Has anyone tried the pipe bender from Harbor Freight? They have it on sale now for $169.99, has dies from 1/2" to 3", 16tn jack (I realize the Harbor Freight hydraulics are pretty cheesy) looks like it would work OK for exhausts & such, in addition to the car stuff, I need to do some pipes for the '47 and '28 Indians, and a bunch of wiring in the shop that needs conduit. I think I'm going to give it a try, just wondered if anyone already has one, and how it worked out?

Keep in mind that the pipe bender is made for water pipe, etc. They will not bend tubing, such as exhaust, roll bar tube, etc. without kinking it due to the different exterior diameter. If you want to bend tubing, look at the benchtop one from Speedway. I use a air hydraulic one from Mittler Bros., but is much more expensive. I bought the HF one and tried it on a 2" water ski bar for a friend's boat...did not work worth a hoot. PHIL

.........rigid galvanized conduit, sometimes mistaken for water pipe, Rod.

Mickey Thompson's 63 1/2 #997 S/S Hi-Rise 427 Lgt/Wgt Galaxie,
1957 C-600 Cab-over carhauler w/390-4V, 2-speed rear-end
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"There will ALWAYS be an FE in my LiFE"

Pipe benders will dimple the tubing if the bend is much of an angle, unless you start packing it with sand, etc. I have to do exhaust on the ragtop, the '71 Mach1, etc., and the angles will be pretty gentle. My buddy had one at the motorcycle shop, using it for handlebars & pipes, slow and careful is working OK. That one is like the Harbor Freight except smaller. If I was going to use it a lot, I wouldn't even consider it. The one you speak of sounds interesting, I'll check it out- Thanks

........thinwall. The 'shoes' are different between to the two types. EMT/thinwall will collapse/crinkle in a rigid shoe, Rod.

Mickey Thompson's 63 1/2 #997 S/S Hi-Rise 427 Lgt/Wgt Galaxie,
1957 C-600 Cab-over carhauler w/390-4V, 2-speed rear-end
FGCofA member #4908
MCGC member #75

"There will ALWAYS be an FE in my LiFE"

I bought one of these before I bought the hydraulic one, with an 1 3/4" die. Looks like they are selling it now w/5 dies included. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/3rd-Generation-Hydraulic-Round-Tubing-Bender-and-5-Die-Set,20066.html> PHIL

A little spendy for how much I'd use it, and I use a lot of 3" exhaust, dies only go to 1-3/4". For the extra $630, I can pack a lot of padding around the tubing- the dies on the HF one are pretty sloppy & wide, would take some careful setup, but the price is right. Also, with the welders and the lathe/ Bridgeport, a little buildup/ trimming on those dies might make them a little more tubing-friendly

I have one of those benders it's OK for heavier wall pipe and tubing . I gathered up some conduit shoes and have bent some light wall tubing with it. The secret to successfull bends is to make sure the shoe fits the tubing tight. If it is loose it will try to kink on you. Also the rollers will try to dinge the pipe on tight bends, if you put rags on the rollers no dings. Just a newspaper on the shoe for spacing makes all the difference. I have bent custom rollcages , pipe bumpers ,brush gards ,playground equipment, I've also used it for bending flat stock for driveshaft loops, I've even rolled lite angle in it for snowplow reinforcement. If you bend thinner tubing it can be done but it take more time and a easy touch. If you fill the tubing with sand it makes the job a lot easyer .I bent some 3/4 thin wall for some custom mirror brackets that you could't tell from factory. A lot of people don't like them , but for me it works OK. Just some of my experiences.

If you need more info contact me, 8146352007 JOHN

the Harbor Frieght units your looking at. I was never very happy with result. For exhaust I much prefer to buy pre-bent U sections and cut and weld as needed. Makes for a much nicer finished product. I do have a nice full radius bender for roll cages and such, a little spendy but does a great job. Mike

I bent my chromemoly cage with a borrowed JD Squared bender from a friend. Manual lever, no hydraulics and moly is very tough compared to mild steel. It did an excellent job even on more than 90 degree bends. I don't think any of these will do thinwall exhaust or header tubing. A mandrel bender is an expensive deal and hardly any shops around here have one.