Mike's bender
5-10-08
Hi Frank,
The bender project was a success. I did my first bend today of 1-5/8” MS .135 wall. It took about 60 seconds of bend time.
I compared and measured the diameter of the middle of the bend on the one I made to a 90* bend from a local chassis shop. Both measurements were 1.550. This shows that your bender plans can bend just as good as the professional shops on their high end benders.
I purchased the steel in April 2007 and it sat on the floor for 10 months and finally I got started in March 2008 and it is done now in May 2008.
I wanted to let you know on detail JA, I could not find the 5/8” material needed so I used the ½” from the BOM and it worked fine.
I decided to be lazy and tap 4 holes on the bottom of the bender legs and install caster wheels so I can push the bender around. I got the wheels from Harbor Freight for about $3.00 each. There were rated for 100 lbs ea and the bender rolls very smooth, better than I would have thought for the cost of the wheels and being from Harbor Freight.
Thanks again for taking the time in making these plans.
Mike.
Cool bender Mike. The TIG will make an awesome weld. I hope you will have fun using this bender.
Frank Takacs
