what bender do you use

[uninformed]

hey all, to those bending tube and there must be a few of yo. whhat bender do you use? so far all i can find are cheap bow and arrow type, speedwerx hyd which will do pipe and tube, enerpac still bow and arrow.

then theres a big jump upto $K machines. are there any in oz like the jd model 3 or protools 105?

www.jd2.com/M3B/M3B_Features.htm

www.pro-tools.com/105.htm

cheers, Serg

[awill4x4]

Don't forget those prices on those sites are in US $ and you still have to get it here in Aus so you have all the freight charges to think of and that's still without any dies for the bender. The cost of the dies will be more expensive for each set than for the bender itself.
At work we use an English built "Hilmor" electric/hydraulic tube bender and it's pretty good but the one thing I don't like about it is it can't bend over 90 degrees in one hit, to bend the tube extra it requires another step in setting up.
My personal preference is the Swadesir HB23 electric/hydraulic unit which I used at my previous employment about 6 years ago it is a true tube bender which will bend to 180 degrees in one hit. I'm kicking myself, I had a chance to buy one at auction for about $2000 complete with about 9 sets of dies and I passed it up. Here's what one looks like.
Regards Andrew.

[uninformed]

yes i know about us$ and freight and gst.

i've imported tools from the USA before and my wheels from the UK

the prices for dies(speedwerx) $600, the us dies are 200-250 and will do 180 degrees. so about 280 + freight + gst should be less than $600

cheers, serg

[spazbot]

ive used the jd2 and the protools 105 , the jd is a much more solid unit that the protools one as far as price goes i think they were about $2500 with 2 dies , by the time they got here

[uninformed]

thanks spazbot, any more info would be great.
i'm looking at the manual versions to keep weight down, may go hydo latter.

are they easy to use, have you had any experience with the speedwerx?

cheers, Serg

[spazbot]

both the jd and the protools are really easy to use, dont bother with the degree wheel as its hopeless. i can be a bit of effort doing some bends on the thicker walled hrew but the end result is very clean and nice.

[ludacris]

I have the Enerpac bender and love it. Bends beautifully.

LudaCris

[professor]

speedwerx i'm happy with it

[bru21]

speedwerx i'm happy with it

me too. Couldn't say i was more than 70% happy with it.

Edges are bloody sharp, the dies have the supports welded on at shitty angles - how hard is it to make a jig that holds the die and the support square for welding.

I would also prefer to bend horizontally as hoops get hard to handel.

speedwerx is just make shift in my eyes as nothing else is on the market. If i had my money again i would be the proud owner of a tube shark.

on another note the tube fish mouth cutter is shite too. I know the haultec boys swear by them, but on my tray i think i have used it 10 times. you can't set it up in a bend and have it cut the centre, and the saw is too short to fit through the pipe so you need to cut either side with an angle grinder first, then the bit gets stuck Plasma is heaps quicker and more versitile.

cheer bru