Tubing Bender

ogygopsis

ogygopsis

#1
#1
Hi Fellas,
I am thinking about buying JD2-Model 3 tubing bender. Will be using it to
form 7/8" dia X .058" 1018 dom steel tubing. Just wondering if any of you
have had any experience with this type of tubing bender and if they do a
nice job. I sent some pieces out to Michigan and what a disappointment!!
Deep scratches, kinks, pinched areas. These guys were supposed to be
professionals. I'm going to try doing it myself. Couldn't possibly do worse.
Any input or recommendations from you fellas will certainly be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ogygopsis aka biker-wayne
 
H

Hent

New Member
#2
#2
I haven't used one, but have read several good reviews on them. Maybe someone else here has some real life experience with it.
 
deezildennis

deezildennis

Active Member
#3
#3
The guys in my Jeep club use the Big jd2's and they absolutly love them.....
I think you'll be ok.

Use lots of fraw lube though and make sure you file any burrs on the mandrels you kick up while using it..
 
M

midyearguru

New Member
#5
#5
JD2 Model 3 Tubing Bender

I've found this to be a professional Grade tool that is comparable to the Hossfield at a fraction of the price. Easily upgradable to hydraulic operation. Still, a bit pricey if only used occasionally, but a must have in any fabrication shop.
 
J

jeepster105

New Member
#6
#6
I use the JD2 to bend thin walled chrome molly that is used to make the frame of our mini baja car. For those who don't know, mini baja is a racing series for college students run by SAE for engineering universities. Believe me, if we can bend stuff that thin withought kinking, then the JD2 is an excellent bender and you will have no problems at all
 
J

~JM~

Banned
#7
#7
BTTT.

I'm also interested in learning about tubing benders.

Does anyone have anything to add to this topic?

I know very little about the subject yet, so just about anything is helpful.

One of my main interests at this time is to learn how to work with aluminum tubing.

Thank you
~JM~
 
steven Durham

steven Durham

#8
#8
I have a Pro Tools air over hydraulic bender and have never made a bad or damaged bend I only use DOM tubing using the guideline provided by Pro Tools for minimum wall thickness for each type of tubing and tubing radius. I have both tubing and pipe dies so that for non structural projects I can use black pipe for things like welding karts and simple rails. I found a suppler that is cheaper than the manufacture and is Welcome to Rock Buggy Supply (dot) Com
The manufacture is www.protools.com and they even have a video about their benders and other tools. I have dies for 3/4 , 7/8, 1, 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inch tubing and 1/2 and 3/4 inch pipe. None of these things are cheap but sending work out to be disappointed with the results is frustrating too. My bender is the One Shot HB302 but there are cheaper ones in their line up of tools. What I did before I ordered my bender was to contact the company and asked for a local reference of a customer in my area that I could talk to and my goal was to be able to get the same bender and passably share dies with another person to keep the cost of buying dies of different radius. The person I was able to contact just wanted to rent me his bender @ $200.00 for a weekend use. But you might use the same approach regardless of who'd bender you buy.
I have about $3,000.00 in all the bender dies and accessories and software. This could be used to make money bending handlebars and new front ends for mini bikes.
I have Pro Tools Tubing notcher and it works great it is mounted on a floor stand. take a look at my photo section I have pictures of the bender there. Steve :scooter:
 
J

~JM~

Banned
#10
#10
Steve,

Thank you for the information. Do you know how much effort is required to operate one of the manual benders?

In your opinion what would be the minimum pieces of equipment & dies required to build a frame?
 
steven Durham

steven Durham

#11
#11
There is a Pro Tools Model 105 bender on Craig's list in Gresham and it comes with a 1 1/2 inch die for $600.00 . The manual benders are easy to use but they must be bolted to the floor. If I was buying any bender I look at the middle size radius offered in that size . A lot of mini bikes were made with 7/8 inch tubing. Most go Karts were made with 1 inch . I would say for mini bikes I would go with the 7/8 inch and get a tubing notcher. And of course your welder needs to be up to the job.
Steve :scooter:
 
Smallbore

Smallbore

Active Member
#13
#13
A few Tips....

Hi Wayne, You wont regret the JD2 #3 bender. I have a Hossfeld in my shop, but the JD works just as well. If you have a Metal Lathe you can save a ton of money by making your own dies. 2 months ago i made a set of 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", and 1" dies in 3",4",and 5" radius for under $100.00 in material. That`s 1- forming die, 1- follower die, and a holding block = 1 set. I made 12 "sets" for under $100.00 which is less than you will pay for 1 factory made set ! The only other tip i can give you is ALWAYS Lube your dies, and practice-practice-and practice till you get it right. In the beginning you`ll under bend, Over bend, but after a few tries... Nothing to it ! Good Luck........ Scott: :grind:
 
Smallbore

Smallbore

Active Member
#14
#14
OOOoooppsss ! I just came in from the shop and actually that`s 16 sets of dies ! Wow i forgot how to count. I looked at my receipts and it was $96.00 for the materials, so that comes out to $6.00 a set !! Granted i made them out of Aluminum but unless your doing high volume production work they will still last for years. :thumbsup:
 
C

Colorado CJ

New Member
#15
#15
If anyone is still looking for a tube bender, look no further than gottrikes tube bender plans. You can build a tube bender for ~100.00 including a air over hydraulic ram (harbor freight).

It is an excellent design and is a vertical bender, so it has HUGE positives compared to a horizontal bender. It also uses JD2/Protools dies.

I have a ProTools 105 HD, but I'm going to be selling it since I am building a new bender from these plans:

Tube_Bender

Check out the videos, pretty awesome bender.
 
minibikedude

minibikedude

Active Member
#17
#17
I have recently purchased the harbor freight model 31890 bender for 89 dollars that bolt to the floor to bend up exhaust pipe for my bikes. I have not bought any dies yet for it. I,m looking for 7/8 ones know but want 5/8, 3/4, 1 inches dies done the road. Its hard to beat the price on the H/F bender if your not using them professionally every day. Someone should make the dies out of aluminum for the H/F benders 5/8 up to 1 inch on this site and sell them.I would buy a set and I bet a lot of other guys would to since I don,t have a metal lathe or know how to use one my self.
 
jeep2003

jeep2003

#18
#18
Im thinking of making a bender and possibly mass producing frames. I have an idea to make a die from two or three 1/4" pieces of flat steel and bolted together . the center one would be smaller and help suport the pipe from sliping through. The size of pipe bent could be adjusted with spacers in between the plates. Sound like more work then its worth or worth a try?
 
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