Hydraulic Bender Help?

[Chopper]

What do you guys think of the different hydraulic benders out there? Currently I have a local guy that builds car frames bend our tubing, but need to start doing it in house.
Mainly will be bending frame tubing .120 DOM mostly in 1 1/2 and the occasional 1 3/4. What do you think of this model?http://www.pro-tools.com/105.htm
Should I spend more and get a better machine? I need stuff that can do nice radius bends without any kinks. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Bendaman]

I have the 105HD, its a little heavier unit than the standard model 105. I,ve
been happy with the unit. The picture below is 1.25 dia. tubing 180degree
bend done with the pro-tools bender

[Billet Benny]

That pro-tools will handle your job fine. It's a fantastic little bender for chassis fabrication. I've never personally used one because I own a JD Squared, but it's nearly identical. I have heard good things about them and I would assume so since I love my JD. It's rotary draw style of bending is good for nice bends as long as you stick to the minimum wall thickness speced for each particular CLR/tube diameter combination. Look at JD2.com too. I've always been very pleased with their customer service when I've had any trouble.

[JMFabrications]

I also have the Pro Tools 105 HD, Ive had great success with it, although I do plan to convert it to Hyrdaulic soon.

[GARAGEGADGETS]

Bender

Take a look at the Hossfeld bender, it is one of th most versatile bender on the market.

[AV8OR]

GARAGEGADGETS,

Do you have the Hossfeld Bender? Can it do all the things the Pro-Tools & the JD Squared do but more? The Hossfeld seems to have much more tooling then the others do. Is that what you have found and is the reason you went with the Hossfeld?

http://www.hossfeldbender.com/

Thanks,

[big"d"]

Bender

http://www.jd2.com Check out this bender model 4 , i have this one with hydraulics it works great.

[ASKANDY]

I bought the JD2 at the PRI show about 7 yrs ago and it served well. I also have a air over hyd unit from Irvan Smith.
Here's the link to the Irvan bender.

http://www.irvansmith.com/catalog2/p...g_bender.shtml

Most all my stuff is done on it now and die changes are very easy.

Andy

[snow]

I used to own a Pro105HD.........As you can see from the picture that Bendaman posted, it makes a pretty nice bend........The Pro and Jd are similiar........another is U.S. Tool and Die.......I believe the U.S. is a bit cheaper price wise.......

I prefer the Hossfeld........It makes a (slightly) better bend.......It is also much easier and faster.........With the Pro type, You have to remove and place dies, strap and bolt the tube in place.......make the bend and do the same thing again in reverse to remove the tube........Not that big of a deal.......but a hassle compared to the Hossfeld........Just a guess but I bet the Hossfeld is at least 4 times faster........

Down side of the Hossfeld........Just price....... It is not a mechanical rachet type bender......So you must have the hydraulics to bend larger tubing........Cost a lot more........But will pay for itself in time saved for a business........Final note.....You can save quite a bundle if you build your own hydraulic system......

[Chopper]

Thanks guys. I'm glad i got some good feedback, I'm going to check each out one more time and then get one. The Hossfeld has my attention for the time saved. Do you really think it makes a slightly better bend?

[snow]

Yes, it makes better bends.......But, one may not notice by casual inspection........Everyone who has one of the other benders are happy with the quality of bend......They make some nice bends....... It is only by having owned both that I know the difference........

Here's the deal........In some ways, bending a tube is a bad thing......The inside of the bend is compressed and the outside is streched, Thus making the tube weaker than before..........However,There is nothing to be done for it, we must have bends in our bikes or racecars or whatever, so we live with it.

Now, if you want to bend a tube to 90 degrees and have the tube remain concentric, You must "neck down" the tube.......It cannot keep the same diameter and make a bend and have that bend be concentric........

The Hossfeld "necks down" the tube.......the others do not......The end result is that the other type of bender will flatten the outside of the bend more than the hossfeld.........Now, the Hossfeld is not perfect, it will not keep the tube perfectly concentric........But it will do a better job of it than the other types.......

I don't really consider this to be all that big of a deal.........Again, by casual inspection, one may not notice the difference.......But a set of dial calipers or a micrometer will certainly tell the tale........

My opinion (don't know for sure) is that the makers of the mechanical type benders don't build thier dies to neck down the tube because it takes a lot more force to do so..........It would make it much more difficult for the operator to use.......

Anyway, The Biggest plus for the Hossfeld is ease of operation and much faster........ Not to knock any of the other types as they will do a nice job........But I don't think anyone who ever owned the Hossfeld would be happy using one of the others.........For a business, who can afford to go with the Hossfeld, I believe it would be best........

[GARAGEGADGETS]

Hossfeld Bender

GARAGEGADGETS,

Do you have the Hossfeld Bender? Can it do all the things the Pro-Tools & the JD Squared do but more? The Hossfeld seems to have much more tooling then the others do. Is that what you have found and is the reason you went with the Hossfeld?

http://www.hossfeldbender.com/

Thanks,

Yes, I do have a Hossfeld No.2 Bender. I can bend pipe, tubing, square tubing, flat bar, angle iron (inside & out), solid bar & square stock,as well as railing top caps. You can do it manually or hydraulicly. Alot of these benders limit you to bending pipe or square tubing only. So if you are into fabricating this is the best bender for the money and has been around forever.

[90blackcrx]

I also have the Pro Tools 105 HD, Ive had great success with it, although I do plan to convert it to Hyrdaulic soon.

Just curious, I know the thing says it can handle piping and tubing. But do you think it would kink 14 gauge piping ? Really was looking into buying this item, even though its not a true mandrel bender.

[walker]

This bender is a Hossfeld #2 type bender and is compatible with Hossfeld dies and is a few hundred bucks cheaper
www.americanbender.com

[JMFabrications]

Just curious, I know the thing says it can handle piping and tubing. But do you think it would kink 14 gauge piping ? Really was looking into buying this item, even though its not a true mandrel bender.

They do make dies that are good for 16ga material, never bent that thin of material, but if they make them, i would hope the bend is decent. I would imagine the press on the bend would be pretty big and you might loose some diameter. Maybe ill try it tonight when i get home.....