making a tube bending die

[eyeball engineer]

I'm going to attempt to make a 1 1/2" die, this is what I got done today. I would like to see other peoples home made benders and dies if any one has them to post. any ideas or criticism also

[eyeball engineer]

I get it, this was a cool forum while it lasted. late

[Kinger]

So you posted 1 picture, waited a couple hours and then gave up? OK

Maybe post your plans for the project? There isn't much to give feedback on. . .

[Rojodiablo]

Originally Posted by eyeball engineer

I get it, this was a cool forum while it lasted. late

Wuhhh???

OK, I'll bite: Are you going to use dual side plates and a center tapered roller? What kind of follower are you going to use to conform the tube into the roller? Will this be a press type compression bender, or a pull around bender like a Hossfield or JD squared? I have seen some benders made of plates and a center piece; without a tight contour, it was not easy to get bends that did not flatten out or kink. Anyway, put up your next step so people can understand what you're building. Because.... so far, what we see appears to be a U-turn tube, and two circular plates. Not a bender........

[crl283]

I agree with everyone else...
this has definitely got me curious? post more pic's please, plans etc...

[BNF]

How are you going to make the face/contour of the die? The part that the pipe/tube meets on the die? I've got a JD2 and a few round dies, but would like to have a few square dies. I've been studying how to build some after looking at the dies I already have. Keep the pics and ideas coming as i'm curious to your findings and designs.

[eyeball engineer]

I was thinking I pissed some people off in another thread, but oh well. the plates will go on the top and bottom of the tube where the bend is. After I can hopefully get the plates perfectly centered with the bend I will carefully weld them on. then I'll cut the tube on the center ( you can see in the pic where I traced a line while the tube was still in the die) and remove, leaving only the inside of the tube (part that's welded to the plates) making a die.
the tube pictured is 1 3/4" with 1/8" wall, so a 1 1/2" I.D. making a 1 1/2" die. I'm not the greatest at explaining things. as for making a square die, I would think that would be easier, use a circle cutter, cut out a few plates and contour the inner ones, stack them together

[Kaos]

I am interested in your project. I have been wanting to build a tubing bender for a while but I always get sidetracked on something else.

[tapwelder]

Make sure you cut out the seam. Also, if you plan on bending 180 degrees then you need more than a 180 degree die. Looks tubing is not quite 180 degrees.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

[farmersamm]

Hey man.... I don't know one damn thing about bending tubing. I don't make suggestions on what I don't know about.

Kinda like Lesbians. Dunno much about it, but I like to watch

[George Barnes]

This is an unfinished die that I was making for a little different bender design. I think that this is what he is wanting to do.

[farmersamm]

Making a bend like that, how much do you stretch the outside diameter of the tubing? Do you actually make the wall thinner? Seems to me you would have to.

[Rojodiablo]

Originally Posted by George Barnes

This is an unfinished die that I was making for a little different bender design. I think that this is what he is wanting to do.

Now it makes sense! If I could suggest something, I would make the dies out of thicker wall tubing. If you were bending aluminum or copper tube in it, I could go along with it. But steel tends to get a bad attitude when bending it. That's why the dies for a JDsquared/JMR bender are solid. It could be cheaper to make something similar, but I think it will torque itself out of square when you lean on it real hard. I have torn 4130, 1-1/2"x.188 where we had a sleeve installed inside it. The tube bender twisted on the pedestal, but its' sheer sise and mass kept it from tweaking permanently. But, I did have to loosen the bolts up, and straighten the rack out and re-tighten everything.

[tapwelder]

George did you try your design.

I would think at least it would need to by solid welded. The tubing being bent will want to go straight at at every point. If it find a weak point, then it will flatten it. Perhaps it (the die) could be filled with something. Perhaps epoxy, sand, plaster of paris.



I understood eyeballs design. Again hope the tubing has the seam on the od so it will be removed.

[eyeball engineer]

Originally Posted by George Barnes

This is an unfinished die that I was making for a little different bender design. I think that this is what he is wanting to do.

I am a visual person, not to great at explaining things, but that is pretty much what I want to do. as for the tube being a thicker wall, I was limited to the wall thickness. I use to have a jd2 mod 3, with a few dies, and sold it like a dumb a$$. I know a few people with these, a couple of which have 2" which would have been a better chose. 2" x 1/4" wall= 1 1/2" I.D., but I had easier access to the 1 3/4" die so I went with that, plus using the 2" die would of meant a larger radius, it's already kinda big with the 1 3/4". I think with welding it completely up, and adequate reinforcement it will hold. hey George how did you do it? what wall thickness? what bender did you make your bend with? does the I.D. hold it dimension, or did it need to get ground out a little? what size is your die that your making?

[George Barnes]

As I said, it is an UNFINISHED die that I was going to use in experimenting with some other ideas about a little different bender design. Here is what I was playing around with:



The main difference that I was working on was the ratcheting assembly. The JD2/ProTool type have the ratchet in the horizontal plane and require that the unit be mounted on a pedestal and require quite a bit of dedicated room to be able to use them for most bending.

The idea on mine was to apply the force needed to move the ratchet bar in the vertical direction. That way, the unit could be laid on a table or the floor at any place in the shop where room was available at that moment.

Since this is a draw bender configuration with all of the bending occurring at one point, rather than a compression bender where the tube is being wrapped around the form die, the possibility for using a mandrel exists.

If I had finished this project, I would have cast the dies in aluminum. I use a much modified Hossfeld that I have probably made a few hundred thousand bends here in my shop. The fit of the tube to the die on the fabricated one is about the same as the Hossfelds.

[BNF]

Originally Posted by George Barnes

The main difference that I was working on was the ratcheting assembly. The JD2/ProTool type have the ratchet in the horizontal plane and require that the unit be mounted on a pedestal and require quite a bit of dedicated room to be able to use them for most bending.

The idea on mine was to apply the force needed to move the ratchet bar in the vertical direction. That way, the unit could be laid on a table or the floor at any place in the shop where room was available at that moment.

I like yourself didn't like the idea of my JD2 being mounted in one location. I work out of a 24'x36' shop. When I get a vehicle inside and try to bend 20'+ pieces of tubing/pipe for a full cage, things get ugly quickly. I stumbled across a few pics of a bender similar to mine mounted vertical along with converted to air over hydro and it hit me. Thata this was a solution to my needs. I really didn't mind the manual bending, it was just that the bender had to be securely mounted to do so. I've bent 2 full cages 150'+ in each, and numerous bumpers, etc. since the conversion and couldn't be happier. Here's a link to another site where we talked about this. There's pics in this thread. This isn't mine, but just a reference I used.

http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...ead.php?t=4663
hope this ok, I didn't have any luck attaching the pics on dialup

[Brent 5631]

Here's my JD2 model three that i finished up this weekend. I made the whole thing except for the die. The arms are .5 mild steel and the pins are 4140.

[Joker11]

So you just copied piece for piece the model 3? That''s cool.
You just order dies from them then?

[chenry]

not picking, butif the cylinder is pivoting on its main mount , why the funny looking adapter
on the end of the rod. why not pin right thru the rod

[MetalArchitect]

I've always wanted to make a bender die, they are so expensive to buy... but after reading alot about people making them, even with the right tools it takes much time to due.
eventually when i get a mill/lathe i'll try to make some dies.
I've made some dies for a tube roller out of a 4" Delrin rod which i turned on a wood lathe. they came out great but wouldn't hold up in this situation, here is the bender i am currently working on




and the tube roller with delrin dies.... by the way Harbor Freight has a tube roller for $150 with steel dies from 1/2" to 2" which i'll probably pick up soon

[Brent 5631]

Originally Posted by chenry

not picking, butif the cylinder is pivoting on its main mount , why the funny looking adapter
on the end of the rod. why not pin right thru the rod

Because the cylinder doesn't fit between those two plates and i wanted to get as much usable stroke out of it as possible. attaching it to the end of the rod would have pushed it out an inch or two.

[BigSteve]

Brent,

Didn't happen to jot down any of the dimensions for the bender, did you? Any drawings you might like to share??????????????????

[mccolld]

Originally Posted by George Barnes

As I said, it is an UNFINISHED die that I was going to use in experimenting with some other ideas about a little different bender design. Here is what I was playing around with:



The main difference that I was working on was the ratcheting assembly. The JD2/ProTool type have the ratchet in the horizontal plane and require that the unit be mounted on a pedestal and require quite a bit of dedicated room to be able to use them for most bending.

The idea on mine was to apply the force needed to move the ratchet bar in the vertical direction. That way, the unit could be laid on a table or the floor at any place in the shop where room was available at that moment.

Since this is a draw bender configuration with all of the bending occurring at one point, rather than a compression bender where the tube is being wrapped around the form die, the possibility for using a mandrel exists.

If I had finished this project, I would have cast the dies in aluminum. I use a much modified Hossfeld that I have probably made a few hundred thousand bends here in my shop. The fit of the tube to the die on the fabricated one is about the same as the Hossfelds.

Excellent idea!!

[Eazy]

Originally Posted by eyeball engineer

I am a visual person, not to great at explaining things, but that is pretty much what I want to do. as for the tube being a thicker wall, I was limited to the wall thickness. I use to have a jd2 mod 3, with a few dies, and sold it like a dumb a$$. I know a few people with these, a couple of which have 2" which would have been a better chose. 2" x 1/4" wall= 1 1/2" I.D., but I had easier access to the 1 3/4" die so I went with that, plus using the 2" die would of meant a larger radius, it's already kinda big with the 1 3/4". I think with welding it completely up, and adequate reinforcement it will hold. hey George how did you do it? what wall thickness? what bender did you make your bend with? does the I.D. hold it dimension, or did it need to get ground out a little? what size is your die that your making?

I think you did an alright job here, Not bad and yes, I don't see why it wouldn't do the job some tube benders even use Wooden dies for tube but if you wish to listen to the strength issues otherwise, well just fill the guts of it up with fiberglass or something. That would make it a solid die