Harbor Freight Compact Bender... How's it work?

[Lanse]

Hey yall!!
Soooo.... I recently got this HF compact bender in the mail, and although I've only played with a little, I really like it!! This thing is fun, but kinda like when I first got my plasma, I think Im gonna be out of small bits of scrap steel here before too long :P

Anyway, this is a gift from CEP, so I can weld up bend tests and give the BFH a rest when I test them. So, thanks CEP, thanks a lot

He's given me a lot to think about with it, and some good instructions on bending the coupons. I just picked up some 3/8" plate to bevel and weld, and bend.

But, I've got to figure out now how to bend... Well... Everything else lol. I've watched a handful of YouTube videos about these benders, but I still don't really know what I'm doing here. Ive never used a bender before...

So, does anyone have any tips? I watched a video on making 90's which was GREAT (im gonna try that tonight, even tho the bender's not anchored to the floor yet lol), but aside from that, Im clueless. The manual could be a little more helpful, lol. But Im sure i'll get it. This bender looks simple to use and very well built.

Here's the unboxing video I made, about getting it set up. I hope you all enjoy it, Im sure it'll be in many more videos here soon. Thanks in advance, and CEP, thanks again. That was pretty cool

You Tube

You Tube

[Sample]

I bought one of those awhile back. It is sitting in the garage collecting dust. The directions seem to confuse me, so far it was a waste of money.

[Mick120]

Lanse,
That's a copy of the early superceded Shop Outfitters compact bender.
PM me.

[tapwelder]

Nice videos.

There are a few nice-- how to...bender -thread on this forum. Makes things easier than the directions.

The sharp angle tool bends too sharp for 1/8" strap. It can split the metal or leave the to very unreliable. even hot rolled stuff.

[ZTFab]

Hey Lanse...

I watched your video. Those little spacers you have go between the bender and the stand on the Phillips head screws to space the bender up so that the pins can engage all the way (look at your pin that holds the block and notice that it's not sitting all the way down).

The large button spacer goes under the block to space it up so that the bender arm can clear it.

The small button spacer and the oval tab (there should be a bolt and nut with it) are stops to make repeatable bends and they can be placed in the holes on the ring wherever you want the bender arm to stop at consistently.

You may not have to anchor that bender to the floor if you don't want to. I had the floor model like yours but didn't want to dedicate the floor space for it so I mounted it on the side of one of my benches and it works great.

If you want to mount it to the floor you can use "lag shields" and lag bolts. I used to have my JD2 tubing bender bolted down with them for years and they work great. If you need to move the bender for another project the lag shields are flush to the concrete so you won't trip over them.

Here is my bender...




I bend a lot of round stock with mine. Here is a pic of some 1/2" Cold Rolled test pieces I was doing for a project to determine bend tangents....



Hope that helps...

[DSW]

One other option for anchors are the female ramset type anchors. Where I used to work I set 4 of these in the floor and when I removed the bender I had a couple of allen type set screws that I threaded in to help keep dirt and junk out of the holes, but were still flush with the floor.


I use my Shop outfitters unit for bending test samples for practice. You need to use the 1 -1/2" dia bushing in the center and then set the block so it will hold the test piece. I haven't found it made any difference which one I used on the bender arm. It took me a couple of tries to figure out where to set the end of the test piece in relation to the block to center the bend on the weld. The easiest way I found was to simply take a plain chunk of 2" wide stock and mark distances from the end as a reference. Then I bent the piece and noted which mark was at the block and which mark was at the center of the bend and then adjusted the next test accordingly.

Edit: looks like when I did this batch I couldn't find my rectangular block so I just used the bare pin to get it done. The rect. block makes it easier to set up the bend repeatedly instead of trying to work off a round surface like shown in the last pict.

I think I have a few picts of the test pieces set up in my bender I'll dig up in a bit and add here.

Good for you CEP to send him the bender. I've been wanting to do a bend test thread and use my bender to bend a few as an example for a while, but things have either been busy or when I had time it's slipped my mind.

[shocwav3]

Originally Posted by ZTFab

Hey Lanse...

I watched your video. Those little spacers you have go between the bender and the stand on the Phillips head screws to space the bender up so that the pins can engage all the way (look at your pin that holds the block and notice that it's not sitting all the way down).

The large button spacer goes under the block to space it up so that the bender arm can clear it.

The small button spacer and the oval tab (there should be a bolt and nut with it) are stops to make repeatable bends and they can be placed in the holes on the ring wherever you want the bender arm to stop at consistently.

You may not have to anchor that bender to the floor if you don't want to. I had the floor model like yours but didn't want to dedicate the floor space for it so I mounted it on the side of one of my benches and it works great.

If you want to mount it to the floor you can use "lag shields" and lag bolts. I used to have my JD2 tubing bender bolted down with them for years and they work great. If you need to move the bender for another project the lag shields are flush to the concrete so you won't trip over them.

Here is my bender...




I bend a lot of round stock with mine. Here is a pic of some 1/2" Cold Rolled test pieces I was doing for a project to determine bend tangents....



Hope that helps...

I am really immpressed with the bend radi on those hooks. I did not think you would get that tight with a bender like that.

[Ron Padilla]

hay ZT do use that nibbler much that is on the bottom shelf of the table there? If not would you part with it, or does it have value to you?

[ZTFab]

Originally Posted by shocwav3

I am really immpressed with the bend radi on those hooks. I did not think you would get that tight with a bender like that.

I was surprised too.

The small bend on that 1/2" stock is a 1/2" radius!

[ZTFab]

Originally Posted by Ron Padilla

hay ZT do use that nibbler much that is on the bottom shelf of the table there? If not would you part with it, or does it have value to you?

I used it a bit when I first picked it up but haven't recently.

Shoot me an offer on it.

Heck Trace-A-Punch Model 3C

Probably should take this to PM so we don't F up Lanse's thread....

[Lanse]

Hey, THANKS EVERYONE!!

Ive recently gotten the unit bolted to the floor, it actually watnt that bad.

Stopped by Lowes the other day and got some of those "Red-Head" wedge anchors. I never thought they'd work, but I drilled out a set of holes and that thing is SOLID there on the floor. Its awesome!!

Now for the using it part. Ive bent up a lot of scrap metal with mine, but havent tried to make anything with it. Soooo.... Thats next. Thanks again...

Oh and ZT, no worries about crappin' up my thread, I love your posts and I really look up to you. Thanks!!

[weldermike]

Lanse I know your a country boy so you could answer this for me. Is that bender similar to the one they sell at Tractor Supply? Also, I've asked you a couple times in the past, still got your mx5100? Loved yoyur farm vids when you were younger bro!

[Lanse]

The Clarke one? Personally, Id suspect so, but I havent seen the Clarke up close and in person. Or, well, anything but in the box...

I know that you can get this bender from a LOT of different places, so I suspect its like the 4x6 bandsaw, in that somewhere in China, theres a factory that makes the things, and puts like a dozen different names on them. Who knows tho, this bender seems VERY well made

Noooo, we sold the tractor During my farming adventure, I discovered my love of welding. Eventually, the farming side of things died down and now I just weld all the time. That was a damn fine tractor tho, it got me everywhere before I got my license

Thanks for watching

[chimmike]

Glad I picked one of these up with a 20% off card. Just need to finish fabbing my table and set up the garage for a place to mount this puppy!

[Mick120]

Lanse....email me, got-r-done.
Email in last PM

[weldermike]

Lanse and rest of guys, if your interested. I bought this little rod bender about ten years ago, couldn't tell you how much I use this little $30 swapmeet special. It's from www.bacindustries .com, and I just checked them out, and they still make em. It mounts in a vise and when your done, put it back in the box and under the bench! Great for small, and even big jobs. I broke the aluminum handle doing multiple bends on 1/2 sq. bar, and made a new one out of steel. But for 30 bucks and it takes up zero space, it's a handy little score. For the price it doesn't even pay to try and make it! Only got a pic of a handle I made for the new 211, but trust me this thing is pretty slick! and only $30 bucks.

[DSW]

Several years back Denny ( Yorkiepap) did a home made bender like that either here or some where else. It's not all that hard to build and sockets will give you a wide assortment of "dies" in various diameters to work with. His was simply a heavy piece of flat stock with a bunch of threaded holes spaced out a different distances to allow for various size dies and material thicknesses.

[Martini]

Hey Lanse, what size wedge anchors did you go with on yours? I just picked up a pack of 3/8" and hope they are enough to hold my down. I would have gone to 1/2" but i don't have a masonry bit that big...

[thejonn2524]

Originally Posted by Martini

Hey Lanse, what size wedge anchors did you go with on yours? I just picked up a pack of 3/8" and hope they are enough to hold my down. I would have gone to 1/2" but i don't have a masonry bit that big...

3/8" will be fine. Mine is fastened the same way with no problems over the years.

[Martini]

Cheers! Thanks for confirming thejonn

[WyoRoy]

Your bender is basically a take-off on the old Hossfeld design...minus a mess of die sets. Here are some instructional videos from Hossfeld. I didn't take the time to look up the older print version, but it would be worth your time searching for it on the Internet as it gives a better understanding of proper pin placement,

http://www.hossfeldbender.com/video-tutorials/

[blackbart]

Your bender, a copy of shop outfitters design is very useful for multiple bends. I keep a note book on mine so that when I want to bend something, I have a basic idea where to start. For round bends (I rarely use the right angle bender) I put in the center die, that will be the diameter of the bend, 5/8 round is about max. Next I put in the sq stop block, which will go in 1 of 4 ways, I write that down. I then put in the biggest roller die that will go in and write down which handle hole it went in. So in my book I have
1 stop block position(1,2,3,4) and hole# it goes in
2 stop block measurement (the measurement of your stock to the corner of block)
3 center die size
4 handle die size and which handle hole# it goes in
I bend it until It is what I want, then draw a sharpie line on the circle for repeat bends.
So I take the first bent piece out and use it as a pattern. Maybe you take an inch or so off the distance to stop block. If it is to long, I make the blank shorter . Bingo, now you can make 100 repeat parts.
If the rod blank fits in your setup tight, it won't slip past from the stop block measurement, if it's loose, you may have to put vice grips on it to keep it from slipping past the stop block so you can make repeatable bends.
Shop Outfitters, may sell you a manual for their bender. It is almost identical and a good place to start. Theirs is much higher quality, but yours is still very usable for many things.

[blackbart]

http://shopoutfitters.com/books/
They don't seem to offer the owners manual, since there were so many chinese copies.
The books they sell probably contain pretty good ideas, even the chinese one is pretty versitile. Their newer stuff is much more powerful and looks good.

[blackbart]

Shown below is bending a "U" out of 5/8" round. Notice the stop block measurement where the vice grip is. If you are bending lots, you cand use the stop bolt on the circle instead of a sharpie mark.

[blackbart]

and pretend you don't see all the gas cans on the floor of my shop...