pipe bending

[bosk]

looking to make some bars and seeing what my options are for a tube bender.... has anyone used this product? http://www.grizzly.com/products/Comp...or-Model/H3184

[SkinnyFnny]

I wouldn't: Disregarding the brand, that bender isn't using dies, it's using little cylindrical rollers which are for bending flat stock. As you bend the tube around the roller it will collapse, being narrower all through the bend. When you use dies to bend tubing it generally holds it's form. Unless you want your handlebars to look like you bent them in a shed then drop the cash on a bender with dies and an arm with degree index. Degree index will at least let you repeat bends if nothing else...

[Quinn1307]

Yup, like SkinnyFnny said, that bender won't work for doing handle bars or any type of tube stock, all that will do is crush the i.d. of the tube. I have a similar bender that I use for sissy bars and brackets. If you are looking to do tube then you want something like this https://www.jd2.com/c-12-tubepipe-benders.aspx and dies that match the material you intend to use.
I just ordered up one of these benders and am looking forward to messing around with it.
good luck

[pantspisser]

I agree guys. You can find a million little tricks on how to make pipe benders behave like a tubing bender but I doubt it's worth the time and effort. That JD2 model 3 tubing bender is a great tubing bender and it's reasonably priced. Dies are a bit pricey but you'll get by with one or two dies for a long time. If you ever want to play around with making your own frame tubes down the road, pick up a few more dies etc. with a pipe bender you'll be constantly rigging up new scams to get a half decent bend, a true tubing bender will be what you're looking for right out of the box. I'm not knocking Grizzly either they make good stuff IMHO. If/when you start to really get into big projects with your bender you'll realize that your bender needs a substantial amount of shop floor space to tackle bigger projects. You'll learn to hate your bender fast if you have to donate prescious shop space to a tool that delivers sub par results. A tubing bender opens up a ton of fabrication opportunities, you won't regret spending a little more here.

[WALLY77]

Had my JD2 model 3 for a few weeks now and I love it. Easy to use, makes very good bends and doesn't take up much space. I mounted mine to the concrete floor with drop in style anchors so I can remove the bolts and set the bender aside if I need the room