from Tubela six years ago complete with 1/2" thru 1" dies sets and secured a decent deal.
The following year an internet friend in Portland Oregon bought for me the new 1 & 1/4", 1 & 3/8" and 1 & 1/2" dies sets and shipped them directly to me.
The next year I bought the NB 1" set from Tubela, and last year I bought the NB 3/4" set, again from Tubela.
My internet friend was already using the JD2 M3 in his business and it was his advice I followed when I chose a bender for my workshop after finding out that they were available though Tubela in the UK. Tubela "powered" benders were known to me through using them in previous employment, so I already had some trust in them as a company.
My friend has since relocated his family and business from Portland in Oregon to Venice Beach California, and is now on the look out for VGC used 1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1 & 1/2" square/box section die sets that will fit my JD2 M3 for me, as I keep getting enquiries regarding bending ERW box and SHS section.
The following year an internet friend in Portland Oregon bought for me the new 1 & 1/4", 1 & 3/8" and 1 & 1/2" dies sets and shipped them directly to me.
declaring an extremely low value to Customs
My internet friend was already using the JD2 M3 in his business and it was his advice I followed when I chose a bender for my workshop after finding out that they were available though Tubela in the UK. Tubela "powered" benders were known to me through using them in previous employment, so I already had some trust in them as a company.
My friend has since relocated his family and business from Portland in Oregon to Venice Beach California, and is now on the look out for VGC used 1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1 & 1/2" square/box section die sets that will fit my JD2 M3 for me, as I keep getting enquiries regarding bending ERW box and SHS section.
Alright mate. Im from sutton coldfield but im spending a fair amount of time in telford aswell
Thats just abit of scrap ive picked up from the skip. I no its not 90 degs but thats done from one of the conduit benders the sparks use on site. Im not sure about die diameters ect but ive put a tape measure across it. As you can see its not bad but id like a tighter bend than this if possible.
