just picked up a bender price on tubing ???

RICE EATER

Forum Member
So i just bought a JD2 model 4pipe bender..and wanted to play around and build a few smaller projects like a forklift basket etc to try to learn the machine before i started in on bigger real projects since ive never used a bender before and dont have any instructions haha. so i figured i would just do everything in the same size tubing so it would be easier to have extra around and not alot of scrap..i was thinkin my long travel sand rail is 1 1/2 and i thought a .120 wall, i figured this would problem be common for rollcages to right?

so i call ALRO steel first and they say for a random length between 18 to 24 foot piece it would be $146 assuming it was 24 foot.
next i call Banish welding a local fabshop..and they say it would be about $58 for a 20 to 24 foot piece from 10 gauge to 16 gauge..and i think a .120 wall is 11 gauge ? anyways thats a HUGE price difference soo WTF? what im i missing

on a side note the same size tubing from alro in alum was only $64 for a 24ft..anyways anyone know the strength differnce and weight between alum and steel tubbing? guess i could just google the tenthsel (sp) strength.
 
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Nice! JD2 makes some nice stuff. Call metal mart in warren on dequindre. They're usually pretty fair. My buddy just bought the same bender, we haven't messed with it yet. The price diff might have been for d.o.m tubing. Did you specify cold roll or d.o.m.?
 
i bought it at the repo auction..which is actually where i about my mig,tig,and plasma..this was kinda a last min spur of the moment deal. so i didnt get do to a ton of research before i pulled the trigger..but i think it was a decent deal especialy since it came with 4 sets of dies which seem to run between $280 and $380 a set plus the stand on wheels, i paid $1930 for it ofcouse with there fees at the auction it was $2100. so i got alot of steel to bend before i pay for it..haha or il just have to start renting it out lol

http://www.repocast.com/details.cfm?ID=659742

anyways i guess i didnt relize there was that much of a difference between the hrew,crew and dom. i assumed there wasnt a big of a difference untill you got to chromoly.. but if there is then that must be the price difference between the 2 places..but if its 3x as much to use dom over cold rolled i might as well just use that i would assume
 
did you get the manual or hyd unit? They have a pretty cool adapter to mount them on the hitch of a truck so you don't have to bolt it to the floor
 
did you get the manual or hyd unit? They have a pretty cool adapter to mount them on the hitch of a truck so you don't have to bolt it to the floor

its a hyd unit..and its alredy on a stand on casters..( from trick-tools.com )so no need to bolt it to anything just roll it around which make it sooo much easier
 
its a hyd unit..and its alredy on a stand on casters..( from trick-tools.com )so no need to bolt it to anything just roll it around which make it sooo much easier
the hitch adapter is really only useful if you don't have the hyd on it because of the leverage needed to actually bend the pipe...it would need to be mounted somewhere sturdy.
 
Look on pirate4x4.com for a ton of information on bending and fabrication. A couple of Google searches and you will find more information than you know what to do with.

The key to making good parts is figuring out where your bends actually start and what the true bend radius is. I can tell you that the radius is NOT what the die says and the bends don't start at the edge of the die. The first thing you should do is make a basic 90 bend and then measure it. That will tell you the radius and where the bends start. The only other thing to learn is how much the particular metal you're working with springs back. For 1.5" .120 wall, you can figure 3 degrees or so. If the unit didn't come with a degree wheel, get one.

Good luck.
 
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