Just got on of these to bend some rod for some church projects, and this video was extremely helpful. To get rid of the slop in the handle, I used a pedal washer, which is a thin 1/2" steel washer that fits between the pedal and the crankarm of a bike. Lacking precision tools in my shop, I "reamed" the washer out to the right size using a step drill with the washer carefully held in a set of locking pliers. I then "lapped" the washer by rubbing it on 220-grit sandpaper for a while. Installed, and voila! No slop. I also took inspiration from the video to disassemble the tool, square the pin, and reassemble. After squaring the pin, the bottom plate was about 0.015" shorter than the middle bar, so I cut some thin sheet metal to shim it so the rear plate would sit square. All in all, I'm very pleased with the result, and it's all thanks to this video. Final question: the documentation that comes with this product is just awful. Do you know of any online guides for creating different bends with this kind of tool? I can figure most of it out myself, but I'm sure I'm missing some uses of the dies.
Try this link: ogict.com/bench-benders/instructions/ . I think these cheap benders are a knock off of this company's duo-mite bender. And I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks
In answer to your question, yes, they are a copy of an American tool. The Mighty Mite Bender, made in NY city. I have 4 of them, in two slightly different configuration. The handles are .250 thick, fitted with no play. all the pins are 1/2" dowel pins reamed . Again, almost no play. Very good tools. I picked them up for $1 each at an estate sale, but they are really much more to go buy new. They now go under the Duo Mite label. If you used it as part of your business, $351-$481 might not seem a bad bargain, given the better precision and higher capabilities.
@@metalplasticelectronics354 The number of attachments that Duo Mite (actually Oxford General Industries) makes for these things is amazing! Well worth a look! I bought an Almhs like yours and wasn’t happy with all the slop in the handle on both the pivot hole and the play vertically. I finally took mine apart and made a new handle and body spacer piece out of the same piece of 1/4” flat bar to remove the vertical play. A major revelation came when I fitted the new handle to the base. I’d drilled it to just under 1/2” and reamed it on my mill to exactly 1/2”……….. and the pin wouldn’t go through the hole! Turns out the pins are 13mm, which is generally accepted to be 1/2”, but it’s actually 0.0118” larger! So I ordered a 13mm reamer and R8 collet and ended up with a perfect fit! I also just finished machining my version of Oxford G I’s “close follower” tool, and it’s a game changer! If you’re interested in seeing it, I’d be happy to email you photos! You might want to copy it!
I found a piece of a Goodrx plastic postcard to be the perfect thickness for the arm shim. I then used a 5/8" forstner bit and drilled from both sides. Thanks for doing the review!
Thank you for a straight to the point-video, you covered all my basic questions about this bending tool, you should do an update and tell us how it has been working for you so far, do you still think it is a good tool in general? any particular modifications ? I just ordered mine solely based on your no-nonsense video and bought it with confidence.
Many thanks, very clear presentation. Just opened the box of mine and found the same challenges. The handle is very sloppy and the the fit of the bolts and bits and pieces is not at all precise - but for the price and a little of up-grading work it seems ok. However it did not come with the second "squared" bending insert you showed in your video, just one. May be I need to make one on my own...
I'm pretty certain that this is a copy of an older western design, because as a child I recall seeing a tool very similar to this one, and because the chinese copy old designs at will in a sort of homage to old tools ;) I'm glad that I saw this review. I had been debating buying a bender like this from aliexpress, they're asking $279 CAD. It's the "pro" version with more dies and thicker handle. Maybe the fit of the holes and dies are tighter, I dont know but that price is criminal IMO I found your model on amazon canada for about 100 bucks shipped from amazon facility outside Canada... so likely from some US facility. I am debating buying it at that price versus making my own since I need to bend pot hooks from 3/16" square SS rod asap
I think it would bend the 3/16" steel just fine. Yes one of the first comments I got on the video was saying this was a copy of a, I think it was "Mighty Mite Bender" .
I bought the Expensive one and it arrived loose in a box. Each piece was wrapped in bubble wrap. 2 pins were missing and the Guide was missing !!!! The kit is the same, but I sent this one back and got a refund !!!! These firms are sending out cr*p that has been sent back !!!! But I always send faulty stuff back. They're not fiddling me out of my money !!!! I have bought the cheaper one from a different firm, so I hope nothing is missing !!!! They all have the same handle. Some seem to have more rollers, but you need to check that nothing is missing !!!! It must have cost the firm a lot of money to post it back, anyway, it serves them right !!!!
If you annealed the copper before bending you would get much tighter bends with less effort. I assume you know how to anneal copper, as opposed to steel?
nice review! If the handle flex is the issue a thicker handle made out of thicker material might have been a better fix than the washer. Or would have that messed up the alignment?
@@metalplasticelectronics354 yeah no doubt! I guess it would depend on availability too. Where I live most have to be special ordered if it's anything but imperial. Same as acrylics and polycarbonates. There is nothing within a 2 hr drive.
I think you would be better off taking two pieces of oak and cutting the profile of the bus bars and sandwiching the copper bar between them and them clamping them in the vice. It will be faster, more consistent without marring the copper.
I bought something similar, came with one die and one block. Not very useful. To be honest the hole thing is horrendous, the holes are oversize and the dowels are undersize, on this one the holes were nearly 14mm and the dowels were under 13. Totally unusable. I didn't return it, I remade all the bits that actually need to fit and now it's a small capable tool. I'm pretty sure it'll manage about 100 bends before it completely falls apart as nothing is hardened or sturdy, but at least I have this as a guide to make something that'll last.
It would be hard to bend anything straight with that much play. I’ve been very pleased with the one I got. If I could get one of these with a handle that was twice as thick. At a good price of course, I would order it.
Mine was the £73 one and it arrived with the main pin missing, the very small pin and the guide were missing, so I sent it back !!!! I've bought the cheap one from another firm !!!! I'll send that back if it isn't all there. Some kits only have one square die. Some only have one roller. The price doesn't reflect the quality, they are all the same, they just have parts missing !!!!
ABN Mini Rod Bender Metal Bending Tool, from Amazon looks to be the same. Of course the price is now higher. Even the out of stock Almhs bender is a higher price than a year ago.
