OT: Hand-powered hydraulic bender?

[davesisk]

Has anyone ever used one of these (or anything similar). Would this bend some thick walled (like in 1/4") square tubing without collapsing it? It says it'll handle 2" solid square stock, and it is a "pipe bender" so I'd assume the answer is yes, just thought I'd ask in case anyone has experience with one of these...

12 ton hydraulic pipe bender @ Harbor Freight

Dave

 

[pajoube]

Dave,
You may want to vist the thread - Fun with Square Tubing Too, by Wroughtn Harv.
PJ

 

[davesisk]

Wow! I took a look at that thread. He was having a blast, wasn't he?

Harbor Freight and Northern Tool both sell a manual bender that's very similar to the later one he was using the (one with the handle and u-shaped parts). It's good for stock up to 3/4" or so, I believe. However, it'll bend it to a much larger angle than the hydraulic one will.

This hydraulic bender (which is essentially just a hydraulic bottle jack welded to a frame) is supposed to be able to bend 2" thick solid stock (not tubing!) up to 90 degrees. (We're talking a totally different category here!) I just might have to try that when I get home! (Unfortunately I don't have any stock that thick...) I'll be thoroughly impressed if it works as well as I hope it will. I guess it's the power of hydraulics even if it is hand-operated, eh! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Don't go there, Dave, don't go there!] I wonder....if I could rig this thing to operate off of the auxillary PTO??? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif [Oh no, Dave, you went there anyway!]

Anyway, my immediate purpose with this contraption will be bending thick-walled tubing or thick solid stock for grapple tines! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Best I can figure, bending thick stuff will be much faster than cutting and welding it into the proper curvature. I seriously considered Charlie's suggestion of trailer springs, but new is expensive compared to raw metal stock ($8/spring was the cheapest a la Surplus Center, about $25/spring everywhere else, vs. about $10 for 20' of square tubing), and I haven't found any used trailer springs at local salvage yards yet (although I've got a few more calls to make as I get time). Even if I don't use it to bend tines, I'm pretty sure I'll use it for future projects anyway.

Oh, btw, I can answer one of my own questions. I downloaded the manual, and it says if you are bending thin-walled tubing, fill it with sand first and cap it to keep it from collapsing. Cool....

Dave

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hey dave I crawled under a lot of mobil homes when they put them up on jacks they leave the axals sometimes the tires [ I am trying to rember if they used springs or just the solid axals. Anyways just a suggestion where to possible get some free metal and maby some springs. Try crawling around under a mobil home and see if you can find any unsed goodies that they use to tow the couch into its spot I would check under the older mobil homes /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
David

 

[Egon]

This bender ships at 117 pounds. To me that seems a little light to be bending solid 2 inch material. Chance's are it will work fine on hollow stock but may not be the greatest on thick walled 2 inch stuff.

Check out some other sites and get the specs on other benders for 2 inch solid stock. Also check out how the pipe fits on the dies and how the bender works. The one shown may just flatten the pipe at end of the bends.

Benders, both hydraulic and ratcheted manual ones I have seen on constructton sites were all much heavier built. They were used for electrical conduit usually up to two inches. Above that prebent threaded sections were used .

Egon

 

[davesisk]

OK, I've tried bending some 1/16" walled 1.5" square tubing a small radius to about 90 degrees, and it kinks. I'm sure I could fill it with sand and/or pick a larger radius to make it work on thin-walled stuff.

I tried putting about a 22.5 degree bend in a piece of 1.25" square tubing that has 1/8" wall, and this worked much better. It was just starting to kink at about that angle.

I'm thinking that I might try clamping the sides with some vise grip pliers to see if that helps prevent the kink also. (However, I might bend the pliers...I guess I'll see, eh).

I also may have to go buy a short piece of square tubing with 1/4" thick walls just to try it out. Judging from the difference between the 1/16" and the 1/8" walls, I'd say the 1/4" probably won't start to kink until a much greater angle.

Initial impression: for $69, this tool is a keeper!

The dies for this are all rounded seat (it IS a pipe bender, after all), but I'm thinking some dies made for square tubing would probably work perfectly (although I might have to hammer the piece out of the die after bending it).

Dave

 

[davesisk]

Last update on this thread...I tried bending some 1.5" square tubing with 1/4" wall thickness. It worked (and didn't kink up to the 22.5 degrees that I bent it), but it was hard to do with the amount of leverage available with the short jack arm. I think I may have bent the bottom plate that the jack is welded to just a bit. Hmmm, and this thing was supposed to be able to bend 2" thick solid square or round stock? I don't think so.

Not sure about this guy now. It does pretty well with the 1/8" walled tubing, but 1/16" kinks and 1/4" seems to be too thick. It was only $69, but I may have to think on it over the weekend as to whether this tool really is a keeper or not.

Do you guys think 1/8" walled square tubing is thick enough for grapple tines, or should I go heavier at 1/4" wall? I want to keep the weight down so I don't reduce the weight I can pick up by a ridiculous amount. I'm the 1/8" wall thickness square tubing is probably a good enough choice.

Dave

 

[MossRoad]

Dave,
My grapple fingers are 5/8" thick X 3" wide and the center tubing is near 1/4" wall. The whole thing probably weighs less than 50 pounds, less a hydraulic cylinder that I have yet to install. So I bet your tubing will not be too much weight. Any pics of the bender and some bent stock yet?... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[davesisk]

MR:

Thanks for posting the pic. So, where will the cylinder's attachment point on the jaw actually be? Are you going to weld another arm to the tubing that's the "axle"?

Thx,
Dave

 

[duane]

Dave,

I think 1/8" will be heavy enough. The strength will increase as you cold work it in your bender. How are you cutting your steel, I just built a spade bucket, it was tough going with just a sawzall, guess I need to get a torch. Any advice on getting a torch?

Duane