ATTN:... harbor freight pipe smasher fix!!!!

[voodoochikin04]

ok so im sure some of you guys have the hand operated hydraulic jack pipe bender like the ones from harbor freight for 80$... * i found a fix for mine to make awsome bends that dont kink or flatten out. *the tube i have been using is hot rolled 1 inch by 1/8 wall tubing. * i was using the 3/4" die, because the 1 inch tube is the same as the 3/4 gas pipe. *the 1 inch fits nicely in the 3/4 die. *it bends OKKK. *but it can kink and it can flatten out. * what i did was take the next size smaller die. the 1/2" *i put it on the bench grinder and smoothed out the two edges, just rounded them off. * now my 1" tube just fits in the top of the die. * when i bend the tube with that smaller die, it bends smoothly around the die, and slightly forms into the smaller groove of the die, producing a smooth proffesional looking bend, all the way up to an 80 degree bend. since that is the most o have needed. * ill post pics of what i did.. and the bends i got with it.. *it works very very nice now.. * *good luck *-Matt

edit: not everyone can afford a proper tube bender, so i know people are gonna end up using this bender even when everyone says to stay away from it.. fact is, it can make bends that you otherwise couldnt do without anything. so might as well get the best looking improper bends that you can.. haha.. *good luck.

[voodoochikin04]

heres the pics. *you can see on the die edges where i slightly ground it down.

[amergin]

Not a bad looking bend. There's none of the telltale sign (stretching) that a pipe bender was used. How do you do 180* with that die though? Looks like you could only get 90* from it.

[voodoochikin04]

i havnt went much firther than 90.. prolly like an 80 bend was my furthest.. but ill see how far i can go before it cracks, kinks, flattens, or whatever else might happen.. and report my fidings..

[amergin]

Never mind I misread your previous post where you said all the way up to 80*. For some reason I kept seeing a 1 in from of the 80. *

[Bugpac]

Easy fix, buy a jd2...

[Rorty]

That's one of the neatest bends (in a tube) that I've seen coming out of a pipe bender. However, the scars on each side of the bend would worry me. Those are catastrophic failures waiting to happen IMO.

There really is no substitute for a proper tube bender when bending tube.

[TheDoc]

I might have missed something in another post, but why are you making your frame out of 1" tube??

The norm is 1-1/4 or 1-1/2" od

Nick

[voodoochikin04]

bug: theres a difference in price there.. i paid 80$...
rorty: those scares are not what they look like.. you can barley feel them.. they are just rub marks basically.. they just look like deep impressions in the worhtless pics...

[hummerman]

just a thought.........may be totally out to lunch..

but looking at that bend and thinking.......deep scars would add strenght wouldnt they?

be kinda like adding ribs?

ok im off to smoke more banana peels.... [smilie=icon_bolt.gif]