Tube Bender

mac11

Bought an X
Location
Nashville
I'm in the market for a tube bender. I like teh JDsquared unit, I see the the plans posted a few threads down about the DIY air-over-hydraulic unit and I see this over on Pirate4x4


http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/tool...air-hydro-tubing-bender-595-1-75-die-det.html



theoretically i'm getting into some repetitive fabrication so a powered unit would be idea but if I can keep from spending $3-5,000 I would be a lot better off.

Anyone have any thoughts? experiance?


thanks


mac
 

AZhiAZiAM

Suspension Lift
Location
Fresno,CA
i've actually used that bender, it works awesome, the only problem we had was buying dyes they were SO expensive. but the bender alone worked great for us.
 

TheFauxFox

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Huntsville, AL
i've actually used that bender, it works awesome, the only problem we had was buying dyes they were SO expensive. but the bender alone worked great for us.

Dies are the worst part about tube benders. They're expensive. I've seen a few of those hydraulic benders and they've worked quite well.
 

mac11

Bought an X
Location
Nashville
yea i looked at that too, and even though the dies are roughly the same cost the ROGUE bender comes with a die so the total cost to be ready to bend is ~$200 cheaper, would need a stand or work surface to be bolted to and uses the same HF ram so bending speed should be roughly the same.


Is the JD2 $200 better?
 

mac11

Bought an X
Location
Nashville
I haven't used or seen the Rogue, so I honestly can't say. What I can say is I have seen just about every other bender out there that is cheaper fail after multiple uses (read that right, ALMOST, but not every)

There is a TON of stress on the pivot points of any bender. If not designed right, it will fail eventually. If you truly are getting into repetitive fabrication is the $200 savings worth it for a bender that does seem to be good, but hasn't been around as long as the JDSquared?

Good luck with either choice.

Cheers,
Josh


Not trying to be argumentative, looking for genuine conversation here so please don't take this that way. Both units have features I like that the other doesn't. I'm trying to figure out how to assign a value to those things before I thrown down cash.

The thing I see about what you said is someone could have said the exact same thing about whatever product JD2 came out to compete with. And the is $X savings worth it road is a slippery slope until you're spending 10-100X's as much as you wanted to.

I realize that for some thing I will have to bite the bullet and spend out on, and maybe this is one of them, thats what I'm trying to figure out. But If I just spent 40% more - (($200 difference/$500 base price) * 100 )= 40% - I would never weld a bracket or a bumper before I went broke. The JD2 may be the top of the heap in the entry level rotary draw type bender category but I have to qualify and quantify spending extra on it. If I can, or if I have to, then I have to.

So I'm trying to justify spending the extra $, or not.
 

mac11

Bought an X
Location
Nashville
I haven't used or seen the Rogue, so I honestly can't say. What I can say is I have seen just about every other bender out there that is cheaper fail after multiple uses (read that right, ALMOST, but not every)

There is a TON of stress on the pivot points of any bender. If not designed right, it will fail eventually. If you truly are getting into repetitive fabrication is the $200 savings worth it for a bender that does seem to be good, but hasn't been around as long as the JDSquared?

Good luck with either choice.

Cheers,
Josh

Not trying to be argumentative, looking for genuine conversation here so please don't take this that way. Both units have features I like that the other doesn't. I'm trying to figure out how to assign a value to those things before I thrown down cash.

The thing I see about what you said is someone could have said the exact same thing about whatever product JD2 came out to compete with. And the is $X savings worth it road is a slippery slope until you're spending 10-100X's as much as you wanted to.

I realize that for some thing I will have to bite the bullet and spend out on, and maybe this is one of them, thats what I'm trying to figure out. But If I just spent 40% more - (($200 difference/$500 base price) * 100 )= 40% - I would never weld a bracket or a bumper before I went broke. The JD2 may be the top of the heap in the entry level rotary draw type bender category but I have to qualify and quantify spending extra on it. If I can, or if I have to, then I have to.

So I'm trying to justify spending the extra $, or not.


Well I just found out the die I want from the Rogue - 6" CLR - is $150 more than the 4.5" CLR standard die. Makes the difference marginal. Looks like JD2 wins in a even money situation.
 

TKDx00

Lockers Installed
Founding Member
If you haven't made up your mind yet, talk to Mike @ WWW dot M-TECHSALES dot COM. He's a distributor for JDSquared and got me a great deal off thier prices.
 
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mac11

Bought an X
Location
Nashville
If you haven't made up your mind yet, talk to Mike @ WWW dot M-TECHSALES dot COM. He's a distributor for JDSquared and got me a great deal off thier prices.

can you PM me your name so I know who to tell him referred me?


thanks for the heads up.
 

mac11

Bought an X
Location
Nashville
Do you happen to know if the hydraulic adapter kit offered from JD squared (LINK) will work with the HF ram? Or do you know the OD of that ram? Its the same price as the Swab adapter but requires no welding for setup and wouldn't require a 2nd shipping charge. Would love to order everything from the same place, if possible.







With all the research I did, I stand by the JDSquared model 3 (LINK)

$295 for the bender, and it's the "best bang for the buck"

Couple that with the Swag Tubing Bender Air/Hydraulic Ram Mount (LINK) for $99

And a Harbor Freight 8 Ton Long Air/Hydraulic Jack (LINK) for $84 (with a 20% off coupon it can be had for around $68, and you can find those coupons in almost any off road magazine)

You get a great bender that is air/hydraulic driven for $462.

I didn't include die prices because they are roughly the same for each bender, so not a factor to me.

Good luck, and have fun.

Cheers,
Josh
 

Dephep

<img src="http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u7/ra
Site Sponsor
Location
Warsaw IN.
I have the JD2 32 bender with the HF air over hydraulic cylinder.
2h5029v.jpg
 

TKDx00

Lockers Installed
Founding Member
Started making a stand for the Tube bender. Couldn't justify the $135 to buy one when I had all this extra metal laying around. The Cutter stand from Longevity is 3', which is a bit on the short side for me so I'm making mine 4'. Ran out of shielded wire just as I was tacking the last piece on. So I went to cut the 3/4" mounting holes, then found out that my little air compressor won't keep up with the plasma cutter. Time for a larger one.
 
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