[buzbox]

Besides the obvious of having a welder, materials, bender, what are some must have tools and tips to produce professional quality barwork.

Just after people's experience's or "oh shit, I shoulda done it like this" moments

[watermouse]

Not all benders are created equal. If you can get one of these

http://jd2.com.au/benders/model-3-bender.html the cheapest of the good benders. But you will need some dies too. Looking at about $1000 to bend one size.

IMHO any cheaper bender is not worth its weight in (s)crap. You see heaps of people getting terrible results with those jack style pipe benders off ebay when they would get a much better looking "bend" with a couple of mitres.

A tube notcher is also handy so you don't have to weld up big gaps and saves heaps of time.

At least a 115 -125mm grinder with thin cutting discs
also 115- 125mm flappy disc for flushing welds

Aerosol anti-splatter if using mig or mma, Keeps your welds and surrounding material nice and clean. Also don't weld next to a fresh hot weld as the splatter will stick to it hard.

[DMAC]

I bought a digital angle /level. Great for working with angles.

If you don't have a notcher I have used the pdf development program to create quite accurate notches.

I have lost the link so if anyone knows where it can be found post it up.

[watermouse]

Tube notching template generator on this page.

http://metalgeek.com/static/dan/

or the online/pdf downloadable one

http://www.metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi

[SierraDan]

Anti-spatter spray=spray canola oil

[PurpleZOOK]

I got a cheap tube notcher for about $150 goes great, had a cheap bender couldn't handle the shit quality so bought a middle range jd2 haven't looked back.
Electric grinder and lots of patience just remember measure twice cut once.

[zoukshin]

Being in the process of making sliders, I can confirm all of the above (quality bender and notcher especially)
I'd also suggest a bunch of clamps, maybe magnetic squares and a 90deg vice.

[monley]

watermouse wrote:

Not all benders are created equal. If you can get one of these

http://jd2.com.au/benders/model-3-bender.html the cheapest of the good benders. But you will need some dies too. Looking at about $1000 to bend one size.

IMHO any cheaper bender is not worth its weight in (s)crap. You see heaps of people getting terrible results with those jack style pipe benders off ebay when they would get a much better looking "bend" with a couple of mitres.

A tube notcher is also handy so you don't have to weld up big gaps and saves heaps of time.

At least a 115 -125mm grinder with thin cutting discs
also 115- 125mm flappy disc for flushing welds

Aerosol anti-splatter if using mig or mma, Keeps your welds and surrounding material nice and clean. Also don't weld next to a fresh hot weld as the splatter will stick to it hard.

You can get nice results with the cheap jack benders. Just need to use schd 160 weight pipe that shit can't crush, just rather heavy and $$$

[bakerboy]

stacks of skiaflex and stickers will sort it out

[suz_rolly]

Hey guys what size pipe do you recommend im looking at the jd3 id rather go smaller diameter and thicker wall also which die set for the pipe size

[DarkHorse]

Is this for competition compliance or a 'normal' car?

Someone else will be able to tell you more about CCDA regs, but I think minimum 1.75"/350MPA 2.6mm wall tube rings a bell.

For normal use 32NB pipe is a good zook size - 40NB is the bog standard 2" (actually 48mm ish) but it's a bit chunky for our smaller vehicles.

[suz_rolly]

DarkHorse wrote:

Is this for competition compliance or a 'normal' car?

Someone else will be able to tell you more about CCDA regs, but I think minimum 1.75"/350MPA 2.6mm wall tube rings a bell.

For normal use 32NB pipe is a good zook size - 40NB is the bog standard 2" (actually 48mm ish) but it's a bit chunky for our smaller vehicles.

Yea just for normal use atm i have read the regulations a bit and for it to be comp ready i think main hoop to be 2" the rest can be 32nb dom but what die do i need for the 32nb little research is 43mm is this right

[Aferal]

I like to use bottle jacks the screw type. I will tack weld a piece of tube in place and use a bottle jack at the other end to postion it hight wise etc. I can the stand back make sure it looks right rasie or lower the jack to postion that looks right.
I Like to tig tack weld the bar together too, don't have to worry about spatter damaging the paint that way, also the tacks are nice and small making it easyer to break off if incorrectly positioned. Once the bar is completly tack welded it can be removed and MIG, Tig or stick welded together.

[got_bar_work]

No comp should be allowing 32nb pipe to be used any more. It should be 1.75 tube.
2in tube main hoop is overkill for a zook but alot of comps r starting to go that way. In the us alot go on weight. Over so much they need to go to 2in for the main hoop.
There r so many different comp rules its stupid. All the different bodys need to get together and come up with one set of rules so cars can race in different events.

[want33s]

Tube notching on the cheap.....
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/shop-too ... tures.html

[pete_79]

Dragging this one up as I'm in the market for a bender.
Is everyone still in agreeance that the JD2 benders are the only way go?

The trouble is I'm looking for something truly multi purpose.
I've got to do some light gauge barwork, heavier barwork, a hand full of RHS/SHS bends and I want to have a play with some fancy shapes on the front of BIG solid timber gates.

From what I've found so far I got a feeling I'm asking too much for one unit to cover all this for under $1,500.00???

The JD2 units look nice, but I'm guessing by the time I get all the dies I need I'll be up for some serious $$$$.
Not interested in SuperCrap jack style benders.

[got_bar_work]

We have the one with the dual ratchets at work its ok but i would go hydro if it was mine. They are bull shit heavy to move around and u need a stand bolted in the slab . If u go hydro u can mount it on a trolly and just wheel it round
There isnt much in it. Can u get stuff laser cut from any of your suppliers at work. Heaps of plans on the net. Dies are crazy expensive

[pete_79]

By hydro I'm assuming you mean the hydraulic jack type benders?

I don't mind the stand bolted to the slab.
I had intended to make a nice solid fixed pedestal with interchangeable tooling in top.
Thinking of mounting things like the bender, a good vice, bench grinder, etc onto plates with stubs to fit inside the pedestal. I don't have heaps of floor space to set up multiple work benches. But I can make good racking to store the different tools/tooling on shelves and use the pedestal for each thing as I need it.

Still all in the planning stage at the moment, just wanted to make sure I was on the right path with the bender.

[got_bar_work]

U can mount a hydro ram on the jd2 benders. I recon a air over hydro ram off a engine crane would be good. They are cheap on ebay. U will probably need to mount it outside. I don't think u would have enough room in your shed to use it. I recon u need 5m wide clearence to swing the handle and do 90 deg bends on longer things.

[got_bar_work]

http://www.metalbythefoot.com/onlinesto ... ender.html
This is a hydro jd2

[pete_79]

Anyone seen this style bender in action?
Looks like it ‘should’ give a better finish then the bow and arrow style...

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/pacific-pines/hand-tools/heavy-duty-metal-tube-bender/1189560367?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ios_social

[got_bar_work]

Looks good for the money. Only problem is it looks like it only does 90deg

[just_cruizin]

That appears to be the only limitation and getting complex bends in and out of the bender

[Gwagensteve]

This is a variation/copy of the speedwerx style bender, which I have.

They're not the easiest things to work with. Yes, it will give a nice finish if the die and tube OD match precisely. back to back bends and the limitation of only 90˚ are an issue. It's also hard to determine when you've bent the correct angle because once you release hydraulic pressure its common for the tube to slip back and you loose your reference.

Be realistic about how many bends you need to do. This state of the art trophy truck has about 12 bends in it. I bought a bender 15 years ago thinking it was the future. It's sitting at a mates place. I don't think it's been used for 10 years. Bends are overrated. Get a shop to bend something if you need a few bends. Then the stuffups are their problem.

[just_cruizin]

Multibend bend tubes are a bit of a head bender to start with as is the elastic bendback but once your used to it it all starts to combine together