shawnhog

Okay, my rig is low-buck, so going out to buy $2,000 in new equipment is out of the question for me. Basically, I think that my best option for fabbing up my bumpers and my sliders would be a big plate and tack the tube to it, and use a bunch of MAPP torches to heat the tube at the bend and get a few buddies with heavy gloves to bend that sucker into submission! Notching? Perhaps my Sawzall and grinder combined will do the trick..

My material is 1-1/2" DOM with a 0.125" wall thickness all-around. I am going to hold off on the plate buying at least until I am sure that I cannot at least rent out some notchers and benders from some local shops first, or ask around the 4x4 shops to see if anyone will let me use their equipment for a case or two of beer...

What do you think: Sawzall, welder, and torches? Hold out for better? I don't mind doing this ghetto-style, as my rig is supposed to have a sort of "Mad-Max" style on the outside, with a freakishly plush interior.

Actually, if I want, I could do a bunch of angled sawzall cuts and sort of an "angled" bend of sorts.. but that is heavily dependent on my welding skills and would likely be prone to too many weak points.

What do you think?

Cebby

You'll just collapse the tube that way - will a MAPP torch even get it hot enough? Maybe try one of those cheap HF pipe kinkers?

Here's a good tube notching writeup:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456800

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Here is a comparison to what you are thinking of doing using 2x4 lumber.

Your idea: cutting 2x4 with dull butter knife

Tube bender & notcher: DeWalt miter saw

They call it "booty fab" cause that is where most people pull it ouf of...and where most of it should stay.

I paid less than $1K for my tube bender and notcher from www.tricktools.com

With your idea, you'll waste all your time getting nothing done and get frustrated and quit.

Good luck.

shawnhog

CEBBY>> Ohhh... so THAT's how a Mitre saw does it.... and in my world a Sawzall... Wow, that is beautiful work on a basic mitre!! This actually clears things up quite a fair bit for me, lol! And here I thought that notching would involve cutting a "V" into the pipe, lol! Thanks for the save, bro! Well, I have the steady hands necessary, I just need something like a good table vise to hold that durn steel with! Tomorrow I am going to make a round of calls out to the local rental shops and see who has a tube-bender that I can use on the cheap. If anyone has a great way to use something existing for tube bending, just let me know!

Cebby

I've heard of packing the pipe with sand. That might work if you have something the right diameter to bend it around. I still don't think a MAPP cannister will get it hot enough though.

hamstrungtaco

you can probably bend it, but you wont get a sharp bend, itll be more of a curve most likely

Poul D'eau

I stumbled across this link for fishmouthing pipe/tubing
Linky

Nice thing is that you can change the angle and offset of the pipes. As well as different dia. of pipe.

MAPP is not far behind acetylene as far as max temp is concerned Linky 2 but the the problem is heating 1/8" thick pipe with an 1 1/2" OD for the length of the bend. Thats a HUGE amount of metal to heat up and even with a rosebud on a oxy/acetylene torch by the time you got it flexable you wouldn't want to be near it.

Plus with it filled with sand you would have the sand acting like a heat sink pulling the heat out of the metal trying to convert the sand to glass... Also for that to work the pipe would have to be sealed so the sand can't escape... hmm heating a closed cylinder...

I've bent 2" and 3" at .060" dia tubing with a rosebud... it was not pretty, lots of collapsed walls and kinks all without any tight turns. Good thing it was supposed to look like crap. (Scary railing for a theatre production)

Get the cheap HF bender: $75 bucks-linky 3

Cebby

Good post. That's the kinker I was referring to...

Poul D'eau

Well, you did mention it first. And hell, after its done its job it will make one heck of a door stop!

After looking at the two that harbor freight has that are rated for 12 tons... the only difference that I can spot is the one that runs for $125 has a pair of springs and a thin bracket and the other doesn't... who knew the chinese springs were that good??

RLJ3RD

How about this cheaper solution?

Free bender plans from Pro-Tools

Poul D'eau

Its cheaper unless you don't have the dies. Depending on which one shawnhog wants its going to be close to $200 for the die kit and you still have to weld it together. Plus it would lose the ghetto apeal that he is trying for.

The large print givith and the small print taketh away. - Tom Waits

dwh91102

After you ruin a few feet of $5.60 a ft tube, you'll get the right tools, or have it done right. lol

vegaskurt

For notching take a look at this. Print, tape, cut. http://www.metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi

shawnhog

"Ghetto," "Australian," "Mad-Max," whatever I am going for, you can easily use the above terms and many more! "ghetto-fab" is a cool idea, but it might have too many potential weaknesses in the design, and could fail when I need it most. Here is my tip, courtesy of some very old weldors that now work at the local Home Depot:



While this isn't a bad idea, the amount of welding involved makes for a riskier final product, more dependent on the skills of the weldor. While my skills are decent, they are not good enough for that much welding. I figure that for every four inches, I screw up one. Now think about how many inches must be welded to complete sliders, front bumpers, AND rear bumpers the potential for failure is much higher. I could always get a bunch of cheapie conduit of similar dimensions and just sit down and get to work!

I asm starting to get the word out that I am willing to pay in beer (everybody's favorite currency) for the use of someone's shop. I have a few numbers now (almost like dating, lol!) and I plan to make a few calls around for the local toolnuts in the area, see what I can do. In the meantime...

HF: everyone says that they are weak and won't last long. I am only building this once, and when I think about it, the gear only has to put out about 8-12 bends, TOTAL. After that, I will have no use for it, and I can even take it out to a field and shoot it (that's what I did to my tranny on my F-150!), throw it away, make it into a heavy doorstop, whatever. Since there are so few bends, would a light-duty HF fit the bill? Use it, trash it, forget it. Hey, it's the disposable bender!

Hey, it may look Ghetto, but I refuse to compromise on strength! This is a trail vehicle first and foremost!

Poul D'eau

The feeling I got in reading your first post was that this was going to be a one time deal. Thats why I recomened the HF bender. It does its job and then it will be giant orange door stop or up on ebay.

The others mentioned would be great if you and a few buddies were going in together. With some of the prices you were getting beyond the ARB and TJM range...

I would recomend doing the bends with the largest radius first. (less stress) then going to the smallest. Also if you are going to make some hoops and wings, use smaller dia. pipe. (you guessed it-less stress on the press) The fishmouth link that vegaskurt and I sent you will allow you to make the smaller pipe a perfect fit.

If you don't feel completely comfortable with your welding, the first thing you need to do after cutting and fitting all your parts is to practice with the scraps. (what else are you going to use em for?) You don't want your welds to look too gehetto.

One question, are you welding it with a mig or stick?

shawnhog

My welder is a medium-duty MIG welder, and I am currently using 0.035 flux-cored wire, as it can handle the thicker metals. Also, it is closer to "idiot-proof" with the technique required to weld them up. It may be messier, but hey, that is what an angle grinder with a wire brush is for! I am looking more and more at HF, but it is still more of a last-resort option if I literally cannot find anyone who will let me use their gear (the beer option). If I get the HF, I still need to find a place to mount the dang thing (would a 4'x4'x1.4-3/4" thick piece of wood do the trick?), as I have no bench to mount this stuff on.

Poul D'eau

I would want to keep it as low to the ground as possible. (Ya can't fall off the ground) Its going to weigh 100 pounds + the pipe. The pipe is going to play hell with the center of gravity. I would look at bolting it to some concrete. Or use some of the extra pipe make a stand that is bolted to some concrete. Because the more space = better/safer

Then you can get the beer when someone wants to use the bender.

Get some flap disks for the grinder. It will help make the welds prettier.

shawnhog

lolo, I only keep mentioning beer because up here in Montana, Beer is worth it's weight in gold... I do not drink anymore after a very bad experience the last St. Patrick's (mutiple shot's of Everclear will do that), and for a good while now, I will refuse to drink anything (kinda sucks since I am a bartender, and my next job will be for beer distribution).

Not a bad idea with bolting it down, but I have no garage (apartment), and all my work is being done out of my girlfriend's carport at her apartment. So unfortunately that is out of the question. I am thinking about building a rolling steel shop table, and I could mount the shorty bender to that.. But the question remains: will I ever use that bender again? Renting one won't work, since I'll likely destroy the thing. The shorty might be my best option, unfortunately. Now the question remains as to where I should temporarily mount it.

Poul D'eau

Well once you build the table and are done with the press put a vise over the same spot. And if you ever need it again you have a place to bolt it.

I doubt you will destroy it but the bends won't be a pretty as some of the other benders. And practice with it. It may take some "touch" to get what you want but you will be happier with the results.

I understand about the saint paddys day thing it was about 5 years before I could look at tequila again...
Just keep the beer till you need to bribe someone again...


oh and don't forget the pics!!!!!

Poul D'eau

Heck to keep the ghetto motif, make the stand out of a tweaked truck rim.