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mudforblood
09-09-2009, 09:57 PM
After a LOT of research and him hawing around on what to get, I bit the bullet and got all of the parts to build a air/hydro bender. It seems to fit my needs the best. A long thread on Pirate about it here:http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376183
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/bender.jpg
Pros:
-flexibility of not having to mount the bender to the floor or something really heavy.
-the cost of buying a new bender and heavy enough for me not to break where this one I'm building a little heavier.
-the cost of buying a new bender with hydro $$ or modifying a cheaper version.
-noob friendly bending vertically with an angle finder and use less floor space.

Cons:
-have to build it myself which is subject to accuracy with basic garage tools
-hoping it all works
-only uses protools dies, not sure if thats bad or not

Costs:
-The plans $18 and bushings $42(not needed) since I cant machine parts from gottrikes (http://www.gottrikes.com/)
-air/hydro from harbor freight $72 with online coupon
-Most of the steel was scraps laying around except for the 5/8" for the arm or $300 from got trikes maybe
-240* dies from protools 260$, probably could find them cheaper
-pins from mcmaster carr $25

Krod
09-09-2009, 10:17 PM
Sweet!

If you need any parts cut, give me a call/PM and we'll fire up the plasma.
Will work for coil-over mounting hoops :037:

mudforblood
09-09-2009, 10:25 PM
While I was waiting for parts to show up and looking at notchers I said screw it and bought bendtech pro instead of a notcher for now. The main seller right now was the wrapper thing for cutting notches. The setting to calculate outside diameter makes it nice for notching with torches, plasma, bandsaw, chopsaw, grinder or whatever else I have around vs. the inside diameter with a notcher and the grinding off the thin parts anyways.

An added bonus is it's really easy to design stuff fast. My imagination sometimes cost me time and money where this way I can just delete it and start over. Definitely worth the money even for recreational use.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/notch.jpg

A generic tube fender I drew in 10 minutes just playing around, it's not exact.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/bendtechfender.jpg

mudforblood
09-09-2009, 10:30 PM
Sweet!

If you need any parts cut, give me a call/PM and we'll fire up the plasma.
Will work for coil-over mounting hoops :037:

See above. lol. I can use that and can borrow a plasma or use other tools. Hopefully by this weekend I can start bending some so mounting hoops would be good practice. We can work something out, I'll PM you when it's ready.

Krod
09-09-2009, 10:40 PM
Sounds good. I've got the plasma if/when you decide to try notching with that method. I take it bendtech gives you printouts so you can "wrap" the tube to see your notch in 3D and mark it with a marker?

mudforblood
09-09-2009, 10:59 PM
Yep. The wireframe picture above has the little squiggly picture beside it, thats the black and blue highlighted spot where the flare meets the fender in the bigger picture. Just print the little one out, cut it out with scissors, wrap it around the tube and mark it. Does that make sense?

The other setting is for a notcher wrap and shows the inside of the notch. My guess is that you wouldn't need the wrap if you had a good notcher though, but it might help.

Christopher
09-09-2009, 11:50 PM
I bought those plans..still have them
Then bought the jd2
It was just cost of material/time thing.
Hope it goes well if you need anything machined let me know

The pro is a time/ material saver for sure. My only problem is the idiot using it (me) sometimes puts in bad dimensions...garbage in garbage out.
I need the update for square tube.
I've used the wrap a couple times. definately cool

Have fun

gonecheenin
09-10-2009, 07:08 AM
Very interesting!


Can't wait to see how this comes out :icon_keel:

DeathBlade556
09-10-2009, 08:24 AM
I bought those plans..still have them


We were going to buy thouse plans to make one of these benders for our mini baja team. Want to make a donation? (plans) :003:

limegreentj
09-10-2009, 09:28 AM
you can get the plans for free from either jd2 or pro tools....

DeathBlade556
09-10-2009, 11:56 AM
Not for the air over hydro bender, I got plans form protools, looks like the same amount of drilling for a manual so why not powered.

limegreentj
09-10-2009, 12:06 PM
i didnt think they'd be different at all...i dunno

Christopher
09-10-2009, 12:29 PM
i didnt think they'd be different at all...i dunno

In the past they were not different
I converted manual to air/hydo

limegreentj
09-10-2009, 12:47 PM
the only thing i figured would be different is the hydraulic cylinder, but not different enough to change the plans...but what the hell do i know about fab...lol

mudforblood
09-10-2009, 11:51 PM
If the $18 for the plans would put you over budget then don't even bother with buying dies or tube.:flipoff2: Or a jeep for that matter.

It wasn't really about the money, I just like the design and felt like trying to make it myself with mostly primitive tools for the novelty of it. I also don't like stealing someones time and energy they put into a product/design. Add the time, materials and headaches it is the same price anyways.

If I used the bender to try and make any money then buying one is the way to go. If this doesn't work or breaks then it will be up to me to fix it or throw it in the scrap pile. If I bought one it would up to them to fix it or throw it in their scrap pile and make it right for me. It's hard to put a price on good customer support.

mudforblood
09-15-2009, 10:41 PM
Well it's working now. I just need a few cosmetic welds and touch it up then paint it. As of this morning the base was welded, the uprights were drilled and the back brace was welded. Today I lined everything up and tacked it. I made a few more pieces and finished it enough to bend tonight. It works great!

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/S5031944.jpg

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/S5031947.jpg
Test bend. I didn't want to push my luck today and go all the way to 180*.:042:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/S5031951.jpg

justin'sbig7
09-15-2009, 10:58 PM
looks good!

Christopher
09-16-2009, 12:13 AM
Good work

RalphDogg
10-08-2009, 09:01 PM
why didn't you mount your die horizontal like every other bender? how are you going to bend tube that's higher than your ceiling?

limegreentj
10-08-2009, 09:05 PM
outside...lol

mudforblood
10-08-2009, 09:30 PM
Yep, mostly outside at my house. Other garages I use it in have 12 foot ceilings and I probably wont bend much that big anyways. A plus is this takes up little space when not in use.

limegreentj
10-08-2009, 09:31 PM
the only thing that would suck is having to bend something big outside in the winter

tjblair
10-08-2009, 09:36 PM
why didn't you mount your die horizontal like every other bender? how are you going to bend tube that's higher than your ceiling?

Not all benders are horizontal. Our tubeshark is verticle like that

mudforblood
10-08-2009, 09:38 PM
I hibernate in the winter anyways.:003:


I just use my dads shop if I need to in the winter. Another thing is I would be bending a 24 ft piece for it to be an issue I would think. Otherwise just bend it the other direction with the long part parallel to the floor.

limegreentj
10-08-2009, 09:41 PM
good point

RalphDogg
10-10-2009, 06:47 PM
the design seems backwards no matter how you put it, sorry.

tjblair
10-10-2009, 07:02 PM
Doesn't seem backwards at all. If we had a horizontal machine and I was making a bend in the middle of a tube, I would have to make sure that there was nothing in the way in the shop for the tube to side swipe. So long as you have the height For a verticle machine(which is not an issue for me) then you take up less room in the shop while bending. IMO.

Christopher
10-10-2009, 09:38 PM
the design seems backwards no matter how you put it, sorry.

Show us pictures of your bender. What do you use?

justin'sbig7
10-10-2009, 10:50 PM
the design seems backwards no matter how you put it, sorry.

dont see whats so backwards about it? you put the tube in, and it bends up... looks a lot like a jd2 just mounted vertically

limegreentj
10-10-2009, 10:52 PM
like i said...either way it works...it doesnt matter if it is "backwards" "frontwards" "sideways" or whatever.....its personal preference really and it still works the same

mudforblood
10-10-2009, 11:01 PM
edit: I'm slow./\ what they said too.lol

It is different from the norm., which is why I like it. I hate doing things just because everyone else does. If there's a good justified reason to then I will but to just say it's backwards doesn't seem like a very good reason. I'm not arguing against other setups, just stating my reasoning in why I liked this setup for my use. I'll never use it for business so production isn't part of my decision. Portability and storage space were the major factors.

This is also a vertical bender on the cheap side.http://www.probender.com/&http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734642
If I found that earlier I would have probably bought it instead. Although I do enjoy using the bender I built with some scraps and misc shop tools. :gear_cool2:

RalphDogg
10-15-2009, 04:53 PM
whatever works for ya then. i have a jd2.

gonecheenin
10-15-2009, 05:09 PM
They have a vertical bender on Xtreme 4x4.

2002wranglerX
10-15-2009, 11:19 PM
They have a vertical bender on Xtreme 4x4.

i thought jessie left :106:

mudforblood
10-29-2009, 08:45 PM
I finally finished something with the bender! It's working great. I'll put up another thread for the carrier.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k116/mudforblood/fab/S5031996.jpg

busij44
10-29-2009, 09:38 PM
I like it!!!!! Nice work.

Christopher
10-29-2009, 10:00 PM
Nice!

limegreentj
10-29-2009, 10:07 PM
that backwards bender works pretty damn good!!! lol :D

mudforblood
10-29-2009, 10:13 PM
Thanks guys! I did have to cut a hole in the roof of the shop to get it to work though.:082:

gonecheenin
10-29-2009, 10:37 PM
That is SEXY!!!!!!

mrdylanr
10-29-2009, 11:43 PM
that thing is tits! Got any picts of it flipped down?