racepak

:P

just wondering

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hydra...QQcmdZViewItem

buk9tp

------- worthless and in the end your not really saving jack ---- cause the dies themselves and parts to build it are expensives

racepak

i aint really gonna buy a bender, just wanted to look for the plans to see how it works

edit,
found them:
http://www.mechwerks.com/Bending.htm

96turboracer

Lies man, lies.....

In the end you have a bender that's automatic, not manual, and I can move it around where I need it because I don't have to bolt it to a concrete floor that I'm just renting.

and the final cost still comes in around $400- cheaper if you get a better deal on materials.....

camsshaft

F that right in the A. Get something simular to this and you'll be extremely happy. We used something simular to this one at our shop for years and never had any problems. Ours wasn't even that fancy. We had like $450 into ours I believe. Check out the video on the bottom of the page. It's very easy. It just takes some time playing around and bending tubing to start to learn how to effectively and properly use it. You'll learn fast unless you like to waste expensive chromoly!!!!!

camsshaft

http://www.bii1.com/benders_a1.htm ..........yeh there it is

MechWerks

We designed the MechWerks hydraulic bender to be a home/small shop machine that can be self built (although the bottom follow bar rollers can be an issue to machine...so we sell them if needed). Figuring that anyone that can assemble bent tube has the tools and welder to make the basic machine. Die sets are available commercially and do cost around $250 depending on the size and includes a radius die, follow bar, tube strap, strap pin and clamp bolt...actually a good price considering the machine work material cost and quality.

The bender was created to take the place of the typical horizontal mechanical benders like JD Squared and Pro-Tools. Mechanical benders require a stand that is bolted to a solid object (like the floor). Mechanical benders require a lot of room for the swinging tube as it bends and the lever that runs the machine. Last, the mechanical benders need accessory angle gauges and/or angle tools to measure bends and are difficult to use.

In order to produce a number of decent quality bends, a small shop has to realize that these $260 machines, $250 die sets and maybe another $100 for stand and accessory items is about as low cost as possible to produce quality structural bends for motorcycle frames, roll cages, bumpers or any other bent tube structure. Lower cost benders typically have poor results.

Our bender was designed to use minimal material and be about as simple as possible to build. Unfortunately the bottom follow bar rollers do not seem to be available anywhere as a common purchase item. They are 1-3/4" steel round with a 3/4" center hole, 5-3/4" long. If a shop can't make the parts or have them made, we offer the parts for a cost. Otherwise other materials are pretty common and hardware store type hardware. The bender uses a 12 ton hydraulic jack for power. Tube bends vertically so less room is taken up by the machine and a simple magnetic base angle finder reads exact bend angles in real time (an the angle finder can be used in the shop on the tube projects). The machine is compact and weights around 100# complete with dies and jack installed. Because of the weight, it is recommended the machine is bolted down to a solid surface to prevent the machine from tipping. A bench is best, a piece of plywood on the floor also works. Have even seen them mounted in a type three trailer hitch on pickups. Because of the compact size...the bender neatly stores away in a corner of the shop when not being used taking much less room to store than manual benders and less a lot of setup and solid mounting issues. The bend quality is as good as most commercial machines costing into the $5000 range and above (big difference is they are powered...on this bender you pump the jack handle).

Then there is the satisfaction of building a tool that works and lets you make serious fabrication projects. We build custom motorcycle frames and use our machines daily. Not just for bending tube but also as a hydraulic press for parts assembly and bend press operations.

You are not going to save a lot of money building your own bender. The basic material costs and time spent building your own still comes close to a mechanical bender in cost. Then you really need to do a number of bends to make the expense pay for itself. But sometimes capacity to do your own fabrication quickly pays for itself and benders usually re-sell with little depreciation.