I've been accumulating parts over the past couple of months to build a hydro bender. I thought it was time to get a thread going...

I had a good CAD drawing of the bender arms and was planning to have a buddy cut them out of 3/4" on a waterjet, but he has been less than responsive and I just couldn't wait anymore. Soooo.....

I bought a JD2 Model 3 manual bender with degree ring. I lost my mind when buying dies and got 1", 1.25", 1.5", 1.75" and 2". I have visions of building all sorts of stuff (roof rack, bumpers, sliders, and misc brackets/braces), so that has fueled my lunacy.

I'm doing a "homebrew" version based on Jay K's setup. I used his parts list for the pump, cylinder, fittings, hoses, etc. The Catepillar fittings he has listed have given me a stumbling block, but when I get that far along, I'll just go to a hydro shop and figure it out.

I bought the steel for the stand yesterday. For the top channel, I got a 5' piece (probably only need 4') of 6" ship channel (thicker than standard "C" channel - for if I ever get the 3/4" arms), some 1.5 x 2 rectangular tubing for the legs, some 1.5 angle for bracing, and some steel mesh for decking. I forgot to get some tube or roundbar for the die storage, but I can add that any time.

I also need to work out the casters. I'm not sure if pneumatic casters are overkill, but I know they are easy to roll around. Still thinking about that one.

Seeing this stuff on the web and holding in person is a huge difference. All this stuff is much larger than I imagined and very heavy. I feel sorry for the UPS guy that has been delivering these parts. They've been trickling in, so it has been ongoing....

I sold off my Lincoln 110v machine and stepped up to a Millermatic 210 with Spoolgun. As of last night, that puppy is dialed in. I've not really done much MIG with aluminum before (and never with a spool gun), so I've got some practice to do.

Here's a few pics of me working out the mounting location for the ram (bender has the 2" die in it here)...





Got dies?



The new rig...



Big props go out to Guinea13 (and all the contributors) over at POR for his hydro thread and sharing his knowledge/experiences with the buildup. Alot of the questions I had early on were answered here.

 

DAYUM!

That's a couple $$$ worth of stuff!

couple of other useful items you might be interested in:

http://www.trick-tools.com/pipemaster.htm

http://www.trick-tools.com/tube_positioners.htm

What kind of notcher are you getting?

later

 

It's officially a business venture...

I didn't get any of the Van Sant stuff yet, but I'd been pouring over their site prior to ordering my bender. I think I could make the tube positioners (great idea BTW), but the pipemasters are pretty trick.

I was planning on getting the TN100 from JD2, but haven't yet. Is there a better one available?

 

Those pipemasters are trick! CHEATERS!! lol!!!

You could easily make the positioners....I got my ideas from this site along time ago...
click on tubing clamp on the left....

http://blindchickenracing.com/Tools/tools.htm

btw- I've used an el-cheap-o harbor(china) freight notcher about 20-30 times w/ good results...but it is cheaply made - so I def. wouldn't recommend it for a fabrication biz...

I was looking at one of these for my next notcher...
speedy notcher
or one of these...yeah right!
pro notcher

 

Those are good pics of the clamps. That will make it easy to dupe.

That first notcher is like $80 cheaper than the TN100 from JD2. Good find - it looks lie the same thing. I need to dig into this further.

 

a Tube notcher for $3400.00!!!

heck, you can find an old Bridgeport mill for that kinda coin!

 

Man I wish I had an excuse to get lots of cool tools!

 

That's what I said! I think I could go nuts on misc. tools for 3400!!
A mill would be nice, if only I could find the room....

Oh & Cebby, do you have any need to make off-center notches? Cause neither of these can do that....just another thing to consider.
I thought I had a link to one that had this feature, but it's MIA...

 

That's what I've been wrestling with - do I pay up for this feature now, or work around not having an easy way to do this...

I think I'm pretty close to going with the Pro-Tools notcher. It can go up to a 60 deg angle and looks pretty stout. It is the only one I've found that goes to that steep of an angle.

http://www.pro-tools.com/hsn501i.htm

Decisions, decisions...

 

From looking at the pic of the Pro-tools notcher, it is much more stout and has the offset notch feature, unlike the other less stout ones out there. You get what you pay for!

EDIT: Heck when I start building my front bumper and in cab cage I might buy a Pro-tools notcher!

 

If you dont mind me asking, how much did you pick up the metal chop saw in this picture for?

Thanks

 

It's this one:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...&s=hi&n=228013

I've had it for 10 years or so. I think I paid around $150 on sale at Home Depot.

 

Don't know if it matters with what you'll be building, but it's difficult to go past 45 degrees on tubing over 2" because the tubing gets in the way of the drill/hole saw. So the 60 degree feature may not be worth extra money (if it's more expensive and you'll be doing a lot over 2").

 

2" will be the maximum size I'll work with (most likely) since the biggest die for the bender I have is 2". Does the 2" interfere past 45 deg on these notchers?

 

Dude, haven't you heard of eMachineShop? You should run your CAD stuff through there and see what it would cost after materials / work. Might be cheaper than buying from the manufacturer...

Jim

 

Well the thing is that the hole saw is only so deep, so the larger the angle the longer the piece you're cutting out. I guess you'll have to try it with your particular hole saw kind to find out.

 

I will have to check this thing out!

 

That is a sweet site. I've got to take some time to dig into it, but it will likely get me doing some other stuff I was putting off cause I didn't know where to go for it.

Thanks!

 

I've decided.

HSN501i and Bend Tech software is being ordered tomorrow.

http://www.pro-tools.com/hsn501i.htm

http://www.pro-tools.com/soft.htm

 

Good choice Cebby!
Let us know your impression on these....
Thanks!