buying a tube bender

[slim616]

I was thinking about going with this company for the bender.
http://www.medfordtools.com/mb3.html (http://www.medfordtools.com/mb3.html)

Anybody have any experince with this company? I was going to order the bender and a 1 3/4 die in the next couple of days.

[SuicideTireZJ]

Never heard of medford but the JD2 is *.*

[OverkillZJ]

JD2 and Pro Tools both kick ass, not a clue on Medford themselves though.

[slim616]

Is this the pro tool one your talking about?

http://www.pro-tools.com/images/105_p1.jpg

[OverkillZJ]

Yes, I have the 105HD. The ProTools has a better degree ring, less flimsy, but some people prefer the die options from JD2 more. I don't think you can go wrong with either one, really.

[MoonWorks]

http://www.jd2.com/

Check that link out. JD2 does have a lot of options. I haven't looked into the protools so I can't make a compairison.

[zj95maxx]

I have the jd2 model 3 bender, I love it. But my friend swears on his Pro-Tools.

Both very good benders

Jd2
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa45/zj95maxx/DSC03943.jpg


Pro tools
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b37/chewning37/AFrontbumper015.jpg

With the pro tools, you can pull through on your bends, as in if your tube isnt that long, you can go to the very end of the die and keep your bend. On the jd2, you cannot, it will crush your tube. (dont ask:smt013)

[slim616]

So I guess it boils down to if I really need the multi die option or not. At this point in the game i'm going to have to say no, id rather go with the option of being able to bend the tube all the way to the end. I guess i'll sleep on it a day or two then go ahead and order the pro-tool bender. Thanks for the heads up.

[jared-mi]

Hey, I never post on here, but get tons of information from this site...so maybe it's time I give a little back.

What I did for a bender was get a set of dies from protool, and make some adaptors to create a 'race car' (google search it) style bender. The press makes life a lot easier, it has air assist...all you have to do is press the button. The press came with the sheet metal bending die in the background, and with the home made adaptors it also bends tube. it takes about 7 tons to bend 1-3/4" x 0.125 dom tube. This will bend up to 100 degrees or something crazy like that.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a106/chrgrl/DSCF1404.jpg

I also rigged up some pipe dies to get the same effect, but that was a lot more work fabricating the brackets (also a little bit ghetto, but it works pretty well). This was by far the most economical way to go (if you have lots of time to make the brackets). The only thing is you have to get weird sized tubing, such as 1-1/8" or 1-5/8" OD to fit the pipe dies. It is also the same 'race car' style bender setup, so it doesnt kink the tube, but you can only bend like 60 degrees with this. But for the dies there is less than $50 into the tooling...but lots of time.

If you aren't going to bend a lot of tubing, this might be a less expensive alternaive for you??? It's repeatable within a degree. Just my 2 cents, that might save you a buck or two.

[ILikeMud]

Check out Trick Tools.
Best pricing on benders and tools like that.

[slim616]

okay I ordered the protool bender today should be here the second week of march:smt041 Best yet I have a buddy who will give me $250 towards it as a rental fee (basic cost of a die) for letting him use it to build his cage when i'm finished. I'm starting to like this rental thing.

[OverkillZJ]

Hey, I never post on here, but get tons of information from this site...so maybe it's time I give a little back.

What I did for a bender was get a set of dies from protool, and make some adaptors to create a 'race car' (google search it) style bender. The press makes life a lot easier, it has air assist...all you have to do is press the button. The press came with the sheet metal bending die in the background, and with the home made adaptors it also bends tube. it takes about 7 tons to bend 1-3/4" x 0.125 dom tube. This will bend up to 100 degrees or something crazy like that.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a106/chrgrl/DSCF1404.jpg

I also rigged up some pipe dies to get the same effect, but that was a lot more work fabricating the brackets (also a little bit ghetto, but it works pretty well). This was by far the most economical way to go (if you have lots of time to make the brackets). The only thing is you have to get weird sized tubing, such as 1-1/8" or 1-5/8" OD to fit the pipe dies. It is also the same 'race car' style bender setup, so it doesnt kink the tube, but you can only bend like 60 degrees with this. But for the dies there is less than $50 into the tooling...but lots of time.

If you aren't going to bend a lot of tubing, this might be a less expensive alternaive for you??? It's repeatable within a degree. Just my 2 cents, that might save you a buck or two.


That's creative as hell, have you ever had trouble with large / complicated bends on it (hitting the frame of the press) like a main hoop, or front fenders that follow up to the main hoop (4 bends) ?

[slim616]

actually that pro tool site sells kits to build that.