[sogone]

Hey guys,

I intend on making up my own tube bars and maybe eventually a cage. It's not something that will happen over night but i'm hoping to over time build a few bars and have a play with ideas and basically teach myself a bit about design so I can be as handy as some of the folk around here.

I will be taking a TAFE course in welding that starts next thursday. I can MIG weld now ok, through trial and error but this course will give me the know how to do alot more then just stab in the dark. This course will go through different welds, different materials to use and shit like that.

But I will need a pipe bender soon to start playing with.

Now from searching through forums most people make their bars using 50 MM tube, and about 3 mm think. I think. This whole OD and NB thing is confusing... but this gets covered in the course so that's no issue.

From everyones experience will something like this work for my intent purposes?

12 Tonne Pipe Bender

Or would the 16 tonne be the one I need.

Thanks guys,

gone.

[BlueSuzy]

Any cheapo dies are going to give you kinks. Best bet would be buy one of them benders, then invest in some Dawn dies

cya

[Kermy87]

BlueSuzy wrote:

Any cheapo dies are going to give you kinks. Best bet would be buy one of them benders, then invest in some Dawn dies

cya

X2 I bought a Supercheap 12 tonn pipe bender to build my bars with and couldn't even get a 45* bend without a kink on 50mm pipe. Ended up giving the exhaust bloke up road a carton to bend it all up for me, so so much easier and cheaper

Morell of the story, don't by cheap pipe benders, u get what u pay for
Cheap useless shit u can't get a refund for

[banga]

the heavier the pipe the better they work but they are still crap. if you used one with an oxy and filled the pipe up with sand and capped the pipe. a fair bit of work though. i have got a 45deg bend out of 3.2mm wall thickness with out doing these things though.

[zooky08]

I got a cheap 12 tone pipe bender
The dies were crap as, so I got a die made up for the size pipe I was using
I'll be buying a jd squared bender next
Pitty they don't come with the dies

[Fatzook]

zooky08 wrote:

I got a cheap 12 tone pipe bender
The dies were crap as, so I got a die made up for the size pipe I was using
I'll be buying a jd squared bender next
Pitty they don't come with the dies

No bender worth owning comes with dies. Infact any machinery or plant will require you to tool up.

[JCZOOK]

I tried the cheap bender as well, with piss poor results. I bought a JD squared bender from Pete at OPW and couldn't be happier with it. It's worth the extra cash outlay and will pay itself off anyway

[sogone]

So from what I gather these JD squared rigs are pretty shit hot.

However for someone who just wants to play in the shed, one of these 12 tonne benders with a dawn dies would be the way to go? Can't justify spending $550 + tax + freight to darwin + $310 for a die + tax. :\.

Maybe in a few years but not just yet :\.

[evolution]

Jus t bought a JD 32 bender with 2 dies to do 180degree bends its sweet very easy and perfect bends

[sogone]

How much did you pay? All up? ^^

[zooky08]

I'm guessing around $1300 to $1500

[shep]

there has been a lot of bar work built with cheap benders, as long as ya use quality pipe
ya get acceptable results. i take the dies to a pipe shop and so i can find pipe
that fits the die well. they are hard work and i would like a JD2 however it is
what i could afford at the time and all the pipe stuff on my car was built with it.

[evolution]

Paid $1912 to my door JD32 bender 2 dies that do 180 degree bends and a notch master pipe notcher

very happy with both I got a 1 inch and a 1 1/2 inch pipe dies

[sogone]

Shep, Any particular cheap bender you'd recommend? Super Heap one or something from Ebay? It's about $370 delivered for one of those 16 tonne ones that do up to 3 inch supposedly.

[shep]

i paid around $200 for a up to 3" jobbie from the tool shop on winnellie road.
i think it is called total tools or something like that.

it isnt awesome and about 80deg is its limit but it does the job and it is possible to work around its shortcomings.

[sogone]

That would do the trick just nicely. I think it's called something else now. It's had about 5 name changes in two years.

[shep]

sogone wrote:

That would do the trick just nicely. I think it's called something else now. It's had about 5 name changes in two years.

yep thats the one

i think that the hairy forbs dealer has them as well for cheap.
cant remember what his business name is however i think he is in the old yamaha pitmins building.

[sogone]

Might have a gander on pay day. Hopefully the wife doesn't conveniently take my bank card to work with her again . It's a pain having to go to the bank and get money out

[jonno_racing]

i have a cheep one with a 40nb die. works a treat.