Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I'm looking at a Swade-sir 16b(i think thats what its called) electric/hydraulic tube bender. Its secondhand an comes with about 12 dies up to 4". My question is are these any good? i have know idea and don't know much about them.

http://www.swadesir.com.au/benders/16B_b.html
Its a pipe bender not a tube bender.
If you want to bend roll cage material this bender will not do it
If you want to bend nominal bore pipe they are a good bender albeit expensive
Dave

Whats the difference, why will it do pipe and not tube, is it in the dies?
I have know idea about this stuff, it just seems cheap thats why i'm interested in it.

Dawn Tools does a similar type of bender.
Around a grand with some dies from memory. And its Aussie

Speedwerx also does a pukka bender. If anyone on OL wants to sell one,
I will buy it.

no pipe=internal measurement is the same size as tube=outside dia
so the dies don't fit from pipe to tube or vise versa

tube can be alloy,stainless steel, cromoly all very loose terms

nb pipe, the black stuff you get from your local steel shop can be used to build roll hopes,cages etc that will be safe if designed and built correctly

serg

So the difference is in the dies, as i said earlier there is at least 12 dies or more with this bender that range from around 1" up to 4" so there should be something there that could be used for tube. And for $500 i thought i'd give it a go

On the Swade-Sir web site it says it does

Model 16B Power Hydraulic Pipe Bending Machine is designed to bend both hot & cold rolled nominal bore pipe, heavy gauge steel tube & flat bar section

So will it do cages, tube bar, sliders or not?

If you want to bend tubing then you need the Swadesir HB 23 model, this is one of the best tube benders around short of a proper mandrel bend one.
These models though are very expensive and you will be looking at die costs of about $1000 per set.
The electro/hydraulic unit though is exactly the same on both the HB 23 and 16B.
If you try tube bending with this unit (16B) the tube will most likely kink rather than bend particularly on light gauge tubing.
Regards Andrew.

So theres know reason i couldn't buy the correct dies to suit this machine? I have a mate in the engineering trade thats very handy and he can build whatever bracketry to suit the tube bending dies, i just think its a good deal and i can claim it fir work aswell.

6.5 rangie wrote:So theres know reason i couldn't buy the correct dies to suit this machine? I have a mate in the engineering trade thats very handy and he can build whatever bracketry to suit the tube bending dies, i just think its a good deal and i can claim it fir work aswell.

if you can claim it for work, buy it now and ask questions later..........

Oh yeah, bending steel conduit .
Have used steel conduit once in 12 years but i may have to do it in the future.

Pipe benders generally are the bow and arrow type.
As you bend, the start point of the bend is under constant pressure from the former/die as the bend progress's. This concentrated force is what causes kinking and chrushing on thin waal pipe.

Tube benders hold the tube and pull it around the former with a support bar on the outside of the bend. This supports the tube and helps to prevent kinking or crushing. Tube benders are always appyling the bending force to a new section of tube as the bend progress's.

If you want to build a comp spec roll cage ie, CCDA or CAMS then it must be made from specific grades and sizes of tube.
Having said that if you want to make sliders, front and rear bars ect pipe will do the job.
Hope this makes some sense
Dave

Thanks Dave, was looking at getting the tube bending equipment to suit the 16b Bender for cages, and use the pipe bending gear for sliders and so on where pipe can be used.

Priced the 16b bender today, $4500 , as soon as i heard that i went straight round and picked it up, at $500 i don't care if it won't do thin wall tube.
Spoke to the guy at Swade-Sir and he said it will do tube as long as the wall thickness is 3mm or greater if i use the correct dies.
The HB 23 model for tube bending is $11,500 .
For $1200 they can fully rebuild mine and will give it a new machine warranty, if it was stuffed, but it works great.