I have a tube bender from harbor frieght and it keeps crushing the pipe. The bends look terrible. What do i need to do to get a good bend from this thing. Please help me.

You probably have a pipe bender not a Tube bender. You can get great results with a pipe bender but it's alot of work.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWT3N3m4bE4

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Mike
Got Honda?

if you check on thesamba.com in the forums there is a huge writeup on how to fix that thing.

the problem really is the die. it is a PIPE die NOT a TUBING die. it doesn't actually fit in there you have to do some work to it but you can get pretty good results with it after you completely redesign the thing haha.

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2332cc Air Cooled Screaming Meanie. Predator Singleseat.

"Lets go get stupid"

You need the right tool for the job and the harbor freight bender is not the right tool.If you want to bend tubing you need to check out pro tools.

aaron

What they all said. Out here we call it the Kinker. And now you know why. Return it if you still have your receipt.

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Scott

i have the same kind of benderand i have the same results. ive tried the sand but it didnt help anything. hope you have better luck than me

I bought the same pipe bender from Northern Tools. it went right back and I bought the JD Squared tubing bender.

try m-teck supply.the model 3 is what iv got it works good.

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small minds condemn anything they fail to understand!

Here ya go
http://www.mtechsupply.com/

The only thing the Harbor Freight pipe bender is good for is making a light duty hydraulic press out of the cylinder right after you throw the rest in the scrap pile.

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Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
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Am I looking at this right, you need to buy the dies also? Man that adds up.

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[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]

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I just used a harbor freight bender to build a bumper on my sons rail and it worked fine.I used the 1 1/4 die with 1 1/2 pipe. Had to knock the die off with a hammer when i was done.

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IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT IN A LITTLE BUGGY,IT CAN'T BE CLIMBED

shadetree has the same one it works realy well

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i dont always ride my buggy but when i do im glad it has a bad ass bow tie makin the horsepower

Jesus loves me, but everyone else thinks im an asshole.

Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail us now!

We got a model 3, too. Very nice bends, smooth, no pinching at all.



Good tools aint cheap, cheap tools aint good.
Three of us went in on two sets of dies and bender, it was about a grand. Well worth the $$.

I have had the jd squared model 3 for about 7 years now and have NO complaints. A buddy of mine recently got the pro tools version for about the same price as the jd squared, and isn't as happy with it. Its works fine, but is "lighter duty" than the jd squared. If you plan on bending alot of 120 wall 1-1/2 or 1-3/4, you might want to step up th the jd squared model 4 (I think thats it..).

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

I have the JD2 dies and a home made hydraulic bender with !.5" x 5.5" x 180* and a 2" x 6.5" x 180* dies. Wouldn't trade them or sell them for anything (almost). Not one complaint on the dies. My pump motor that I picked out is a bit noisy, but it doesn't slow down when bending 2" x 0.135" tubing.

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Off-roading is NOT a spectator sport

If you can't buy it....Make it

You know, water and electricity dont mix (from a nurse at a hospital)

Two turtles don't make a rabbit

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=780854

this looks like a decent bender for an affordable price.