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Tube Benders


James90

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Hi guys,

Does anyone have a tube bender similar to the JD2 Model 3 or the Pro Tools 105?

Reason I ask is im struggling to find a UK distributer, the model 3 sells for $295, but ive had a quote for delivery of $298 for just the bender!

Again ive found UK distributers of the 105 but they seem to start at 750 Ex Vat, someone must have found a way of getting one at US prices!

James

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mine came from Trick Tools in the states, shipping was $210 for the bender and a die and i think the import duty was £60. It worked out about £200 cheaper than a quote from Tubela i beleive. The exchange rate was pretty similar to how it is at the moment.

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I have a JD2 no. 3. Those prices are the way it goes, unless you can put it in your luggage...

Have you seen that pro-tools supply plans to make your own?

Still need the dies though, and unless you can machine the dies that's how they getcha!

Al.

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I have a JD2 too - and it's brilliant!

The manual handle was less than ideal - so it went in the bin. I used a hydraulic ram instead - and now it's effortless.

I used a shipping agent to import mine and they saved on both the shipping and duty by choosing what to describe it as to customs & excise carefully. I bought it from JD2 directly. They had a deal on for the bender and two dies at a knock-down price. I bought 1 3/4" and 1" dies.

Si

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I have a JD2 too - and it's brilliant!

The manual handle was less than ideal - so it went in the bin. I used a hydraulic ram instead - and now it's effortless.

I used a shipping agent to import mine and they saved on both the shipping and duty by choosing what to describe it as to customs & excise carefully. I bought it from JD2 directly. They had a deal on for the bender and two dies at a knock-down price. I bought 1 3/4" and 1" dies.

Si

Hey Si,

Could you recommend a "Shipping Agent" for importing?

Cheers

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I have a jd2 with a 1.75 die and am using cds and the bends are first class!

Si

Have you got any more info on how you went about the ram option, guessing using the ram you dont need to bolt it down etc

Thanks

Russ

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Cheers guys,

Looking at it now, the Pro Tools 105 for £799inc doesnt look a bad deal, I hadnt noticed it includes a single die set.

Does anyone have any experience with the 105?

Si, I would also be interested in shipping agent information, as said its a good price at the moment!

James

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Just a quick word on the dies.

The dies for the Pro Tool bender and the JD2 one look very similar and some seem to fit both with no problems others don't.

I have a JD2 bender with various dies, I aquired some other size dies via ebay which although the ad said they were Pro Tool it was implied they would fit a JD2 bender.

Resently tried to use one for 1 1/2" CDS and discovered it just didn't line up. A bit of measuring and we welded a piece of 2" square bar to the back drilled the appropriate size hole in it and all worked well in the end but I was fortunate in that the friend who wanted to use it had access to a large mill and could accurately drill holes through 2" of steel.

Worked fine in the end and we made a light weight roll hoop for a hill climb car, he wanted to remove the 2" CDS full width cage and replace it with a 1 1/2" driver only hoop to save weight.

The JD2 bender is a great piece of kit although any one wanting to bend 2" CDS will either need to fit a hydraulic ram or grow big muscles. I think Shrek (milemarker type S on here) nearly cr*pped himself bending bits for his cage!. It did demonstrate how much strong or at least stiffer 2 CDS is than blue band though.

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Sorry for the slow reply! I've been using http://www.regionalfreight.co.uk/ who have been pretty good. They have a depot in Chicago that you can get stuff sent to (for companies who will not send outside the US) and they will sort out the rest.

If there are several of you interested - I would be inclined to place one big order, get it sent on a pallet to one person here - then collect / ship from there. Once you go over about 200kg the cost only increases very slowly with weight.

I've taken a few photos on my phone (so not great quality) of the benders hydraulics:

post-74-12739991426_thumb.jpgpost-74-127399915552_thumb.jpgpost-74-127399916879_thumb.jpg

As you can see it's a bit lashed together! The braided hoses were made up by David at Llama for a different project - but seemed to fit OK.

The hydraulic power pack came from a transit tipper so needs a 12v battery - but will complete 30 bends from one charge.

The whole thing is mounted on a base with big castor wheels which in itself has been very useful.

I would like to change the 12v hydraulic pump for a mains one when one turns up. I have a spare ram which I would swap for a mains hydraulic pack if anyone is interested.

Si

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Si, I'll have a chat with Mike. He's just started fitting self-levelling hydraulics to his truck, and the pump he bought was mains. We've been looking at using a transit tipper one instead, on a 24-12v stepdown, so he might be up for the swap.

How does the auto-stop on the pump work?

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I'd be up for that (swap). I would just run it from 24v - it will go a bit faster but the pressure is set by a relief valve so it will just deliver more volume at the same pressure.

The auto stop is just a micro-switch on a flying lead that the angle pointer bumps in to. It just breaks the circuit from the push button.

It gives very repeatable angles - good for things like ground anchors!

Si

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