Tube bender questions

WillMatrix

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I was looking at placing a order for the tube bender by Affordable Bender. My question is, what is the difference between the bender that’s labeled “affordable bender” and “race car bender”?

by looking at the pics I can’t see a difference so maybe you guys can help me out
 

madprofessor

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I'll venture a guess before I Google it................."Racecar bender" should be strong enough to bend very dense alloy large diameter tubes, well enough to pass strict pre-race pits safety inspections.
 

WillMatrix

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I’m uploading the pic. Notice at the top it’s the “affordable bender” and at the bottom it’s “race car” bender
 

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Functional Artist

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What do you intend to construct your frame out of? (steel tube or steel pipe)
...there's a big difference in the (2) materials & how their bent ;)

Have you sourced your materials yet?
Steel tube usually costs roughly twice as much as pipe
...& it's harder to find too

FYI:
All of my karts are made outta regular old steel waterpipe 😎
...& were formed with a Harbor Freight bender

* Also, I've noticed that material prices have "gone thru the roof"
...for the last few years I've been getting 21" pieces of pipe for ~$23.00
...but, when I went to get a couple of "sticks" (technical term) of pipe to build my Slingshot kart, they charged me a "whopping" $43.00 per piece :ack2:

It was a "new guy" so, I asked for the "boss" :thumbsup:
...& he said "everything has gone up "dramatically"
...& everyone is "trippin' (another technical term) about it

I asked "what the heck is the difference"
...& he said (questioningly) "the new administration, that's in office now?" :unsure:
 

madprofessor

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Caveat Emptor, Will. Buyer Beware...........of misleading labeling and marketing materials. To begin with, all of those benders are sold under the brand name of Affordable Bender. Also, every one of those pictures is just a duplicate, they're all the exact same picture of the same bender, not even the dies are different. As to pricing, they're all priced basically the same for the basic bender, the difference is for the quantity of dies supplied with the bender. An extra die is $160 by itself, but you can get extras for less and less if your bender comes with 3 or more dies.
Apparently they're all the description of "racecar benders", it's just their marketing wording that calls some by the brand name and some by a description.
 

WillMatrix

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Caveat Emptor, Will. Buyer Beware...........of misleading labeling and marketing materials. To begin with, all of those benders are sold under the brand name of Affordable Bender. Also, every one of those pictures is just a duplicate, they're all the exact same picture of the same bender, not even the dies are different. As to pricing, they're all priced basically the same for the basic bender, the difference is for the quantity of dies supplied with the bender. An extra die is $160 by itself, but you can get extras for less and less if your bender comes with 3 or more dies.
Apparently they're all the description of "racecar benders", it's just their marketing wording that calls some by the brand name and some by a description.
Ok awesome!! I just wanted to make sure I was getting what I paid for. I can’t really justify buying a jd square just yet
What do you intend to construct your frame out of? (steel tube or steel pipe)
...there's a big difference in the (2) materials & how their bent ;)

Have you sourced your materials yet?
Steel tube usually costs roughly twice as much as pipe
...& it's harder to find too

FYI:
All of my karts are made outta regular old steel waterpipe 😎
...& were formed with a Harbor Freight bender

* Also, I've noticed that material prices have "gone thru the roof"
...for the last few years I've been getting 21" pieces of pipe for ~$23.00
...but, when I went to get a couple of "sticks" (technical term) of pipe to build my Slingshot kart, they charged me a "whopping" $43.00 per piece :ack2:

It was a "new guy" so, I asked for the "boss" :thumbsup:
...& he said "everything has gone up "dramatically"
...& everyone is "trippin' (another technical term) about it

I asked "what the heck is the difference"
...& he said (questioningly) "the new administration, that's in office now?" :unsure:
I have a steel place in Birmingham Alabama. I will be bending steel tubing. They sell it by 20ft sticks
 

madprofessor

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............and I couldn't care less about the Tide or the 'Horns, just ribbin' Will a bit. It's actually "roll Tide", not the poisonous fish-killing red tide. Get it? Earth humor. Got so disgusted with football the first year I had season tickets to the Jaguars that the second year I had season tickets I didn't go to a single game. Nothing to do with the Jaguars playing, they did fine.
The coup de gras was the New England Patriots fans sitting below me, at the end of the game where they lost and had been rednecking the whole game with the Jaguars fans sitting above me, and immediately erupted into a huge fight. A dozen rednecks hellbent on killing each other, and I had to protect the half dozen ladies around me from them.
Had so much blood on me that I had to throw away every stitch of clothing I had on that day, including my underwear and shoes. None of the blood was mine, by the way, even though I was responsible for making a Jaguars fan fly completely over 6 rows of seats. It's a pretty hard landing when you come in headfirst, same way I landed 2 rows down at the end. No ladies hurt (thanks to me) and my desire to even listen to any sports on a radio after that got completely evaporated.
BTW: Where's Wicket's long horns?
 

Functional Artist

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Ok awesome!! I just wanted to make sure I was getting what I paid for. I can’t really justify buying a jd square just yet

I have a steel place in Birmingham Alabama. I will be bending steel tubing. They sell it by 20ft sticks
Um...are you guys gonna help this guy? :huh:
...with his build?

So, OP what is your local steel place chargin' for a 20' stick?
...what size (dia) & thickness (wall) are you gonna use, for your project? :unsure:
 

madprofessor

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Okay, F.A.:backtotopic: ...............Already helped out with the marketing aspect of Affordable Bender, but go figure, didn't occur to me to throw in some other options by other manufacturers.
Will, here's something I want for myself for $100, comes with 7 dies for round or square............Compact Bender (harborfreight.com)............and a video on how to use it, start watching at the 4 1/2 minute mark..............Using the Harbor Freight Compact Bender for Steel Target Hangers. #HarborFreight - YouTube............
and a 12-ton hydraulic for $140 that comes with 6 dies for round only................Hydraulic Pipe & Tube Bender - 12 Ton (harborfreight.com).............and a video on it, start watching at the 7 minute mark..............PERFECT BENDS! with harbor freight pipe bender. - YouTube.
I would have both of these, obviously for different purposes. Lots of ideas just seeing them.
 

WillMatrix

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Okay, F.A.:backtotopic: ...............Already helped out with the marketing aspect of Affordable Bender, but go figure, didn't occur to me to throw in some other options by other manufacturers.
Will, here's something I want for myself for $100, comes with 7 dies for round or square............Compact Bender (harborfreight.com)............and a video on how to use it, start watching at the 4 1/2 minute mark..............Using the Harbor Freight Compact Bender for Steel Target Hangers. #HarborFreight - YouTube............
and a 12-ton hydraulic for $140 that comes with 6 dies for round only................Hydraulic Pipe & Tube Bender - 12 Ton (harborfreight.com).............and a video on it, start watching at the 7 minute mark..............PERFECT BENDS! with harbor freight pipe bender. - YouTube.
I would have both of these, obviously for different purposes. Lots of ideas just seeing them.
But from what I seen and read, the pipe bender does horrible things to tubing and as far as the compact bender I really wouldn’t know what I would use that for
 

madprofessor

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The problem with round tubing dies is that they will indeed kink tubing that's too thin, EMT thinwall electrical conduit's a good example. You may or may not succeed in getting a smooth bend depending on how much give in the tubing.
The bending of a straight tube in that type of bender begins with a tiny point of contact with the center of the curved die, and the area of contact with the die increases as the bend progresses. There's also only a small point of contact on either side of the bender where the tube is held from motion by a pair of"crossbars" or some such. Those are the 3 points that can cave in some or kink. Thicker the tube wall (think pipe) the better the bend.
 

WillMatrix

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The problem with round tubing dies is that they will indeed kink tubing that's too thin, EMT thinwall electrical conduit's a good example. You may or may not succeed in getting a smooth bend depending on how much give in the tubing.
The bending of a straight tube in that type of bender begins with a tiny point of contact with the center of the curved die, and the area of contact with the die increases as the bend progresses. There's also only a small point of contact on either side of the bender where the tube is held from motion by a pair of"crossbars" or some such. Those are the 3 points that can cave in some or kink. Thicker the tube wall (think pipe) the better the bend.
That’s why it’s important for me to buy a TUBE BENDER and not a pipe bender. It being my first time doing such elaborate builds I want to follow the instructions and blue print closely
 

Functional Artist

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I've built many, many karts outta pipe :thumbsup:
...& then, I got the bright idea to get a tube bender & a bunch of 20' "sticks" of 1" tubes :huh:

Well...I now, have a bunch of bent up tube (sittin'/rustin' in the corner) :furious2:
...& went back ta makin' stuff outta good-ole-pipe

Here is a project I started
...but, a combination of "cluster :censored:'s" doomed it :ack2:

https://www.diygokarts.com/community/threads/gt-e.44560/

I'm not advisin' ya ta or not ta get & use a tube bender
...I'm just sayin' that somethings don't turn out as expected ;)
 

madprofessor

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Will be bending 1" EMT conduit with 3/4" EMT inside it soon for a roll cage, and guess what high-dollar state-of-the-art bender I use................
Gardner Bender 962 BigBen Aluminum Conduit Hand Bender Head, 1 inch EMT and ¾ inch Rigid IMC, Industry Standard Measurements, Fits (BH-75) Handle - Rebar Cutters And Benders - Amazon.com...................
Note that it says 1" EMT or 3/4" rigid. That means 1" thinwall conduit or 3/4" pipe. Done it myself, and I ain't totin' much backside at 165 lbs.
 

WillMatrix

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I've built many, many karts outta pipe :thumbsup:
...& then, I got the bright idea to get a tube bender & a bunch of 20' "sticks" of 1" tubes :huh:

Well...I now, have a bunch of bent up tube (sittin'/rustin' in the corner) :furious2:
...& went back ta makin' stuff outta good-ole-pipe

Here is a project I started
...but, a combination of "cluster :censored:'s" doomed it :ack2:

https://www.diygokarts.com/community/threads/gt-e.44560/

I'm not advisin' ya ta or not ta get & use a tube bender
...I'm just sayin' that somethings don't turn out as expected ;)
I must give you your credit!! You make terrific bends using the pipe bender, what made you quit trying the steel tube and tube bender?
 
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