What I made with a modified HF pipe bender

[KMinAF]

After a couple of modifications to my HF Pipe bender, I am now able to bend tubing with no problems. I found the modification on Pirate 4X4 and You Tube.

These "shoes" are what prevent the tube from kinking.

I used an angle finder to make surprisingly accurate and consistent bends

The finished product painted and installed

 

[R6 Racer]

Simple & slick fix! I like it!

Would you need to make a set of those for every size pipe you needed to bend?

Steve

 

[akdiesel]

Very nice work. What sch. is the tubing?

 

[KMinAF]

Yes you would need a "shoe" for each size tubing. In this instance I was using 120 wall hot rolled 1 1/2" tubing.

 

[chris fresh]

great tip,i know alot of guy's will be using this

 

[wornoutoldman]

Very nice! One more thing I need around the garage!

 

[goodspeed]

Looks like it works well. I like the design of that light bar. I might have to make one of those for my pathfinder.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Nice little piece you made there.

 

[Com_VC]

Out of interest how do you know what position you fit the shoes in?

 

[mypov]

impressive!

 

[JonBoehman]

I like it. Cheaper that getting the roller dies for shoes.

 

[KMinAF]

Out of interest how do you know what position you fit the shoes in?

Assuming you are referring to the holes, I positioned them based on the tube dimensions making sure there is enough distance between the pins to accommodate the bend.

 

[great white tj]

Nice work.

 

[compyello]

very nice now maybe I will use mine, what did you use to lube the shoes if anything?

 

[KMinAF]

very nice now maybe I will use mine, what did you use to lube the shoes if anything?

No lube was used and the tube was not galled although you will need to radius the edges on the HF die so it doesn't bite into the tube and leave a mark.

 

[cyamaha2007]

How large tube can you bend?

 

[Jason280]

Looks good, I will definitely be copying this idea when I buy my bender. I'm going to be making a rear tube bumper for a '94 YJ, so this will be perfect.

 

[fflintstone]

will the HF dies and your "shoes"make a full 90 degree bend?

 

[mrrisotto]

Awesome! Why is it that a lot of things from HF can be moded like this to actually be functional? Seems like an easy thing they could have done from the factory...

Are the "shoes" you made curved at all or are they straight tube cut in half? I can't quite tell from the pictures. Got any links to the article on pirate?

 

[KMinAF]

The "shoes" are just pieces of straight tube of the same size as the material that I am working with. Mine are about 6" long and will allow me to make bends all the way through 90deg with no problems. There are several sites regarding the mod, but there was a You Tube that gave pretty good detailed instructions. Just Google "HF pipe bender modification".

 

[KMinAF]

How large tube can you bend?

I don't know yet, I was going to try some 3" for an exhaust system. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Zeke]

Wow. I see these benders FS on CL all the time for cheap. I figured that the purchasers found out what a POS they are and gave up. Thanks for the ideas.

Now I better snap one up before everyone see this and/or the video!

 

[AeroNautiCal]

Really neat modification and a lovely finished bar.

 

[n2ocamaro]

Thanks for the tip. I have been looking at benders and heard about the HF unit kinking the tubing. I thought I was going to have to spend $700+ for a JD2 and some dies.

 

[Crusty Nut]

Awesome! Why is it that a lot of things from HF can be moded like this to actually be functional? Seems like an easy thing they could have done from the factory...

Are the "shoes" you made curved at all or are they straight tube cut in half? I can't quite tell from the pictures. Got any links to the article on pirate?

It is not that this is not functional. This is a PIPE bender. lots of people buy one thinking they found a cheap TUBE bender. this works as a pipe bender, but pipe is not commonly bent in this country. tubing is what is used for roll cages and the like.

Looks like a good modification to the tool.