Ray Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I am looking at buying one of the pipe benders that Harbor Freight sells and using it to bend roll bar tubing...anyone done this ??? Does it give a clean bend with out colapsing the tubing... All I have ever used it the Greenlee type with the aluminum dies...from what I have read the dies are the wrong size being that they are pipe dies...Pipe is measured on ID and tube on OD... any thoughts.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted June 4, 2001 Author Share Posted June 4, 2001 ?????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I have no knowledge of Harber Freight's unit. However, I do have a unit from Northern Tool that is a 12 ton unit that works well. It doesn't kink the tubes, and the dies fit the tubing well... It is currently on sale for $99! Mike Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I haven't had much luck with mine. (Harbor Freight's 12 Ton sideways hydraulic ram with a set of dies which push between 2 wheels) I was only able to get "crush" bends in 2" 18 ga. ehhaust pipe. Yet to try a heavier wall pipe. Maybe 0.120" will bend, rather than kink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted June 4, 2001 Author Share Posted June 4, 2001 Trevor... for exhaust tubing the best way I have found is to pack it with sand and then heat the tube before you bend it... try it that way it shouldn't kink...and if you are careful it will look like a mandrel bend.... Mike... they look to be the same bender... what do the bends look like and what size dies does it come with ??? what size tubing and wall thickness are you using ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted June 6, 2001 Share Posted June 6, 2001 Mine came with 6 different dies...from 1/2 inch up to 2 inches. I have bent some 1.5 inch .120 wall stuff, and some .134 inch 1 3/4 tubing... the tubing did not kink at all. Stuff looks fine to me. Only thing I noticed is that the tubing gets ovalized due to the nature of the bending... No split in the seem though. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted June 6, 2001 Share Posted June 6, 2001 i havent seen these personally so hard to make a exact comment. but pipe and tube benders are different. a friend has a real tube bender - power/hydraulic makes nice bends for cagework. i dont think i would trust a pipe bender on tube myself. ya gets what ya pay for.. buy a Cheap tube bender from a race car place and youwill likely only need one set of dies . my tubeframe car is made from 1.25" but most cages in production cars are 1.5", so i would start with 1.5" dies. theyre about $400 though... try williams lowbuck tools, pro tools etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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