Harbor Freight Bender

[monte55]

I also have a HF bender to compliment my home made bender. Pics in gallery.
It does things the HF won't. Anyway........one big question is what can you bend. Flat, solid etc are easy to bend. Bending sq tubing is harder as it wants to kink. Here is a piece I bent just to see if I could make it this tight. Material is 3/4 sq tube 14ga.

First...180 degree bend

Second... 3" dia piece of aluminum I had, enlarged center hole to 5/8" for pins, cut 1/4" groove in aluminum 1/8" deep so the 1/4" steel round ring snaps in and only half of the 1/4" ring projects out from the aluminum face.

Third...180 bend also

Fourth...3" die on bender with steel ring in middle of material to be bent.

Fifth... closer view of bender.

I will not take credit for the die idea....I saw it about a year ago on some site. You could take the round dies that come with bender and put grooves in them to snap a ring on. Take the ring back off when you want a flat die. I wouldn't weld it on. My ring just spins around.
3/4" sq tube is a great size for smaller carts etc. If I can do a 180 this way, anything less will be a piece of cake,.....think how much better some of the projects will look without all the angle joints and welds.
I got my HF bender on sale for $50.....well worth that.
BTW... you must stop the tubing from trying to move as you bend. I used visegrips next to the material stop.

[Handy560]

I was looking at that bender at HF yesterday... on sale like half price. I think I may need to go back.

I was really interested in that 36" brake they have. Not really high quality and I know I will get crap because it could be a weldin project, but for the little I use it, it may be ok?

Anyone have one of those?

John

[jjsjeff]

Do the HF benders bend pipe or tube? The reason I'm asking is that I don't have a steelyard near me and it would be easiest to build stuff out of 1/2", 3/4", and 1" black steel pipe from the hardware store. Or maybe water pipe is too rigid to bend?

[welderman23]

Do the HF benders bend pipe or tube? The reason I'm asking is that I don't have a steelyard near me and it would be easiest to build stuff out of 1/2", 3/4", and 1" black steel pipe from the hardware store. Or maybe water pipe is too rigid to bend?

you are correct.
the water pipe is harder to bend .I dont have a bender ,but they multiply the torque to bend whatever material around a die but it should be easier than sticking it in a vise and yanking on it

[fun4now]

the HF bender is only for solid stock, nether tube or pipe will work in it with the dies that come with it. as you can see monte55 came up with a way around that problem for square tube. if he sends it to me i can give ya a better set of test results.....
i have also done a little of the square pipe in my ring roller with so-so results there also but have not tried it with the bender. if you are looking for a ring roller the e-bay one is nice, add a ring to the 4 sticks they give ya for a handle and its top notch.
monte55 , let me know when ya get that off in the mail for me so i can watch for it.

[bialecki]

HF Tube Bender Part #

Can you post the part number for the Harbor Freight tube bender, I was not able to find it on their web site.

Thanks

[rich]

bialecki, the bench model is 44094-5VGA and the floor model is 31980-0VGA.

It just did a search on the word Bender on the Home Page.

Rich

[bialecki]

HF Bender Model number

Thanks, I see they have it for $75.00, not too bad especially when I will not be bending tubes all day, but only now and then. I appreciate the help and advice this site offers.

[bialecki]

I also have a HF bender to compliment my home made bender.

I will not take credit for the die idea....I saw it about a year ago on some site. You could take the round dies that come with bender and put grooves in them to snap a ring on. Take the ring back off when you want a flat die.

monte55, can you expand on the "putting a grove into thew die". What does that do for you? And can you take a jpeg of the die and give dimensions?

Thank you,

[bialecki]

I also have a HF bender to compliment my home made bender.

I will not take credit for the die idea....I saw it about a year ago on some site. You could take the round dies that come with bender and put grooves in them to snap a ring on. Take the ring back off when you want a flat die. I wouldn't weld it on. My ring just spins around.

monte55 can you expand on the recommendation of putting a grove on the dies. What is the purpose of the grove and what are the dimensions? If possible can you point out the grove and snap ring on one of your photos?

Your help is appreciated. I just placed an order with HF for the floor mounted bender and twister accessory. They had the floor mounted bender on sale for $75. Also here is my contribution with future HF orders; I found this site that lists the coupon codes for discounts. I was able to get the $10 gift card with this order. Here is the url link: http://www.billt.com/harborfreight.htm

Thanks,

[fun4now]

keep this in mind
Capacity: 3/16'' x 1-1/4'' or 1/4'' x 2'' mild steel size; 5/8'' round or square solid rod

this is not going to bend tubes without additional dies that HF dose not sell that i have seen.
monte55, made his own die to be able to do square tube but thats a long way off from bending round tubes or pipes. mind you it can be adapted to but look at die $$'s before running off to grab one. may well be better off going threw one of the places that sell the proper die's and benders, they are not the same.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?function=Search

Make standard or unique parts at home or in the workshop. Includes: 1'', 1-1/4'', 1-1/2'', 1-3/4'', 2'', 2-1/2'', 3'' round dies; and right angle die.
Capacity: 3/16'' x 1-1/4'' or 1/4'' x 2'' mild steel size; 5/8'' round or square solid rod
Handle telescopes to 44''
Dimensions:10" W x 10''L x 9-1/8''H



ITEM 44094-5VGA
$99.99

$49.99 Email link to a friend

[monte55]

monte55 can you expand on the recommendation of putting a grove on the dies. What is the purpose of the grove and what are the dimensions? If possible can you point out the grove and snap ring on one of your photos?

Your help is appreciated. I just placed an order with HF for the floor mounted bender and twister accessory. They had the floor mounted bender on sale for $75. Also here is my contribution with future HF orders; I found this site that lists the coupon codes for discounts. I was able to get the $10 gift card with this order. Here is the url link: http://www.billt.com/harborfreight.htm

Thanks,

reread my original post and see the round die pic with the steel ring. The ring
creases the middle of the sq tube making it easier to bend before the top and bottom of the sq tube come into contact with the alum 3" die.

[bialecki]

keep this in mind
Capacity: 3/16'' x 1-1/4'' or 1/4'' x 2'' mild steel size; 5/8'' round or square solid rod

this is not going to bend tubes without additional dies that HF dose not sell that i have seen.
monte55, made his own die to be able to do square tube but thats a long way off from bending round tubes or pipes. mind you it can be adapted to but look at die $$'s before running off to grab one. may well be better off going threw one of the places that sell the proper die's and benders, they are not the same.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?function=Search

Make standard or unique parts at home or in the workshop. Includes: 1'', 1-1/4'', 1-1/2'', 1-3/4'', 2'', 2-1/2'', 3'' round dies; and right angle die.
Capacity: 3/16'' x 1-1/4'' or 1/4'' x 2'' mild steel size; 5/8'' round or square solid rod
Handle telescopes to 44''
Dimensions:10" W x 10''L x 9-1/8''H



ITEM 44094-5VGA
$99.99

$49.99 Email link to a friend

Thanks, having access to a nice machine shop at work, I am able to make a few dies to bend tubing, but the heads up about the HF is design to bend Solid Tubing is appreciated. I did not understand the benefit of the groove until monte55 explained it in his subsequent message. I had to look more closely to actually see the ring added to the groove that supports the center of square tubing. Very cleaver idea, now that I understand the concept. I think I will make one out of heat treatable steel and turn it on a lathe. Now my question will be; the raise ring diameter should be what percentage of the tube diameter (or width of square tubing). Granted I will have to make a die for each diameter tube that I plan on bending.

Also can you repost the HF URL, it does not seem to work.

Thank you,

[monte55]

My ring is 1/4" and sticks out half of that. Maybe less would work also.
If you have access to a good machine shop, I would make the dies with a recess for the tube to fit into. Maybe almost the full depth of the tube. I think this would keep the top and bottom of the tube from bulging as much.

[bialecki]

Thanks Monte55! I was looking at the Pro-Tools.com Pro Bender 105 for design ideas as well. I just don't want to spend that amount of money on a tool that I may not use that frequently, so when I saw your original post I thought this is what I want!

Thanks,