JD squared bender question

Edited: 4/19/2009 2:14:40 PM by UnusualFabrication

I bend 1" and 1.250" .250" all the time without a problem. 1" .090" I don't even use the rachet, I just shove in a pry bar in the bend arm and pull it around. I use most all DOM on automotive. Also they have tube and pipe dies so buy your dies according to what you are bending.

 Nice it shouldnt bee too hard for me to use the bender then. I found the video on their website and the guy makes it look easy bending some larger tube. I cant wait for this thing to get delivered!   Another question i have is how useful is the tube bending software that they offer for download on their site? ARe any of you guys with JD benders using it? Let me know so i can mess around with it and learn it before the bender comes in.

I downloaded it and messed with it for a second but haven't really used it to bend tube.

Sorry to dig this one up, but will .25 wall bend just fine? I have the manual bender, just wanna make sure it will bend .25. I've only used 1.5" .120.

Their model 32 is more suited for .250 wall

Okay, but I'm more concerned with the model 3, which I have.

Edited: 7/30/2011 3:26:07 PM by UnusualFabrication

I bend 1.000"x.250" wall DOM and 1.250"x.250" wall DOM all the time on my Model 3 without a problem. I started out doing it by hand but a few years back I converted it to air/hydraulic and haven't looked back since!

Okay, that's what I wanted to know. The biggest I would use is 1.5" until I get a 1.25" die, so that's good to know. Thanks. What about a notcher? Do you use theirs also? Or know of a worthy one, cuz the HF I tried just doesn't seen to be worth a shit, go figure.

I have a HF hole saw notcher that I bought 6-7 years ago and mounted it on a dedicated drill press so I don't have to tear it down when i'm not using it. I've done hundreds of notches on that thing and for the money I paid for it its been great to have as an option in the shop. I did have to tweak it a little to get the hole saw shaft on the same centerline as the tubing vice. Also depending on what i'm doing I notch with a few different tools. The JD2 notchmaster and Beast both look like pretty solid notchers, also the new Bailiegh notcher is badass. The ability to do offset tube notching is pretty nice. As with anything its going to depend on your wallet and how much your going to use it.

Yea, the issue I've been having with the HF one is getting the shaft to line up with the tube. Guess I'll just have to work with it. Thanks man.