In December 2017 I bought myself an Xmas Present. It was a tube bender with a variety of Formers and rollers that seemed ideal for use in making Bike-bits (seat-frames, rear triangles etc.).
However, as with many of these single sided benders advertised for use in a Garage environment and capable of bending 25mm tube with a 2mm wall they omit to tell you that you need to have a fixing for the bender baseplate that is anchored to the core of planet earth (rather than my vise, whose casting it snapped) and the arms and physique of a Gorilla to generate enough force to bend anything.
I despaired.
Today I went to a workshop to collect the bender as adapted for use by mortal men.
To say that it is an improvement is an understatement. I took a piece of 22mm x 3mm tube with me as an acid test, and the bender that had been created from my base elements ate it for breakfast.
There I was giggling like a Schoolboy as I bent this monster pipe with just one handed operation.
The film of this exciting event is below. I hope it makes you all smile as much as the actual use of the bender made me smile.
However, as with many of these single sided benders advertised for use in a Garage environment and capable of bending 25mm tube with a 2mm wall they omit to tell you that you need to have a fixing for the bender baseplate that is anchored to the core of planet earth (rather than my vise, whose casting it snapped) and the arms and physique of a Gorilla to generate enough force to bend anything.
I despaired.
Today I went to a workshop to collect the bender as adapted for use by mortal men.
To say that it is an improvement is an understatement. I took a piece of 22mm x 3mm tube with me as an acid test, and the bender that had been created from my base elements ate it for breakfast.
There I was giggling like a Schoolboy as I bent this monster pipe with just one handed operation.
The film of this exciting event is below. I hope it makes you all smile as much as the actual use of the bender made me smile.